1981 Mercedes 240D W123

[scotty2hotteee]

Great job man

Thanks! Next major project is a motor swap. Something different. Im.seriously considering a Cadillac 425 V8 with the stock Mercedes air cleaner and some mercedes decals on the valve covers.covers . No one will know what it is.

[scotty2hotteee]

[SkrApUNB]

I've been lurking this thread for a month or so now. I was curious to see how you were going handle the rear shocks. I am intrigued for sure. I just had my w123 delivered to me over christmas and I am stoked to get busy with the air set up. It needs a lot of work, mainly suspension, one of the front springs is missing and the other is sitting on a woodblock so yeaaaa haha. but ill get a thread up tomorrow if possible while I'm at work.

But, great job man. super stoked to see you get this thing out of the garage and get it rolling. Looking forward to seeing the reliability of the the bag set up from ebay. looks like a pretty clean install for sure!

[scotty2hotteee]

Changes

If I were to do it over again, and I probably will address these shortcomings, here is what I would do. The front bags are 2500 lb and the rears are 2600 lb. The 2600's are slightly bigger in diameter but boy are they better. They pop up faster with a lot less pressure and that makes for a softer ride. My issue was clearance. After installing the rear bags and moving them slightly away from stock spring location I realized that I could have done exactly the same thing on the front. I'm going to order a set of 2600 lb bags for the front and put them slightly forward and outboard of stock location for the benefits they'll provide.
I also ordered a new air manifold. The one I fabricated from hardware store fittings was a constant leaker. The car would be on the ground in 1/2 an hour if I didn't maintain constant attention to the switches and keep it level, now with the new air valves it stays up where I want it indefinitely.
Lessons learned right?

Next up is a motor swap. I have a line on a Ford 351 windsor V8. This is my hot rod/weekend cruiser so I'm making it like I want it.
Yee haw!

[SkrApUNB]

That's going to be sick! Yea I'll be doing airlift v2. I've been looking at different bags and I think I'm set on slams specialties bags. Probably ss5 or ss6. The diameter is super slim for a double bellow bag and they extend a pretty good amount.

Do you happen to know the height of your bag set ups? Like from the bottom of the bottom bracket to the top of the top bracket? When I go to fab up my brackets I don't want to end up going too big.

[scotty2hotteee]

So I had some old 17" BBS knockoffs that a buddy gave me some time ago, I finally just coated them with some black plasti-dip and some metalizer. Picked up some good used tires and put them on just to see how it would look. I think it changes the entire look of the car, what do y'all think?

[scotty2hotteee]

I've also purchased the next big addition. MORE POWER!!! I wanted to do a Cadillac engine but found a great deal on this low-mileage Ford 351 Windsor and FMX auto transmission. The 351 is lighter and smaller, yet makes similar power. It has the oil pan sump in the right place. It's also complete from carb to pan, distributer to water pump. It came with the ignition system, coil, starter solenoid, pretty much everything I need to convert a diesel Mercedes to a Gas ford.

[scotty2hotteee]

[scotty2hotteee]

So here is how I finally ended up in the trunk, no leaks, everything works as it should.

[scotty2hotteee]

Out comes the old engine, ready for a new one.

[scotty2hotteee]

The Ford 5.8L 351W isn't too much bigger overall than the 2.4 liter diesel that came in the car.

[scotty2hotteee]

sitting in place, figuring out mounts and location.

[scotty2hotteee]

https://youtu.be/bol8ndXsIaI

[evoDRichie]

love it, makes me miss my benzo

[Jarnam]

Mate i love this, been toying with the idea of bags but the rear setup is what got me stuck! love the innovation here