Hello, all

I have a 1983 240D that I bought in 2012 and have been re-habbing as time allows. What I thought would take 3 months is going on 2 and a half years, but I'm not complaining. I just finished the bodywork portion and have painted the car, though I still need to do a few touch-ups and wet sand then polish the new paint.

But, I ramble on... Now that I'm basically past the bodywork portion of the project, I'm going to be getting into the mechanical portion of the project. When I bought the car, the previous owner told me it needed a new clutch. So, that's on my to-do list.

Fast forward from 2012 to last summer (2013). I bought a '79 240D parts car, also 4-speed from the original owner. The seller told me he'd parked it with a new clutch and new tires (just what exactly constitutes "new" is unknown...) sometime around 2000. I got it running, and although the car looked OK-ish above the rockers, it was rotted out about as badly as I'd ever seen, so I opted to part the car out after I got it running.

Sorry... rambling again. So, I have the '79 engine and transmission still mated together. Supposedly, the '79 stuff had a fresh clutch. My plan, therefore, was to use that clutch (provided it really does look new-ish upon examination, that is...), but also to transplant in the '79 transmission.

The '83 has around 290,000 miles on it. The '79 had around 214,000, and appears to have been better-cared-for in its lifetime.

Now, my question(s). I THINK I read that the '79 transmission is actually a better unit, and was actually built by Mercedes. Is this true, and if so, what exactly makes it "better"?

I still have the shifter and shift rods from the '79, which I know I'll need. Is it reasonable to assume I have everything I need, and that everything should swap over without a problem?