tore down my 84 280e euro ex ralley car engine today
 

this poor car i owned for about three years about 15 years ago and sold off when my son turned sixteen.

after a few months i regretted it and contacted the buyer and asked for the chance to buy it back when he tired of it.

so about a year ago he called and said it was mine for a pittance. so i went down to get it with the cash and pulled up to where it sat about 40 feet from a largish stream. i opened the door and found the interior very dirty. i said "it looks as if it has been flooded" he said he didnt think so. but i felt it had been for sure but bought it anyway. and it had sat for at least 4 years with some minor problem.

it has some rust, is very dirty in side and the motor was extremely stuck. so i had my indie pull it and took itover to my favorite machinist's shop and waited for him to tear it down, and waited and waited and waited. finally yesterday i said you want to tear it down tomorrow? he said ok.

so i spent the day tearing it down with his supervision. it was rusty in the cylinders but he thought it was not flood water but just condensation. the valves and cams look very good as does the chain and main and rod bearings. not much ring ridge and the rust in the cylinders is miniimal. the actual mileage is unknown but i estimate it at over 200k.

so the question is does anyone know the cost of euro 280 pistons? he has a dealership for mahle pistons but doesnt think he can get the euros. he thinks if they aren't too expensive we should buy new ones and bore it. if they are like $200ea. we will prob clean up the existing ones and bore if nec and sleeve. or just hone it if the taper is in the allowable spec.

overall it looks very good and the dist. didnt go under by the looks of it. that is good 'cause i remember buying wires and dist. cap and they cost nearly $200, back then.

so my latest plan is to get it running, install the black euro interior from the 83 300 i parted out and drive it. i think i will put on the eibach (or k & whatever) sport springs i bought for it 15 years ago but never installed. and a growley exhaust.

anyone have a clue on the piston cost?

tom w

Funny you should ask.
I am rebuilding the M110 in my 76 280, and I though about switching
to Euro pistons. I had to call MB Classic, and my dealer cost was $254
each......Ouch!
I will be using the OE pistons for $80 ea.
Regards,
DR.D

ouch!
 

indeed. hope we can salvage the factory pistons.

thanks for the info.


tom w

Why not just have some aftermarket forged made?

A set shouldn't be that spendy from places like Venolia, Diamond, Ross, etc. At least less than $250/slug from the dealer.

so, hit man, how does one go about that?

tom w

You'll need all the specs of the old piston to send to them. Bore, compression height, ring locations, etc. If your old one isn't too far gone, I bet you could send it to them to make the new ones from.

so do you have
 

an idea of the cost of six pistons specailly ordered this way?

tom w

From what I've seen the higher quality forgings (like what I listed, and others) will probably be around $900-1100 for a V8. So about $110-140 each, nearly half of the dealer.

thank you sir.

tom w

No sweat, hopefully they can make some for your needs.

being thrifty by nature i am hoping to clean and reuse the original ones. then if too much taper to install new sleeves which will be less than either other option.

but it depends on how well they clean up.

tom w

i got a quote today for 145 ea. plus shipping tax whatever. also emailed phil for a price.

tom w

Not too bad.

so i cleaned up two
 

of them today and took the rings out. my favorite machinist says it looks like they are pretty good, so unless there is a bad one in the next four i will prob be able to use them.

tom w

Rings
 

May I suggest you save on of the old piston rings for placement around the individual's neck that allowed this fine automobile to detoriate to its current condition:(