I bought a 1971 280SE with very significant rust damage as a parts car. I have $3000 into it and bought it because it comes with $46,000 in receipts from the past 7 years / 20,000 miles including a full engine rebuild, replaced injector pump, gas tank, fuel pump, alternator, regulator, OEM shocks, battery,... the list goes on and on. I recognize that MUCH of the $46,000 was labor that I will never recover.

I'm considering the following possible transplants, each with their pitfalls, and would love others to chime in on my thoughts:

1. 280 SE rear axle 1:3.69 and disk brakes to replace 1963 220S rear axle 1.408 and drum brakes. Biggest problem (or not) is that my 220S has single circuit brakes and no rear compensating valve. Not sure I can do this without re-doing all of the brakes, and that might be labor prohibitive as I'm not sure the later 108 stuff will fit on the firewall of the W111.

2. M130 engine to replace M189 engine in W112 300SE IF and only if I can't get the M189 engine to run.

3. M130 engine to replace M180 engine in W111 220Sb. Not sure if I can mate the 4 speed gearbox of the 220Sb to the M130 engine. Lots of cooling issues and stuff like that also.

4. Shocks from 280SE --> either the 220S or the 1967 250SL.

5. Rear axle from 280SE should be easy swap into 1967 250SL for improved gear ratio but still a bunch of labor. But the diff seal on the 250SL does leak...

I'm certainly open to ideas. The body on the 280SE is crap, the interior is a so-so vinyl re-do that I'm not interested in using in any of the cars. The bumpers are pretty good, rear is W108 Euro style... Kuhlmeister under dash AC in the 280SE. I don't want it, so it will get sold. (all of the other cars have non-working AC)

6. Heater box - it seems to work really well. Not sure if it is an easy transplant into a W111... EPC says it's all different.

Pics of the body? Just curious.

And will the interior fit into my 114? Lol. Im not too far away.

I'll try to get some pics up. It looks great from 20 feet. You realize the paint is crap from 10 feet. You realize the driver side frame is rusted out from 10 inches. Both driver side jack points are essentially gone.

The interior would fit into a W111. It's too big for a 114. I might have some 114 interior though - I think I have a leather palomino rear seat skin...

Scott,
How is the suspension on the 108? Does your 111 have vented or solid front rotors? Since you are swapping the engine, I might suggest leaving the donor car's engine on its subframe assembly and lifting the body off of the suspension as 1 unit, and doing the whole swap. You'll get what I assume is a fully refreshed front suspension (Surely that $46k bill includes fresh rubber suspension bits). You'll also gain the front vent rotors - not that it's such a hard swap, but since you're swapping engines anyway, this is an easy way to transplant the entire suspension in.

If the 108 has a good radiator, shroud, and oil cooler, you may want to replace the old ones in the 111 with them. Otherwise, I am sure the used market will find you a home for them in short order.

As for the brakes, you may need to drill holes in the firewall and patch up old ones, but it may work out to your advantage to upgrade to the 108's system in your 111. It's up to you how much effort you want to go through, but since the engine will be out of both, it would probably be easy to use the 108's firewall and make a template for your 111.

__________________
Current:
2021 Charger Scat Pack Widebody "Sinabee"
2018 Durango R/T

Previous:
1972 280SE 4.5
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited "Hefe", 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo "Jeepy", 2006 Charger R/T "Hemi"
1999 Chrysler 300M - RIP @ 221k

Some of it is good, some is rusty.
Solid. The vented wouldn't fit with the 13" rim design backing plate. The 111 is also unfortunately single-circuit brakes.
I don't think the 280SE has vented rotors, I think that those were only on the 4.5 cars but I could be wrong. But it probably wouldn't work anyway -- the subframe mounts are rusted in place and the last mechanic tried to work on the subframe mounts and busted a bolt or two and told the owner not to do it. I've also already done the subframe mounts in the W111 and the front suspension on it is pretty tight.
It does have a newer radiator, etc. I'm wondering if it will fit though. When I had a 280S that I was transplanting into a 250S that actual opening for the radiator in the 250S was more narrow than in the 280S and the oil cooler was in a different location. If the 108 radiator will fit into the w111 then I'll certainly use it (even if it does have an automatic transmission cooler)
Yeah, sounds like more work than I want to do. Until I find out if I need a flywheel from a manual transmission M130 car I'm not sure anything is going to happen. Switching to dual circuit brakes seems like a BIG chore on this car. Kind of discouraged that things aren't easier.

I wonder if you can clean out the "Transmission" cooler on the radiator and use it as an "Oil Cooler"?

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1962 220Sb ~ The Emerald Bullet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx6tN1W48_o
1957 Ponton 220S
2001 S600 Daily Driver
The Universe is Abundant ~ Life is GOOD!http://www.classiccarclock.com

You probably can but the car will then have two oil coolers on the radiator. I think the limiting factor will be the horizontal size of the radiator.