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Mar 16, 2016 20:15:23 GMT
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I figured I'd start my own thread to showcase my European-spec Mercedes-Benz 500SE! From what I know, the vehicle was built for and sold to an American who had worked at the US Embassy in Lebanon (I have the import documents) who decided to jump ship in the mid-80s when the bombings occurred and brought the vehicle back to Texas. During federalization, it was given a US-spec top-end for emissions (yuck), Gen I US lights, and US tail lights. Fortunately the bumpers were left alone! Since I've owned it, I've reinstalled Euro front glass lights with nice Silverstar H4s, but am still trying to source a set of European tails to return the vehicle to a 100% Euro exterior look (to match my European 1985 190E 2.3-16). I haven't worried about the top-end too much since I plan to EFI and run boost in the future, so I'll be pulling better power/fuel economy than with a stock Euro top-end. Right now in the works is a manual swap, probably using a T-56 to give me plenty of breathing room for when I boost, repaint to 040 black, and getting the cloth interior redone! I also have a front lip for an AMG kit that I need to pick up in Houston, but now I'm trying to source the sideskirts and the rear lip. The car will be lowered once I've got the kit on it. The car alternates daily duties between my '85 190E and my '97 Wrangler, but it'll probably become my favorite over the 16V once it's got a manual box in it. Now for some photos!! This was the night I brought it home about five years ago: A shot of it before I had swapped out the headlights: Custom black headliner I did (not bad for my first attempt, ever!): A shot of the awesome, but unfortunately a little tired cloth interior: Long after I swapped out the headlights, tinted the windows, and the unfinished 15" R9s it currently sits on: Got bored one day and decided to test fit the Ceginus (or Evo II) wheels on it. Really liked it, but the ET37 fronts sat in too far to allow for a center cap, and the wheels would need more meaty tires in addition to the car coming down about two inches: Anyway, hope y'all like it!!
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Mar 16, 2016 20:35:06 GMT
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Beautiful! And bookmarked!
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1986 Mercedes 200 (W124) (Standard and daily) 1976 Peugeot 404 1800 Stickshift (Standard - awaiting complete resto, engine done) 1984 Ford Cortina (P100) LDV - Cab and chassis restored, interior and glass not fitted, brand new 3 liter engine (last 110kw Sierra XR6 engine fitted and married to 5 speed Toyota Gearbox), load body needed.
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gazz81
Part of things
Posts: 842
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Mar 16, 2016 22:52:11 GMT
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Looks good, looking forward to seeing the engine upgrades.
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It's been a fantastic car to daily, even with the V8.
Engine mods are going to come well after the gearbox swap. Since my slushbox is showing signs of becoming a time bomb, that's what I'm really focusing on at the moment.
AMG did 5-speed manual conversions on vehicles with the M117 motor using the G265, but those who know the bellhousing specs and all that jazz won't let the info go because they want you to pay them to make it! So I'm going the DIY route.
I've source a clutch/brake pedal assembly from a W201 that I just need to modify slightly by lengthening the pedals, and it'll bolt right up to the firewall in my car. The 6 cylinder short wheelbase sedans like mine did in fact come with manual transmissions from Mercedes, so everything is already there.
It kinda sucks in a way, because all of the other enthusiasts are either on the East or West coasts, and nowhere near me! I would love to turn this into a group project with other 126 (and maybe even R107 owners who want a manual in their V8 SLs), but I'm stuck all on my lonesome!
EFI and an unrestricted exhaust will likely raise my motor up 300hp naturally aspirated. With boost I'm looking at hitting about 400, don't want to make it a track rocket, just want to be able to show up the occasional nimrod who thinks my 32 year-old MB is slow. Internals are most likely going to stay stock (motor only has about 56k miles on it) with the exception of ARP head studs. But we'll see if any of that will even be necessary since I'm not looking at making gobs of boost.
Wouldn't trade this car for the world, and hope to eventually pick up an SEC (coupe) and an SEL (long-wheelbase version) to have the whole trio of body styles.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧
Part of things
If in doubt... flat out !
Posts: 975
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Mar 17, 2016 10:01:02 GMT
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very nice indeed, keep us updated.
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`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold
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Mar 17, 2016 13:20:50 GMT
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Nice, I like that a lot.
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1966 MK1 Cortina 1971 Hillman Super Imp 1985 Volvo 360 GLEi 1986 Volvo 340 1.7 1990 Mercedes 190e 2.0 1993 Peugeot 205 STDT
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Mar 17, 2016 16:11:52 GMT
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Still unsure what I want to do with the wheels.
I like the R9s, but they feel a little small, and with the current tires and how high the car sits, it looks like a lifted pickup truck that's skipped leg day!
Borbet Type As look nice. Another full set of ceginus wheels would run me about $1500 or so from the classic center, brand new, but I'd rather buy used and refinish them myself.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Mar 20, 2016 21:41:05 GMT
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I'm back to considering an M120 for a long-term swap down the road... I just love the idea of a V12, and the early M120s should be easy enough to manage with Megasquirt. The bolt patterns for the M120 are also close (if not identical, as well) to the M117/119 motors so all the work I'm doing for the manual swap would simply allow me to just bolt the manual box onto the V12 and move forward from there. I would love nothing more than to get a "600SE" badge off an early V12 W140 S-Class and get it on there.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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So, just doing some routine maintenance and decided to swap out the rotors and pads.
Pad wear on the rears were way off!! Right rear caliper is seized up, and those pads were nearly ground to the shim! Left rear pad leaked brake fluid from the rubber seal around the piston, so that's in need of a replacement. The reason I'm not going to rebuild the rears, is that at some point before my ownership, one of the rear calipers had an issue and had been replaced, so they both use the same pads, but they are different calipers. I need to resolve this and have new rears on the way for $50 a piece.
Replacing the front rotors is a whole different ballgame, as the 126 uses the same style of wheel hub/rotor architecture that the 123 and 116 do. The rotor is bolted to the hub, so the entire hub needs to be removed from the spindle, which essentially means wheel bearings needs to be cleaned, regreased, and repacked. So I'm going to go ahead and refresh them completely and order a new race and bearing set for both sides. A rather archaic setup, but not uncommon. Just strange how it persisted on the 126... Oh well! With how I drive, those rotors should last me a good 10 years and all I'll worry about are the pads.
The piston seals on the fronts are both looking a little crusty, so I'm opting to rebuild those (possibly paint them too).
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Mar 30, 2016 15:49:15 GMT
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Picking up a T-5 transmission from a 280ZX for next to nothing.
I'll do a T-56 down the road when I start building for power. At that point I can sell off this swap as a kit and make my money back.
As mentioned in my other build thread, it's gonna be about two weeks before I can make any more progress as I'm heading out of town soon.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Apr 13, 2016 16:25:07 GMT
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I'm still not back home yet to finish the brakes and what not, but I've been weighing the options of looking for velour seat skins off someone parting out a car, or if I should just get them redone locally.
I prefer my cloth, so I don't want to do leather, but if I could score the even nicer velour, I'd be all over that.
If anyone's got a lead on blue/gray/black velour seat skins, let me know! I wouldn't mind blue or gray for a bit of a two-tone interior.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Apr 26, 2016 23:02:53 GMT
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I made it home a few days ago and began continuing the brake job that I'd started before I left.
I've not yet claimed that T5 for the transmission swap, and my gut is telling me to simply hold out for a T56.
Here in the next few months the car will be getting some body work to remove the handful (if you can even call it a handful) of little small dings. The car was repainted the original color once before, likely some years back due to being roasted in the Texas sun (though the car has no other signs of UV damage). Since I don't care about values seeing as I'll never sell this car, I will be painting it a color other than white. Debating between 040 Black or 172 Anthracite Metallic.
A buddy of mine owns a gray-market 500SE like me, but he has an AMG kit on his, and his is all Anthracite and it looks fantastic.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Finished my write-up on rotor replacement for these cars (also applies to 116 cars as well). It included front caliper rebuild and front wheel bearings, as well as inspecting the braking components.
My hoses checked out just fine, so I figured I'd be able to make use of them for a while longer, until I discovered that my right rear hose was completely blocked up! I was getting fluid to all sides except there. I want to drive my car already!
New hoses arrive tomorrow, and I'll be replacing all four corners just to get it all done at once.
If anyone would like the write-up (for 126, 116 owners), I suppose I could post it over in the technical section. Do we have a section of DIYs?
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Trans is getting more temperamental!
Do I bite the bullet and roll with the T5 from the turbo 280ZX or splurge on a T-56?
I'm really wanting to get this swap done; I'd be more than happy with 5 speeds.
I'm in no mood to fight with another 722 slushbox!
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Stoke8v8
Part of things
Megasquirt M117
Posts: 142
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SUB'D!
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76' 240D M117 91' M3 S54 88' M3 S54 87' 325i M54 ZHP 91' 850/6 04' Vespa 200GT 89' 325i coupe eBay turbo project
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🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧
Part of things
If in doubt... flat out !
Posts: 975
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has the box given way yet?
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`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold
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has the box given way yet? Not yet, but it's getting there. It's only a matter of time.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Jun 13, 2016 17:06:09 GMT
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I can get my hands on the T5 this weekend and start that process; there's been a lot going on in life these days that I've had to address first before being able to take some time to have fun for a change.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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Jun 20, 2016 15:26:18 GMT
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Subbing for sure! After seeing what trouble Stoke8v8 had to go through with his 722's I got worried about what will happen after I do my M117 W115 swap. So I'm dying to see someone do a manual swap (especially with the crisp shifting T-56). Good luck with it man!
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Jun 20, 2016 15:42:16 GMT
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I'm probably going to run the T-5 first, just to get it done. Then graduate to a T-56 down the road! Maybe I'll do that in conjunction with a motor swap to an M119!
I've rebuilt a 722 before and I don't wanna do it again, hah.
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh
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