Actually - forgot to ask, is the transmission still with the car? It is much easier to mate them up outside of the car and drop in both at once. You'll need to find an OM617 to use the same transmission. There aren't too many differences between the OM617.950 that came with the 79 SD and the 617.951-2s that came in the early w126s and w123 turbos.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth