(w108) Non-stock Mercedes wheels and tires, oh and motor too! lol

[68_Mercedes]

A 240 Z with a 350 Chevy would be COOL!

As far as the v8 install on the 108. It shouldn't be much tougher than the v6 we put in ours. We went with the v6 because we were were concerned with having enough room when finished. Now that it's all done though, I can see that there was plenty of room for the v8, all though I still like the v6 cuz there is so much room under the hood now to work on it. Makes life simple.

Anyway, the 350 v8 chevy and the 229 v6 chevy are pretty much identical, other than the fact the v6 is missing 2 cylinders. So I would imagine that the 350 would be almost an identical install to the 229. The only downside that we found is, you HAVE to do something with the rear end because of the gearing. With the original MB rear end installed, we were really pressing the motor at about 55 mph to 65 mph. The chevy drivetrain and the MB rear end just aren't compatible. I suppose a person could find a machinist, if you knew anything about rear ends, and have have new gears built to change the ratios. We didn't want to get in to that tho, fo fear of breaking down in the middle of no where, and no way to get parts for the car. So we decided to switch to the vette rear end.

Anyway... I just got out of the hospital.... was in there from Tues morn to Sat eve... so no pics yet. Sorry.

Oh, and 108seeker, if you ever want to know what all is necessary to make the conversion, just holla. I'm sure we could arrange some sort of trade....

[108seeker]

Thanks for the offer, but I still have to get my Z finished. Can't win a war fighting on two fronts! lol

Yeah, there are actually plenty of V-8 Z's out there, but the LS-1 is a different animal. The mounts are different, the tachometer has to be modified for some reason (I don't claim to understand all of this). Point is, you can't just use the coversion kits. If you want some good information or just want to look at some cool custom stuff, go to hybridz.org. These guys are very knowledgeable and are really doing some out of the box stuff. Even though it a "Z" site, they enjoy talking about anything different and interesting. You might even post there if you come up against something you can't figure out. Well, I'm rambling......

[68_Mercedes]

Thanks for the info! I'll have to check it out. A hybrid site would be cool to check out..... I'll have to pop in there some time.


I definitely know what you mean about tackling 2 projects at once.... ONE is enough to whup my A$$! LOL! I can't even imagine trying to tackle TWO!!!!!!!!! The trip to the hospital isn't helping matters either.... I've been in and out of the hospital now for 8 months, and it has really screwed things up for me.... but hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I will get back to work on mine very soon............

[108seeker]

Yeah, definately check it out.

Sorry to hear that you are having health troubles. Hope you are past the worst of it

-Adam

[68_Mercedes]

I DO have some questions on the AC hookup that I haven't quite got the bugs worked out on... I think I'll hop over there later and see iff they might could help me out on that one.....

Thanks for the kind words sir... I hope we are past the worst of it too, but judging by the doctor's demeanor and just my own experience, judgement, and gut feeling, I think the worst is yet to come (although I pray I am wrong). So far though, every time I think we've got the problem fixed and I start feeling good and getting back to being able to do things (like working on my car), KABOOM! And back to the hospital we go...... It really sucks....

Good luck on your Z.... send some pics of that little beast sometime.... curious to see/hear what all you have done!

[108seeker]

"So far though, every time I think we've got the problem fixed and I start feeling good and getting back to being able to do things (like working on my car), KABOOM! And back to the hospital we go...... It really sucks"

Hmmm, kind of like restoring a car...lol.

I'm still a little ways off, but I can start to seriously think about the paint job now. If I can just get through this EFI conversion it will really start to roll, I think. I just got my restored dash back from "Just Dashes" in California. That got me excited again

[68_Mercedes]

Hmmm, kind of like restoring a car...lol.

Yeah, but at a hell of a lot bigger expense. We did the math, the hospital stay is costing approximately $808 PER HOUR!!!!!!!!!! Considering I have stayed now over 12 straight days in the hospital (plus various repeated out-patient trips), that adds up to about 288 hours, or $232,704.00 ($19,392.00 per day) . But that does not include surgeons, lab work, anethesiologists, doctors, etc. That is for the hospital stay alone. Thank God for insurance, although the amount left over I'll have to pay will be more than enough to have completely finished off my car..... There's always SOMETHING that gets in the way.............

[68_Mercedes]

Well, I had a $50 Best Buy gift certificate in my drawer for the last 2 years, so I finally got off my butt and went and cashed it in and used it towards the purchase of a digital camera. So, here are some pics. They were taken around 10:00PM last night, so they're not the best.

The motor doesn't look real clean, cuz we used a lot of used parts (altenator, brackets, compressor, etc) just to put it together with while we were working all the bugs out. We're now taking those off and either repainting them, or chroming them. So some of the parts and pieces are missing off of the motor, as you will prolly be able to tell in the pics......

[68_Mercedes]

Driver's side pic..... shows that rear has been lifted from its original height.... and shows 14 x 10 rear tires/wheels installed. (These are not the tires and wheels that will stay on the car... just something to roll it around on! lol!)

[68_Mercedes]

View of motor:

[68_Mercedes]

Passenger front view of motor (& body work). The pic just wouldn't be the same without my nosey a$$ cat gettin her butt in the pic! Aw well... atleast she keeps the field mice away from it since we live out here in the country....... Good Kitty! Good Kitty! I can definitely say that mice will NEVER be a prob forr so long as she is around.... her favorite place to sleep is on the frame in the motor compartment on the passenger side.... I finally had to put a cardboard box in there to keep her out cuz every time we went to work on the car, we had to vacuum out the engine compartment to get out all the cat hair first! She still hangs out under the car tho. Guess she loves it as much as we do! A cat with class................ Bite that Garfield! lol

[68_Mercedes]

View of rear wheel well clearance with set of 14x10 tires/wheels installed:

[68_Mercedes]

Driver front view of car and motor:

[68_Mercedes]

Driver rear side pic.... can tell in this pic that the rear has been raised from it's original height:

[68_Mercedes]

Well, there she be.... a diamond in the rough... definitely in MAJOR need of a new paintjob. Oh well... soon enough, soon enough. Atleast the major mechanical overhaul is almost completely finished.....