New to the SL forum and thinking of buying a 1983 380 SL to convert to a 617 diesel!

[DieselClack]

It currently has a blown motor so I was told. It's been sitting for a long time and looks like an Arizona rust free car. I'm thinking about dropping in a 617.95 Turbo Diesel engine and tranny into it and wanted to know if anyone has done this that could tell and show me what it was like.

I think it could be really sweet to have a Biodiesel Convertible!

[Graham]

Originally Posted by DieselClack

It currently has a blown motor so I was told. It's been sitting for a long time and looks like an Arizona rust free car. I'm thinking about dropping in a 617.95 Turbo Diesel engine and tranny into it and wanted to know if anyone has done this that could tell and show me what it was like.

I think it could be really sweet to have a Biodiesel Convertible!

Same thought has passed my mind!

I have an '85 300D and a 4.5L '72 SL. I would swap the engines just for the simplicity of the diesel.

There would of course be a performance hit - might save on speeding tickets!

The SL weighs about 3700 lbs and the 300D 4343lbs including engine. The 617 engine "looks" smaller than the V-8 but don't know where to find actual weights.

Suppose you would have to check out a few other things too, like affect of wheel size and diff. ratio?

If you have engine, go for it!

[Roncallo]

I have been thinking about the same, given todays gas prices. Many people love the timless classic lines of the 107 and performance is secondary. I diesel 107 would be good. will it be hard? Probably.