The Sleeper Part Deux - Page 9 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

greazzer · #1 01-23-2013, 04:52 PM

VSTECH and I celebrated our sixth week together this past Saturday and on Sunday it was over. I finally got the Sleeper Part Deux finished and VSTECH rejoiced it was finally out of his driveway. We had a celebratory lunch and we parted ways. LOL. It is paint code 684, Pastel Beige. I will get some pictures shortly. It is super nice! Interior is near mint. The drive train swap took a few more weeks than anticipated and a few more problems discovered. Right now, I will keep my promise to VSTECH and repair the driveshaft immediately. This is a five speed Getrag 717.400 but the driveshaft appears to be a 240D with about 1-2 inches hacked off and jammed into the center joint. There is no nut, no rubber boot, and somewhat unsafe in my opinion. VSTECH was kind enough to give me another 240D driveshaft, the smaller end, and that will be properly shortened. I hope to get this out this week. I was super behind on orders, injector services, et cet, but now caught up. Between flu like symptoms, traveling here and there, and the car project, we finally got 'er done ! The drive shaft is a high priority since this is a ticking time bomb. Another surprise was my leaking head gasket. So, my suspicions lead me to believe there will be another drive train swap in a year or two. Because of time and ease, we just flipped the old rust bucket clunker over on its side to get the trans cross member out since the rusty fasteners just spun. That was done about 3 weeks ago. I should have brought my correct five speed trans member and avoided the frustration, but it was interesting flipping the car over. Overall, the drive train swap occurred as somewhat expected and the car itself runs very, very nicely.
I re-installed the manual steering box. Most of the maintenance was already performed on the drive train before the swap (See my prior post “The Sleeper” http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/328327-new-project-sleeper.html), so I will be shifting my attention to some mod’s: Euro Bumpers, aluminum rims, either 5.5 or 6.0, mud flaps, re-locating the oil filter canister, EWP, and water injection and putting my WVO system back into the car. I got rid of the “exhaust system” and installed a new header pipe and a non-leaking exhaust system. Sounds 100%+ better. Looking to re-finish the wood with a different look. I picked up the interior shifter plate without the power window switches so I will be hitting the yards shortly to pick up manual window regulators. The car I got now, the Sleeper Part Deux was JayBob’s old car and the most important thing I can say at this point is the following: Thank you John!