w124 260e 1jz swap

[drop tuck n' roll]

Hi All,

Long time lurker on here, an old friend convinced me to re open my account and try to document some of my build.. Well here goes, this a build i am excited about and have researched a bit. I love the w124 chassis as its probably the longest running production Mercedes next to the w201.

And the story begins, purchased the car in March of 2019 from a older gentleman that had this car for his daughter in college . She graduated so he posted it for sale. I was lucky to find one fairly cheap $1k and taken care of with maintenance etc I will try to document as best I can. By no means am I a professional mechanic or a fabricator, I work in IT lol and love this hobby.

First day bringing it home 1989 w124 260e:



Attempting to detail the hood, as its def gonna need a re-spray, but looks good from 10ft away lol:


After coilover install, still have a lot of room to go in the front, As for the rear will need a shorter spring no biggie:

[SebastienPeek]

Let's go! I'd highly recommend uploading the picture to Imgur my dude, much better quality etc

But either way, pumped to see this going ahead

[drop tuck n' roll]

Not bad for 1k but it shows, the roof unfortunately being a California car gets beaten on by the sun. Since I like to learn I will try sanding with with 400 and painted it with factory merc spray paint,



After:

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Got Bored one day and tried test fitting some Vette wheels in front 17x9.5 + 56 or so with a 25mm spacer.. didn't want to clear the coilovers but it looked cool for like 5 mins


Fast forward like 4 months of hunting i was able to get a pair of work ewing 1 in 17x9 +25.. If anybody has another pair hit me up in LA


Fitted the fronts with a lot of hammering pulling, even used fender spacers the MB guys keep talking about.. with a bit of camber was able to get it to fit

[drop tuck n' roll]

Let's go! I'd highly recommend uploading the picture to Imgur my dude, much better quality etc

But either way, pumped to see this going ahead

Def gonna give imgur a shot

[drop tuck n' roll]

Mounts came in, The weld quality are adequate but they fit rather well. They did fit surprisingly well, I didnt even have to slot any holes or anything


Found a rear pair of Riverside stitch mesh and had them widened..maybe a lil too much lol 17x10.25 +20 with a 15mm spacer so offset of +5, Might be for sale in LA




Getting ready to remove the trusty old m103, took me longer to disconnect all the wiring and vacuum hoses than pull the actual motor out


Its out, I really wished the radiator support bar was removable like the w201 would make it a lot easier to get the engine in and out, but ohh well


Fast forward a few months of researching and trying to get my hands on a jz motor. Finally got one and got it started om the ground. This was my first time doing this, the fact of just learning the basic fundamentals of electricity, grounds, power, fuses and you can start it.. pretty cool

[SebastienPeek]

That's a healthy sounding 1j!

[Duhafnusa4]

very excited for this build!

[hinrichs]

Wow that engine sounded good running, cant wait to see your progress getting it mounted in the car.

[drop tuck n' roll]

Wow that engine sounded good running, cant wait to see your progress getting it mounted in the car.

Thanks bud, Im am excited to get this thing movin on its own

[drop tuck n' roll]

While the car was sitting on stands. I wanted to experiment and put some old Centra wheels my uncle had laying around, I think these suite the era of the car better. I will probably leave it on these while i find another pair of work ewing 1 to complete a set.


Finally the engine is in on its own (test fit)


Shifter position is too far forward if your gonna use a USDM r154 from the mk3 supra, you will have to get the shifter housing extended about 3.5- 4". Learn from my mistake and either use the JDM r154 tripod shifter or use the bmw e46 m3 trans with a collins adapter kit


Everything fits luckily.. the Heatsheild bolt for the turbo will need to be removed or cut off, as its a tight fit with the mount, but it works... Also you eill need to replace the OEM oil feed line and drain with flexible stainless lines so it can work


Took the engine back out to remove the shifter housing to send to Driftmotion to get extended, annoying but mandatory


In the meantime i got a lil bored and made a little gauge pod which to my surprise fit pretty good made out of some ABS plastic from Amazon, its not perfect but works, hope I can find some kind of wood like vinyl to wrap it in. We will see


And cant forget a nice Nardi wheel to go with the Interior, always wanted one and saved up my pennies for one


Overall the swap is going as planned, its like it was meant to happen, all the heater coolant hoses line up only require a little snipping of hoses. The Fitting sizes for the powers steering, fuel lines, clutch pedal assembly was easy to find with a help of a friend. I will provide pictures of clutch pedal assembly when i get back home. I hunted for 4 months for a authentic w201/w124 clutch pedal assembly as they are interchangeable between chassis. The wiring for the starter line up just right, onyl need to splic the benze and jz crank wire together (easy)

[drop tuck n' roll]

Hi all.. So waited a month to get my shifter housing back as the shop was extremely busy. The quality of the welds look amazing great work from Driftmotion. I got some friends coming over tomorrow to help guide the engine in with the new shifter housing, will also need to mark up the hole on the trans mount.


I tried getting the clutch pedal in as its tight down there with the set still attached, but im a pretty skinny guy so I can manage. its 50% in as i still need the line made once the engine is in so i can measure


Also saved up for a Future fab downpipe.. as it jus clears my mounts and event the pitman arm


And finally have my gauges test fitted in the lil gauge pod i made

[Yezzz]

Dude, this thing is rad. Cant wait to see it with the engine fitted in there moving under its own power!

[ThayQi]

That escalated quickly!

Cool car, love every bit of it, especially that sweet sweet Nardi steering wheel...

[drop tuck n' roll]

Finally the First start, disregard the high idle as there was a vacuum leak: