Things sure get messed up in the translator sometimes:

Description,
"W123 gearbox are in town, he works well off 5 good cook is very rare 5 box
he comes from under my 230th."

Is a Euro about the same as the Dollar?

Charlie

1euro = 1.44 usd today. + 18% VAT + shipping.

Army,

I will post my commentary here as I posted it on SuperTurboDiesel (roughly speaking):

Does anyone have a very rough guess as to universal supply and demand for a Getrag 717.400 Manual 5 Speed Transmission ? I believe I will need a 4 speed donor car for the remainder of the parts, so 2 cars are really needed for the transplant -- and a lot of luck.

I have access to a US Post Office on a military post, so if someone OCONUS can ship that from a US Post Office on a military installation, post office to post office, then the prices are same as we enjoy in the USA.

I cannot image that the US demand for a Getrag 717.400 is so huge that the universal supply could not accomadate the need without price gouging. Any thoughts from Europe ?

May be you've missed my post in the other thread...

I can't get onto a US military base - I don't have a suitable ID card (any more).

Even if I could the nearest USAF base to me would probably be this one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_Air_Base_Geilenkirchen

and there may not be a US post office there... to be sure I'd have to go to the other USAF bases that are further south...

In realistic terms it would be easier for me to go to Schipol airport (out skirts of Amsterdam) and get on a plane and fly it to you...

My memory sucks.... LOL. You did point this out .... Sorry about that.

Marktplaats is a bit like a Dutch version of ebay... (although there is ebay.nl as well)

For 99% of the purchases on Marktplaats you wouldn't expect to have to pay VAT (now 19%).

Shipping is the killer for anything that can't be put in an envelope with a stamp.

Fine - I can't think of any way of getting these goodies to you for a reasonable amount of money...

A cross member for a 5 speed W123 cost another forum member a reasonable amount to send - but a gearbox or a steering box... that's getting way out of hand.

Well, I indicated elsewhere that most of the price increases or price premiums is the result of my impatience. As for the MECHANICAL steering box, I think I have a lead on one for about $23.00 USD. So, the all elusive pictures never materialized and I did not pay the $6.00 bump for a snappy. May have saved about 75% and maybe a bunch of headaches and disappointments. Then again the $23 may be a waste of time too because I may opt for the electric power steering pump. I will post my project on STD.

This seems like the kind of thing Kennedy Engineering might be interested in making. They do a lot of engine adapters for VWs and exotics. If I were really intent on doing a conversion like this in the U.S. I'd talk to them.

starter's on the wrong side for a 123...

I've contacted a few folks out there in the engineering field, and the costs go through the roof and the project becomes untenable -- at least on my budget. The trans deal is really a tough one to crack, i.e., adapting plate, et cet. Simpler items include the PS, Vacuum Pump, and EWP. Hooking up an electrical PS pump from a different car has been done by a bunch of folks in different applications. If it doesn't work, then I am probably out no more than $100.00 or so. So, if it works, then great. Or, an EWP is about $400.00 or so. Just getting an engineer to look at this will cost way over $100, and that is before I even get one blueprint or CAD drawing, and there is no way to amortrize the costs or spread them so that the costs are not a killer. Too costly to re-invent the wheel.

That doesn't surprise me at all... I wouldn't be surprised if it actually came off a Yugo... People are often either ill informed, hopeful, deceitful, or just plain wrong - buyer beware! Know your onions before you shell out ya cash...

have you spoken to machine shops?

adapter plates are a pretty common thing to make, lots of guys have made crude ones out of 1/2 inch thick steel plate and a torch for little money, but almost all the time the engine was coming out and going into a much more configurable body.

I have one that adapts the OM617 to a variety of chevy transmissions. Cost me I think 900 bucks or so, including a bunch of other bits to make it work, flywheel, spacers, hardware, ect.


The big trick we need to find in north America is what domestic or asian common 5-speed will fit in a MB trans tunnel and work. Its difficult to get anything interesting in these older cars because of the oddball spacing designed around the old side lever tranny setup.

I'll help out:-

http://www.driftingstreet.com/drift-cars.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Rear_wheel_drive_vehicles

http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/rwdlist.html



But wait for it



http://www.iseecars.com/cars/rwd-manual-transmission-cars

Search German sites for "W123 5 gang"
http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p0.m570.l1313&_nkw=w123+5+gang&_sacat=See-All-Categories

The UK had many of them too.
http://motors.ebay.co.uk/