Bagged Mercedes W115...

[RatJack]

First time out of the garage in 2013...

This.

Loving the diesel man! Don't go to the dark side of petrol

[Zman86]

^thanks man!

Well, I coughed up the $500, look for updates in the coming weeks and months...

[TeckniX]

Found this on another forum - May help as a 'todo list' for the OM617 swap

I'm foolishly involved in a similiar swap! I have never found "A List", I have, however, spent waaaay too much time researching this topic myself though and thank God for this site and "those who have gone there before me!" Here's what I have discovered so far in my research:

1. Motor mount brackets, the aluminum "arms" bolted to the sides of the block that rest on top of the rubber motor mounts. Definitely unique to the w115 chassis with the 5 cylinder diesel. Good luck, no longer available from Mercedes, if you need the part numbers that are forged/cast on the part, I can probably help you out there. Having these numbers alone, to enable "searching", is just about priceless!

2. Transmission, using an automatic, the transmission will be different because of the turbo engine, that is, preferably you will want to use a correctly corrsponding automatic to the engine for a number of reasons. I'm going to use an entire complete engine/transmission package, all from the same donor car. Your probably wishing to use your original standard shift transmission so I don't know about all that, probably will need to do some research on this forum about what flywheel/cluch issues you will need to resolve. I know the info is available here, I've seen it.

3. The transmission crossmember from the w115 (with an automatic) will work, it will need to be relocated rearward though. You should be able to find an existing extra set of bolt holes for repositioning rearward. Supposedly, no other changes needed.

4.a. Driveshaft. Driveshaft is shorter. You may be able to find a driveshaft shop that might be willing/able to cut yours down. It will probably be pricey if they will do it at all. I contacted several driveshaft shops around where I live, no one would touch it. Was advised, "BAD IDEA", multitude of technical "why for's" not to do it. If you can find a correct w115 300d driveshaft, probably will be fairly cheap. Best advice if especially if it isn't but about $100, buy it!
4.b. Shifter linkage will be a little different. Transmission sits further back. You may be able to modify existing relatively easy. Best bet, snag original from same said donor W115 300d that you get the driveshaft out of.

5.a.
Radiator is different. The 617 is bigger engine, more heat! Find a W115 300d donor!
5.b.
Also worth considering; the adjacent oil cooler radiatior may be different too, have not thoroughly researched that one out yet either.


6. Springs are different. Engine is bigger, heavier! w115 300d springs are stouter!

7. Rear end is geared different: 1975 240d ratio: 3.69
1975 300d ratio: 3.46
So your choice here, original rear end will reduce fuel milage, top end speeds, that is cruising speed on the freeway, the engine will buzz more rpm's and with that comes reduced fuel milage, finding a donor to swap will throw off your speedometer, if it was correct to begin with! Don't kid yourself, there is a noticable difference between these two ratios!

8. Glow plugs and starting: with the 240 there's that two stage pull knob on the left, the 617 engine uses the key switched fast glow plugs with the "second switch" position for starter engagement. So there's that; some wiring, key switch change over stuff. I need to do some more research on this issue to decide how I wish to manage this change, myself...

9. Oil filter housing issues: You're either going to have to "hack" on that body brace strut on the driver's side to make clearance or make an adaptor (or find someone that makes one) remove the oil filter housing that will allow you to use some kind of AN fittings/custom hoses to run to a either some kind of after market remote oil fiter mount or modify the existing housing to mount remotely. I'm going to modify the brace on my car to be removable/replaceable inspite of whatever detrimental effects it may have on structurally rigidity because its simplier, quicker and there is room for the oil filter there, its just that it is impossible to drop the engine in there with it in place an impossible to change filters too. Either way, custom oil cooler lines may be necessary as the later 617's and especially the turbo's will have different oil filter housings than the original 5 cylinder diesels that were available in this platform. I don't know for sure yet, haven't crossed that bridge yet!

10. IF you are going with a turbo, you will need to research all the vacuum lines, where they run and what the are for. For example; there's vacuum lines to run from the intake manifold to a firewall mounted pressure release bypass solenoid, then the line runs to the ADL. I'm not sure yet about all the wires, other than one goes to the pressure switch on the manifold. I need to do some more research on these issues too....

11. A/C mounts, hmmmm....you won't want to use the original set up from a W123 car or W126, interferes with the crossmember on the frame, may need to use an original w115 setup IF it can be mounted on the TURBO version of the 617, more research needed...

12. P/steering pump mounts, hmmmm, I'm going with the original setup from the donor car, may very well have to have custom hoses made up, don't know yet.

13. Exhaust pipe: Different, the part that comes off the turbo runs down and makes a 45 degree bend to run under the car, well up there coming off the turbo, it is a special flexible kind of pipe.

14. Throttle linkage will have to be reconfigured

These are just the points I know of as I have not actually started putting mine together yet, just doing the research on what I will need to get started and accumulating parts so far. There could be other points of interest and different ways of doing things other than what I have listed here. Just trying to cover all the bases here on disclaimers! Your results may vary!

[Zman86]

^ thanks! I've actually already read the list, but it helps to know its here. Already can't remember what forum it was from.

A friend and I went out to get the parts car today. I was going to flat tow it home, but he told me you can't with a Benz. After four years of sitting, all it took was a battery, some fresh oil and diesel, removal of various mouse nests in the intake system and bypassing the glow plug timer/relay.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BATJdcaBrN4

Then it was time to drive it home, as I was only 6 or 7 km up the road. Well, the throttle pedal detached from the floor and jammed under the throttle, on a large hill no doubt, and let to a very slow hill climb. Then the front calipers started to stick, causing the brakes to smoke. During this whole drive, I had my head out the window to escape the smell of mouse piss.



Stopped at the beer store on the way back, friend followed me in my TDI. I love the yellow lights, my favorite thing about the 123.



Back at the farm after some offroading and a fast drive to verify the engine was working properly, friend has videos of both I will try to get.



Will probably degrease tomorrow and start the removal Monday.

[tauriq]

Definitely one of the most legendary W115s in the world, love the transformation of this car!

[Raarasutra]

Oh yeah! This is going to be awesome

[Zman86]

I've really been struggling to find motivation to work on this car lately. The body is in really rough shape, and honestly the best option would be to scrap it and save all the suspension bits for a cleaner car. I had at one point put it up for sale after finding out we were losing our shop, but couldn't follow through with it. The car will be going into storage at a friends house until the time is right to start working on it again.

I was supposed to pull the drivetrain from the donor car months ago, but just never did. The tranny let go in my friends '82 300SD last Thursday, so this weekend we yanked it out finally then swapped the transmission from the 123 into his 126. Engine is going to work next week to be degreased then will be stored in our new shop where I can prep it for installation into the 115 and converting it to a 4spd manual.

[gaiex]

Please can you help me identifying the flyweel part number from your car, the correspondent to the auto box?

I'm doing the oposite, I'm converting from 4 speed manual to auto, but I'm looking for the correct flyweel and auto gear leaver link to the auto box!

PS: the drive shaft must be also the correct one right? or the auto and manual shaft are the same?

Thanks

[Zman86]

Bagged Mercedes W115...

Mercedes balanced their crankshafts and flywheels as one unit, so unfortunately, you can not just swap flywheels. This is probably the first issue I'm going to deal with when I start swapping mine. Im either going to see if I can have the standard flywheel matched in balance to the auto, or pull the crank on the 917 turbo and have it re-balanced with the flywheel. I also believe the manual driveshafts are shorter, and the transmission mount crossmember has to be moved as well.

In other news, we made the move from country to city.


We found a small garage for rent right down the street.

Old shop


New garage



After getting the appartment sorted out, we started working on the garage. Shortly after that, a much nicer garage on the same block became available at the same price, and we could not get my girlfriends car into our garage due to clearance issues. Shortly after, we were moving again


The green car will be down in the next couple weeks, where I hope to start on the turbo diesel/manual swap. Unfortunately, our Chevy Bel-Air will not fit due to length, so it is currently being stored.

[mike-81-240d]

Just fyi not sure if you know this or not, but in order to swap in a 617 turbo motor you will need to relocate the oil filter housing. There are some nice guy over on superturbodiesel.com that developed, and produced a oil filter relocation block off plate. Good luck. Also many people have gotten away with swapping a 4 speed into a 617 turbo car without match balancing anything. MB did not match balance all of the cars, just a select few. I myself did it without match balancing on my first W123, no vibrations at all.

[Zman86]

Hmm, everything I read lead me to believe that they all were, but I had also read some guys did the swap without balancing. Debating whether to try it or not. And I'm aware of the oil filer housing issue, but have not yet looked into a solution, so thanks for the link! Also believe the turbo does not clear the right side frame rail.

[Zman86]

Picked up an awesome vintage shift knob at the flea market today to finish off the upcoming four-speed swap. Car should be down at the new shop soon.



Some pics of the four speed stuff,full story is earlier in thread

[Zman86]

Finally got it home. Work should start on it next week...

[A4crn]

Cool, good luck with the swap!

[Zman86]

Have to clean the bay, sort out the wiring, and get everything ready to go for mocking up the new engine.