'51 Mercedes-Benz 170S

In reply to Azryael :

In regards to VW/Audi motors, all the early 4cyl motors had both intake and exhaust on the passenger side when longitudinally mounted.  This is the same layout as the TDI, but gas and available intakes for carb, CIS, and EFI.  Pretty most anything VW, 8V and older than 93 will get you there for the engine, old Audi for exhaust manifold or just make a downpipe and use the transverse manifold.

Matthew

In reply to Azryael :

Narrowest common axle I'm aware of is the early S10 @ 54" wide.

In reply to Azryael :

LMFAO I'm so happy you finally found GRM. Let me help you on this thought! 

The prospect of CIS gives me nightmares, though it's a fantastic system when in working order. I always remember that "meme" about the special CIS tool...

Those axles look fairly inexpensive and like they'd fit the bill! Question is, should I just snag one off ebay, or see if I can find the time to head to the local yard. I have no help available so it would be a solo yard run as usual.

On the flip side, I found a '79 240D with a 4-speed manual for $850 locally. Has 450K miles on it, so it would be due for a rebuild. Body looks solid as well; I'd stash it away for a future build. M119? LS?

Azryael said:

The prospect of CIS gives me nightmares

I can't blame you, there. The VW hydro heads (hydraulic lifters, Digifant 2, 1987-1992) take regular injectors (as VW did with the Corrado G60, which is a motor I have) allowing either the VW EFI or something like megasquirt.  G60 computers (OBD1) can be modified for NA, turbo, or left as supercharged if one falls in your lap.

Matthew

I have CIS to deal with on both of my 80s MBs and I'm looking for excuses and time to switch to EFI.

MB diesel is looking like the strongest argument at this point.

I texted that guy about that $850 240D, no response yet.

Going to look up gear ratios of that 4-speed and then see which S10 year axle will serve me best.

I'm filled with renewed excitement to work on this thing. If I can get that 240D, there will be a build for it in the future too.

How heavy is that diesel Mercedes motor ?

I rember that Cuban car show where the guy had a boat diesel motor in his old Chevy and it cracked the frame .

In reply to californiamilleghia :

So, from my research, the OM636 from the 50s that was fitted into these weighed around 350lbs. The OM616 is around 450lbs or so.

To give you an idea, one these cars is running a flathead V8, which is around 570lbs. I've heard of another running an old 360 Chrysler LA motor which is around 550lbs.

The frame on this is some pretty robust and thick tubing, it's actually impressive.

I love the idea of that rolling around with a rotary, ha! But I'm weird enjoy weird engine swaps. I have a five speed and ancillary parts from the time I swapped it into my 190d 2.5 turbo. If you are interested I might trade for that 13b. I also have full brakes from a 400e if interested. Either way watching this one with interest.

In reply to meareweird :

Where are you at? Seems like an interesting proposition if you're close enough!

The rotary is cool, no doubt! Just don't know if I'd want to live with it for periods of increased used. I can imagine taking this car on trips to Florida (my hometown on this side of the Atlantic is Pensacola, where most of my family on my American side resides) and can't imagine I'd enjoy the drone of the rotary at high speeds for 10 hours.

The rotary itself was a turbo'd unit that came out of an RX that we're currently putting an LS1 with a TKO500 in at the owner's request... that's how I ended up with the motor. Turbo hardware was not given to me, but I'm sure I could get it if you wanted it.

Still haven't heard from the guy with the 240D, which is a shame, because I was excited for a project to have after this one was running!

Going to look at parts today is going to have to be postponed.

When I got to work this morning, the upper inlet of my radiator decided to give up the ghost after 34 years. At least it waited for me to park...

I've epoxied the damn thing and picked up extra coolant in hopes of it being able to just get me home; will be leaving work early as a result to avoid heavy San Antonio traffic. Old cars get jealous easily...

I am in Ohio so it would be some plannign but maybe a halfway meet up would work. Let me know if you want any more details, pictures, etc. 

In reply to meareweird :

I'll let you know for sure!

Focus has shifted to making an all-aluminum rad for the 16V since they are NLA from anywhere. I don't trust used because they won't have sleeved necks either... just another ticking time bomb.

I ended up having a friend pick me up so I could grab my truck and a trailer; to hell with having some stranger tow my precious car!

This is a very cool project.  240D motor is a logical choice as long as you can find one.  

With respect to the BMW engines, you shouldn't need to part out an E30 to find one.   The 2.7L ETA motors (M20B27) are torquey and probably well suited to this car.  Because they're the "economy" engine, I regularly see them for sale for a few hundred bucks as people swap them out "i" motors or for the newer more modern E36 M50 engines.  Even the "i" engines (M20B25) and the M42 4cyl motors seem more common and inexpensive than they were even 12 months ago.  They're all passenger-side exhaust engines.  I imagine it's also a lot easier to find with a BMW matching manual gearbox than the Benz motors.  

In reply to Hoondavan :

You've got that right when it comes to being easier to find!

I never did hear back from the cheap 240D, so I'm talking with someone else who may have what I need. Shame because I really wanted that shell for another project!!

Azryael said:

In reply to Hoondavan :

You've got that right when it comes to being easier to find!

I never did hear back from the cheap 240D, so I'm talking with someone else who may have what I need. Shame because I really wanted that shell for another project!!

You hit up the guy in NB? 

In reply to yupididit :

Yeah, I had him take some approximate measurements of the motor too. I'm gonna ask if he has a nice 123 shell for another project.

So I spent some time attempting to progress on the 12V conversion, but a lot of the wiring is frayed, chewed through, and has been hacked and spliced in many areas.

This means a complete rewiring is in order...

Fortunately I have wiring diagrams:

Because of the intention of using a different motor, I've gone ahead and simply ground the battery to the chassis, however, as you can see, there's no direct way of getting power to the fuse strip for certain accessories. It goes from the battery, to the starter (currently absent), and from there at terminal 30, it goes to the ignition switch/steering lock to provide power for the instrument panel, wipers, and cigar lighter. Everything else seems to then receive switched power through the lighting switch. The existing wiring seems to be similar in thickness to 12AWG wire, so that's what I'll be using throughout, but I'm wondering if I should simply wire in a new fuse panel that makes use of standard blade fuses. I have plenty of the standard size ceramic fuses, but it's the minis that threw me off.

I also need to figure out the headlight situation, as these are larger than the standard 7" round lights, that rules out the use of the Hella lenses to do an H4 conversion, so here's the original unit:

Here's the bulb holder for the "parking light" on the bottom and the BA20d headlight bulb up top:

Finding 12V replacements for the BA20d bulb has proven somewhat problematic, as they all seem to ship from China with mixed reviews, and while I've found LEDs exist, I'm not sure how well they'd work.

So that kinda leaves me where I am at the moment. I'd be able to work on this much more if I had it here at home, but it's basically stuck at the shop until I get a rear axle in there, and my three-car garage is already filled with 5 vehicles.

   If you do a search on E-bay, you should be able to find a head-light wiring harness.  It will have the head light plugs and entire wiring harness, with relays, then you head-light switch will only have the load of the relay.   That is what I did a few years ago to update some wiring in a car with some questionable wiring.   It was a complete kit just plug it intot he head lights and connect the relays to the original car wiring.

In reply to TED_fiestaHP :

Yeah, that's kinda the route I was thinking of going, but so far none of those kits offer a way to secure the bulb into the housing. I suppose I could make some press-fit ones at the shop.

One other thing is that the halogen bulbs usually have that shield that sits right in front of the bulb that isn't present in these housings either. That means adaptation is necessary to avoid blinding traffic regardless when using high- or low-beams.

Those wiring kits, just have the plug for the bulb, there are different kits, depending if you have 4 separate bulbs or 2 bulbs that do both low and high beam.

    To actually mount the bulb, you would need a light assembly from another car, or a new light assembly.   If you adapt a entire housing, then you would also have the aiming adjustment.

  Most high load stuff now uses a relay, to reduce the load at the switch.   The circuit you show is rather simple, but all the load from everything goes thru the switches.  All the amperage is going thru the ignition switch, that might be asking a lot of that switch.....

It is indeed a lot. Isolating the lights to a relayed circuit is going to be the best approach. I will need to come up with something.

Great to see that car getting some attention.

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

I would give it even more were it not for working 12 hours a day and the car being at my shop instead of at home.

I still haven't sourced a donor vehicle, and I'd prefer to get the whole thing, but we'll see. Still looking for the key too!