So I got a free engine today...
 

Called my ex-mech (since I do 99.99% of everything now, ha) to ask for a referral to a rad shop to flush/refurb the 280's rad. After teasing me for a few minutes for bringing home another old Merc orphan, he offered me a fuel-injected '78 m110. 100k miles on the clock, and was in for a blown head gasket when the owner abandoned it. Taking the truck down tomorrow morning! All I need to do is source a harness and electronics - lol.

Sorry...I'm so excited that I had to brag to someone...and the wife is sick to death of hearing about this car... :laugh2:

I guess you'll have to find a 280E emblem now... :)

Nice score! Did your mechanic just have it sitting around?

Is your 73 a 280E W108 or a W114 280C?

But, I thought that debadging a Merc gave it +30hp automatically? :rolleyes:

The engine was just sitting in his shop. I think he's happy to be getting rid of it. My car is a w114 280.

The price is right, but a head job on an M110 is messy work. -CTH

Should be a lot of work, but very do-able. Good luck.

Don't forget that you will need to use the cam box from the 280E so that you can mount the throttle linkage for the injection.

Going Euro
 

W114's had a 280E with Bosch D Jet EFI. Pretty fast car at 185hp. It should be fun.

While I have it all apart, I'm gong to see about having the cams reground for a little extra oomph. Any thoughts? Anyone have the numbers for the eurospec cams handy?

The best two things about owning a < 1975 car in Southern California is 1) the body lasts forever and 2) there's no smog requirement.

You need to start with a set of euro cams, as the relative angles of the lobes are different. They're findable, especially in Australia. -CTH

Engine in hand:


http://biliousrodya.com/190rev/m110_1.jpg

http://biliousrodya.com/190rev/m110_2.jpg

http://biliousrodya.com/190rev/m110_3.jpg

http://biliousrodya.com/190rev/m110_4.jpg


Looks to be in very good shape overall. Water pasages appear clean, housing for the thermostat/water pump shows very little corrosion. I also snagged the fuel distributor.

According to my mech, very little to do in the way of wiring - he was trying to assure me that I would be able to just run with the existing harness. I'm going to have to spend some time with the manual tonight...

are you going to use the intake system on it?

i could use the throttle body or the whole thing if you are going to use yours that you already have.

looks pretty nice.

i love the m110 motor. the euro is just so powerful!

tom w

Hell yeah, looks like a darned good engine project. Betcha the long block after cyl head work will bolt right into your 280/8.

http://www.iskycams.com/

Probly the best known and most trustworthy camshaft cutter in the USA..... They will tell *you* what kind of grind will work best for you. And even since you wont see custom cams on their internet site, call em up anyway. These guys have been legendary as the best camshaft cutters for decades.

But the general rule is not to remove too much metal from MB blocks, heads and cams if you can avoid it. Probly the most common disaster was excessive shaved/resurfaced cyl heads of m180's, 130's and 110's beyond close tolerance specs.

Meanwhile if you start experimenting with custom cut cams and swapping cams around then keep the same cam carrier with each their own set of camshafts, a question of bearing clearances. So dont fall for swapping your cams as core exchange for a pre-cut set. Send em off to Isky now and they might have em cut for you in about 6 months or so, assuming you decide to go that route.

Configuration of the twincam m110 with flow through ventilation makes a perfect engine for souping up in my opinion. How about headers and polished ports?

You do know that you need stuff like a fuel pump and relay, filter, pressure modulator, tank lines thermo-time relay, fuel return lines, and beefed up fittings on the pressure side?

I'd like an M110 for the 220S.

Yep, sure do. I've got no time constraints on this project, though, so I'll wait around until I find a 280E donor car at a local junkyard. I've seen them pop up a couple of times a year...usually pretty stripped.

2dog - thanks for the tip on isky. Will def. check them out.

Tom - for now, planning on using the intake...but we'll see as the project goes forward.

I started disassembly tonight, mainly to harvest a few small parts to get the '73 motor running enough to move the car around the driveway if need be...and maybe even brave a trip to the upholsterer this week for an estimate on the seats and headliner. Seems to be pretty straight-forward so far.