I have a really nice ?81 300D which requires no smog checks. Has anyone ever dropped a V6 of any sort into one of these? The engine I now have is non-turbo and would like something with some zip and a tranny for rear-wheel drive already attached. Anyone with any ideas?
Why not drop a turbo diesel in... get the whole engine from a donor car.
Take an engine from a M-B Turbo and install it. Adequate power without "reinventing the wheel."
Some years ago someone installed a used GMC V-6 and its Automatic from a delivery van into a 300D. The owner was an excellent mechanic who designed and fabricated many parts to make it fit. New motor mounts, throttle linkage, enlarged the transmission tunnel (because he wanted the new engine to be as far back as possible) and modified the drive shaft's length. Highly skilled man.
He was quite pleased with the result at the end of the 1 or 2 year project.
Fit a turbo engine, why ruin a car?
I?d really like to get something that would light up the rear tires once in a while and sort of like the idea of surprises at the ole stop light. Built a sand buggy once with a reverse rotation 6-cyl Corvair engine mated to a VW transaxle. Had to buy a special mating plate, camshaft and gear for the bottom of the distributor. You should have seen the faces of Corvair owners who watch my buggy at idle with the engine rotating in the "wrong" direction. That buggy was a tractor in the sand and would virtually shoot to the top of a sand dune. Totally dependable as well. Only other buggies that could get me at the time were those with V6 Buick power or a really hot
1835cc Volks. You can see that I?d sort of like to get something out of the ordinary. In fact if I could shoehorn in a Chevy 327 that would really be exciting.Incidentally, will the 5-cyl turbo mate up to the 4-speed standard trans now in my 240D? If so do the mounts work as well?
280 straight 6, 450SE V8....
It's all the same, the 5 cyl is just a 240 with an extra cylinder, in an ideal world you'd have another car as a donor.
You can achieve that stump pulling power simply by changing the rear end ratio...
Yes, the 5 cylinder turbo will mate up with the 4 speed from the 240. I had that exact engine swap done about 2 years ago. Car - 1979 240D with
4 speed manual. Engine donor - 1983 300SD with automatic.I kept my tranny, had it rebuilt at the time, since it was out anyway, dropped the turbo in and away we went. I did have the mechanic do this engine swap, since my engine stand was occupied by my other project car . I believe the engine mounts had to be swapped for the ones from the 5 cyl. engine, and the drive shaft was tweaked a bit.
If you are an experienced mechanic type, you can probably do this yourself, but it isn't a small job. However, I think it is worthwhile. I can actually climb the hills outside of town without becoming the hood ornament on a semi!
Rochelle
Thanks. That is great info. That might just be my choice. Incidentally, this
240D only gets 21-23 mpg with a stick. It runs great, starts very quickly, and isn't as slow as some people think...I just want more umph!"The earnest one"
My 1999 C230 Kompressor sedan (2.3L S/C 4-banger) gets about 28mp(US)g and goes like stink.
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Think I can squeeze one of those engine/trans setups into my 240D?
I've been happy with the swap. I had been getting about 22-23 mpg with both engines. It didn't make it worse with the turbo. The one thing that did seem to help my mpg was biodiesel. I averaged about 26-28 mpg with it, same driving habits. I was really annoyed when the ONLY station in the area that sold biodiesel closed. Grrr!
The 240 was a fine engine for flatland driving, I had it running plenty fast on a trip across the state, through the desert. Couldn't climb hills for sour apples though.
The 300 turbo is no faster from a standing start, but I can actually climb hills with 4 people and luggage in the car and still keep up at 55 mph. Vast improvement over 25-30 in second gear . I think you will like the change.
You might want to see if you can put in a slightly bigger radiator. I am going to do that swap as soon as I get some spare time. It seems to heat up faster and run just a touch hotter than I would like to see during the summer. Nothing dangerous, just a cooler engine is a happier engine.
Good luck
Rochelle
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