Hey Army,

Unless I am reading the table cocked-eyed, those numbers cannot be correct. For example, I know for a fact that the five speed front piece is about 18" and the 240D is about 19 1/2. I also know that the 240D piece that was cut had about 1 1/2 inches cut off which would make sense. The auto from the 300D was the smallest. Also, the 300 with the 5 speed and the 300D auto had the thinner type of tube, e.g., straight piece of tubing vs. the one shaped like a coke bottle on one end. I am thinking that the rear section is constant or the same for all flavors, so its just the front piece. When I get the entire DS back from the shop, I will take some more pictures to do a final compare and contrast and with exact mm numbers. Also, I will ask the guy what is the construction of these things. Looks like just a steel tube.

My recent experience converting an auto to manual lead me to think the center support bearing was the constant. The rear shaft changed only if the differential was a different length ( which was the case in the cars we were swapping). The front shaft changed based on the length of the tranny.

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You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need.

I was thinking the same about all W123 prop shafts being the same until I saw this =>



I've asked around and apparently this two UJ design was not only used on the long wheel base W123s but also on some of the early W123 sedans and coupes.

I've been told there's a list in the FSM somewhere - I'm still looking for it!


As for the validity of the data posted by LutzTD I guess it is pretty good - as he's a top chap! But I have no way of verifying any of it.

I can say the same about 200T over on BW (the other link I posted) he seems to know his onions too! I can verify the measurement I made for the front length of my prop shaft (on the BW thread) that's off of a W123.130 chassis...

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

The two bearing design in a normal sedan would allow smaller diameter ds tube to be used. I would be surprised though if any standard wheelbase cars were built with that feature though.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

(Sorry for the late reply - computer trouble this week)

I too was surprised to see the Russian EPC pictures showing the two UJ prop shaft design (look back at the picture and notice the chassis designation at the top).

I've been informed that it was a very early "feature" of the W123...

Do you know what the W114/W115 set up is like?

(We need someone like you with lots of cars to tell us this kind of stuff!)

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Wew ... I hope to get it shipped tomorrow or next day at the latest. We'll see.

My 68 222D has a 2 piece prop shaft. BUT, I have a reference manual called "Mercedes Benz 220/8 1968-1972 Owners Workshop Manual" which clearly says that both 2 piece and 3 piece shafts were available in these cars. It unfortunately doesn't say what determined this design choice. If you trust the diagram in this book showing these two options, both are for the same length of car. In the 2 piece, the first one is small diameter and the second is larger. In the 3 piece, all three pieces are small diameter. Not sure if any of this is relevant, but I wanted to share.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Well thanks for sharing anyway! Your workshop manual doesn't by any chance have a list of the vehicles / chassis numbers showing which vehicles had the 3 piece prop shaft? Probably not! And I guess it isn't your favourite bed time reading...

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Stretch's last comment was prophetic. I went into EPC and it turns out that the 3 piece propeller shaft is used for gasser 123s and gasser 115s. I did not check every possible iteration, but a 220 w115 (gas) has a 3 piece and a 230 w123 (gas, I picked it at random, no idea if it ever sold in the US) also has a 3 piece. The picture that Stretch included above is misleading slightly. It is in the EPC, but grayed out for all diesel model 123s. It appears that diesel 123s (240D, 300D, 300D turbo, 300CD turbo are the ones I checked) only came with a 2-piece prop shaft. If you need pictures of any of these options, let me know and I can cut and paste them from EPC.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Great stuff! I'm stuck using the Russian EPC ('cos I don't want to pay for EPC - Europeans have to...) which is always a danger.

I've heard that it is possible to backwards search a part number in "real" EPC to see which cars it is fitted to - would that be possible with the part number for a 3 part prop shaft?

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Yes, you can find all the cars a particular part is used on. I didn't know how to do this until just now. But MB updates/changes there part numbers occasionally, so it is not a fool-proof method as it might miss virtually identical parts (but with different part numbers).

There is a part number for the 3 piece prop shaft on the 123, and each piece has their own part number. So I guess I can look up a few options if interested. What specifically would be most helpful?

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Sorry for the delay - yet more computer trouble.

If you you are able to just list the cars fitted with a 3 piece prop shaft that would be absolutely fantastic. Use the part number that describes the whole thing - that should be nice and quick

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

OK, please forgive me if I don't see the obvious. Why is exactly does the OP refer to the car as a "Sleeper"?

I'm always understood a "Sleeper" to be a car that doesn't look fast, but is in fact quite fast.

Sincerely,

Packman

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83 240D - 4 speed manual - Manilla Beige
189K miles, Tachometer mod, cool wooden shift knob from PeachParts, CocoMats, Original factory paint, manual windows, manual sunroof. Starting to add AudioWrap to this car too!

Perhaps that is the goal

A sleeper is something/someone unassuming or unnoticed whose value ultimately exceeds generally low expectations. E.g., a race horse might be ignored by bettor's in favor of flashier or winninger horses, thus attracting long odds, but a few notice his pedigree is perfect for the race conditions and call him a sleeper. So, a car that is a sleeper could be one that is faster than it looks, but it could also be one that is more reliable than it looks, or more comfortable than it looks, or capable of being prettier than it's original state ... etc. ... it has value not everyone can appreciate at first glance.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)