rebuild or don't rebuild 560sl engine?

[blueranger]

you know i drive diesels.... i love diesels..

but if i were driving a gaser i would probably buy a
chevy 350 crate motor 2100 bucks... and a tranny..
and put that puppy in myself....make it fuel injected and you would
get 300k miles with only oil changes...

[speedy72t]

Blue Ranger,
Perhaps you still need to own a few more? Most local country bumkins can't make heads or tails of MB systems of that era (or any era) and knowing American motors is often not the same thing. Anybody with one hand can set up a Holley carb to run right for twenty minutes. CIS injection, what's that? Motronic, what's that? And as for the machine shop work it can be a real mixed bag because they have no practical experience of what they can get away with. How much can I shave the head? Well not much on this motor. I'm glad you've gotten lucky with your local machine shop but you can be sure that just as many people have ended up with scrap metal or a poorly running motor.
As you said, it comes down to the guy in the shop and I'll add the guy checking the guy in the shops tolerances as the motor is assembled.
You pay for what you get in life and 10K for a motor isn't all that unusual, even with 'merican V8s.

[lystgl]

Originally Posted by blueranger

you know i drive diesels.... i love diesels..

but if i were driving a gaser i would probably buy a
chevy 350 crate motor 2100 bucks... and a tranny..
and put that puppy in myself....make it fuel injected and you would
get 300k miles with only oil changes...

blasphemy!
This is a "Mercedes" website sir!

[Roncallo]

10K is about the right number for a good quallity job but you should keep in mind that the car with 177K miles is not worth 10K no mater what shape it is in. I would recomend a good quality used engine with low milage. You should be able to get one installed with all other things that the technichian will stumble on like broken engine mounts etc for under $4K. Remember the car is good so you want a good quality job no mater what you do.

John Roncallo

[Roncallo]

Originally Posted by lystgl

blasphemy!
This is a "Mercedes" website sir!

I love Mercedes but I disagree. The adaptation of a Chevy engine into a 107 chassi would make an excellent daily driving car. The chevy engine would give the car a new lease on life. The 560SL was once a great performance car. Today a soccer moms mini van will out run it. The new 7 liter vett motor would be a nice installation into a 107. Nothing has lines like a 107, but today it is now entering the dog catagory in performance, and extreammly few engine mods are available. I cant even find a set of headers for one. The installation of a chevy engin into a 107 would also make the car more practical to own, since it would be servicable anywhere in the states and has significantly less expensive parts. I would also expect an increase in fuel milage. Now this I would pay $10K for.

Keep in mind this is not a 1954 300SL. In this car a good profesional Chevy engine installation into a 107 with 177K miles may actually increase the value of this car beyond a stock engine replacement.

I have personally installed a chevy engine into a Ferrari 308 GTS. The results were phenonamal.

John Roncallo

[speedy72t]

Originally Posted by Roncallo

I love Mercedes but I disagree. The adaptation of a Chevy engine into a 107 chassi would make an excellent daily driving car. The chevy engine would give the car a new lease on life. The 560SL was once a great performance car. Today a soccer moms mini van will out run it. The new 7 liter vett motor would be a nice installation into a 107. Nothing has lines like a 107, but today it is now entering the dog catagory in performance, and extreammly few engine mods are available. I cant even find a set of headers for one. The installation of a chevy engin into a 107 would also make the car more practical to own, since it would be servicable anywhere in the states and has significantly less expensive parts. I would also expect an increase in fuel milage. Now this I would pay $10K for.

Keep in mind this is not a 1954 300SL. In this car a good profesional Chevy engine installation into a 107 with 177K miles may actually increase the value of this car beyond a stock engine replacement.


I have personally installed a chevy engine into a Ferrari 308 GTS. The results were phenonamal.

John Roncallo

I think you missed the sarcasm. While most of us prefer a Mercedes to have the sound and feel of a Mercedes few of us could care less what you do with yours. Personally I don't see much a financial savings of puting a chevy engine in this car. It's NEVER cheap to swap motors like that if you are paying someone to figure out all the parts that don't line up. If I were to do it myself I think I'd be more interested in an all Aluminum six with a nice five speed.

As for performance mods for this car it's easy. bolt on a blower with custom fuel injection. done.

[Roncallo]

Originally Posted by speedy72t

I think you missed the sarcasm. While most of us prefer a Mercedes to have the sound and feel of a Mercedes few of us could care less what you do with yours. Personally I don't see much a financial savings of puting a chevy engine in this car. It's NEVER cheap to swap motors like that if you are paying someone to figure out all the parts that don't line up. If I were to do it myself I think I'd be more interested in an all Aluminum six with a nice five speed.

As for performance mods for this car it's easy. bolt on a blower with custom fuel injection. done.

Who sells the bolt on blower?

John Roncallo

[ericdee]

I want the bi-tubro kit.

[speedy72t]

Originally Posted by Roncallo

Who sells the bolt on blower?

John Roncallo

As far as I know there isn't one but that would certainly be the easiest power gain on this motor. The motor is very solid and low compression. The problem would be the injection. CIS is not a very tuner friendly system. Lucky for me I have no real interest in turning this 4000# led sled into anything other than a top down cruiser.

[Mike Miller]

Originally Posted by ctaylor738

Also, you could probably get $4K for the car as is. Take that, along with the $10K you were willing to put into the engine, and buy a 560 with 60-90k miles. There are plenty out there. You could also find a higher mileage 129 in that price range.

I paid $11,500 for my '92 R129. Yes, it has 149K on the clock, but runs perfectly and has very good compression, lower end and looks great. Little niggling problems with the cruise, but what the heck. Unless you are attached to the car, there are good deals on R129's better than mine out there.

[kingjnod]

I ended up getting a '99 SL500 (silver on silver) with under 50K miles and one year platinum warranty from Mercury and trading in the 107. I am so happy with the 129 that I wonder why I even debated rebuilding the 107 engine. I have to be careful, it is so much quieter than the 107 that I find myself speeding without realizing it. I had been relying on noise as my speed indicator for such a long time that I forget to look at the speedo every now and then.

One question, does the 107 hardtop cart work with the 129 hardtop?

[page62]

Enjoy your 129! But I guarantee you that one day in the future, you're gonna have a strong craving for another 107...

[Scott P.]

i would pay my local napa machine shop 750 to rebuild...

I doubt that your local napa machine shop has the tools and information to bore and/or hone an aluminum MB engine block. The cylinder walls are impregnated with silicon and must go through a special "silicon-lapping according to the Sunnen Process in order to expose the silicon crystals.
Omission of the job "silicon lapping" invariably leads to piston seizures."... Quoted from Star TekInfo.

When I had my 560SEC, I checked on this and found two businesses in the USA that could perform this process and the cost was extremely high... I think around $2500 + shipping for the block alone!

In this case, I'd stay away from NAPA... or most any local machine shop for that matter!

Scott P.