Old diesel heads

[VeggiePup]

I have old MB diesels. The one of present concern is a '79 300TD that I acquired a few months ago, running badly. The head was cracked in several places, so I began a search for a serviceable head for the 617.912 engine. Turns out these heads are hard to find. I have a good 617.952 head, I think. It has a couple of ink stamped numbers "952" and has different prechambers from the .912 head. Otherwise, it appears to match up.

Can the turbodiesel head be substituted for the nonturbo head? Will I need to change the prechambers or any other items? I hate to part this old wagon out. It's pretty nice otherwise.

Thanks,
Dale Scroggins


'67 Volvo Amazon (lawn art, for now)
'79 VW Rabbit Diesel (too much fun)
'79 300TD (presently headless)
'82 300D (recently exorcised)
'83 300CD (presently faultless)
'85 300TD (new arrival)
'86 Isuzu Pup TD (why did they stop building these?)