A coupe of REALLY interesting EBAY items
 

This one for for what appears to be a real nice 280SEL, but what grabbed my attention was the changed rear gear ratio to 4.09....I bet it really jumps. At the expense of some cruising fuel economy I bet.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6336&item=2462771916

The Next item is for headers for the 117 engine. I notice that it has an O2 port so they must have been for something other then a 108 chassis.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33631&item=2462656714

Perfect for Tomguy in his persuit of more get up and go.

Hmm, that 4.5 must top out at about 90mph with the 4.09 rear end! Well, that might be exagerating the point slightly...

You could really burn up a set of tires with that, but it must be a drag on the highway. Mine hums as it is at 80 with the stock rear end (I thought they were 3.23's)?

-JAS

headers....
 

I'd LOVE to see pics of those installed...

You'll still need some custom plumbing done -
on the pass side you have two down pipes that converge under the floorboards.

If I didn't have a timevalve stainless and just R&R'd my manifolds, I'd be all over the headers.

I don't think that either side would work well in the 108'109 with the stock pipes. The pass has 2 pipes, yes, but the driver's side manifold has the exit between 2nd and 3rd pipes, this is much closer to the end - you'd need a custom exhaust.

Litton: When I (someday) get the cash, I'm going to have my own pipes designed, and try to find a way to have dual dual exhausts (like a lot of newer cars have - 2 pipes on the left, 2 on the right) with the crossover somewhere close to the engine.

She's so fine,
 

my 4.09!

Seriously, though, what model would the 4.09 ratio have come from? Something with a 4 cyl. or a very small 6? Perhaps a taxi option in Europe? Not likely, in any case, to have enough guts to take the torque of a 4.5 for very long.

the 02 port could be for a wideband

like this one http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/

Those headers look real intresting. Anyone guess when type of performance increase one might expect with these?

I could be wrong, but looking at the exhaust on a 108 4.5, I just don't think that it it's that ineffienant. The pipes look like there are pretty much equal length, they are reasonably free of kinks. In fact each side is a 2 into 1 then to a collector. I think MB did a pretty good job putting this engine togeather and would be surprised if they even matched the ports.

Honestly, in a 108 I think the actaul HP gain would be minimal. Now if you are talking a 74 and later 450 SL, I bet it would be a differant story with the smog et al.

One thing I don't get about the 117/108 combo is that the right (pass) side has 2 downpipes and a union around the transmission, where the driver's has a single manifold and only 1 pipe. This is the crossover thing all over again, just in a different way - the right side has a crossover much later, the left side has to crossover in the manifold itself! Unsure about the effect this has on performance...

I don't think those would even fit into a 108/109... the pipes on them would probably be out too far and would be on the chassis!