W115 and M115 Performance

[DieselPaul]

Here's an obscure one for you, the stroke8 forum seems to be no more so I figured I'd ask on here.

I've got a '72 220 gas, 115.010. I really enjoy driving it, drive it to work quite a bit actually, it sort of reminds me of driving my 280SL, its got the big round gauges, same steering wheel, etc.

However the 2.2L automatic is a little lacking in the entertainment department.

I have all the stuff to swap it to a 4speed now and I intend to do that in the near future, need to knock out a couple of other projects first. I've got a set of light alloy wheels from a 240D to put on it as well.

But, are there any other little mix and match junkyard upgrades for the W115 or the M115 motor?

I've read the W123 front calipers are a bolt on upgrade for the W115.

Are the rear sway bars on a W114 any bigger than a W115, or does a 123 sedan bar fit a 115?

The exhaust manifold looks restrictive on the M115, it looks like my spare 190SL header would bolt up but would not clear the frame rail, I also don't want to use my 190SL parts on this car, but I didn't know if ponton parts represented an improvement or something.

Sort of a silly question, but little things here and there would make it more fun to drive and I have access to quite a few parts cars. I also do not know /8's all that well so I do not know what interchanges.

[Palolo]

I do not know /8's much either, but I do know that on other marques' vehicles where there is a great range of vehicles/engines/performance, more often than not, the higher-performance cars will have the thicker sway bars, and the diesels may also have them, and may also have larger/heavier duty stuff, compared to the basic models.

I'd look to the 280's and the diesels, and see what specification their components are.

Like you mention, the next-chassis-in-line also has parts that are backward compatible, like you mention the 123 stuff. One just has to look at the rear brake pads for a Benz to see how for what seems like 30+ years (?!) the rest of the car seemingly evolved around that one fixed part.

The 114/115 (in my opinion) was one of those seminal platform changes for Benz, where suspension and manufacturing made the transition to the modern era, where the 108 was more rooted in the past, so it makes some sense that there would be more compatibility with 116 or 123 parts and equipment.