josh2109
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 10
- Your Mercedes
- 2001 E430 Estate, 2002 E320 CDI Estate, 2001 SLK320
Hi folks,
I thought I should write up an intro post as I've been a lurker for some time reading some of the great technical info on this site.
My first foray into Mercs was a CLK320 which was brilliant but we sold in anticipation of moving to Slovakia for a period of time. The impression lasted though, as even though it was old and cheap when I picked it up the quality of the interior finish and the reliability was excellent, and it was fantastic fun to drive. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
We came back from Slovakia and then some short time after another Merc popped up for sale locally, and after booking a quick viewing I found myself with this E430 estate:
It was a brilliant car for running the dogs round in, and I ran it as my daily for about 6 months or so before the gearbox decided to go pop. I have since sourced another gearbox for it which just so happens to be mated to a 5.4l AMG lump. My parents live at an old farm, and the E430 is currently laid up awaiting the gearbox transplant. I'd like to try and get this sorted over the summer - the original plan was to drop in the AMG lump at the same time, but I think that's a tad ambitious at the moment and part of the reason that the project has been on the back burner. It seems like a bit more of an involved project than the old VW's and Honda's that I used to muck around swapping engines in.
Not long after the E430 got laid up, a friend offered me an SLK320 for scrap money. The catch was that the control arm on one side had snapped and this had resulted in the sump getting cracked and the gearbox becoming damaged. He had a spare M112 out of an E320 plus gearbox which he chucked in, and my brother and I picked this up as a project to work on together. There was no real rush on this one as it was mainly something for us to do in idle time. The old engine and box are out and the new ones in, the main issue now is slowly grinding down the starter in order to get it to fit properly as the E class engine has the hole on the wrong side. We've blanked it and drilled out the correct side for the SLK, but it's a faff as the mating surface isn't finished properly.
Finally, to bring us up to date I saved an E320 CDI from the scrapyard a couple of weekends ago. The owner hit a speed bump and burst the rad, so I hooked up the trailer and paid him a visit.
I've got a new rad for it and I'm just waiting on a water pump, then with any luck it should see the road again. It seems fairly clean underneath so it definitely deserves a chance!
The OM613 is new to me, which is what has spurred me on to introduce myself - I have some questions to ask in the relevant section, but thought I best say hi first!
Cheers,
Josh
I thought I should write up an intro post as I've been a lurker for some time reading some of the great technical info on this site.
My first foray into Mercs was a CLK320 which was brilliant but we sold in anticipation of moving to Slovakia for a period of time. The impression lasted though, as even though it was old and cheap when I picked it up the quality of the interior finish and the reliability was excellent, and it was fantastic fun to drive. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
We came back from Slovakia and then some short time after another Merc popped up for sale locally, and after booking a quick viewing I found myself with this E430 estate:
It was a brilliant car for running the dogs round in, and I ran it as my daily for about 6 months or so before the gearbox decided to go pop. I have since sourced another gearbox for it which just so happens to be mated to a 5.4l AMG lump. My parents live at an old farm, and the E430 is currently laid up awaiting the gearbox transplant. I'd like to try and get this sorted over the summer - the original plan was to drop in the AMG lump at the same time, but I think that's a tad ambitious at the moment and part of the reason that the project has been on the back burner. It seems like a bit more of an involved project than the old VW's and Honda's that I used to muck around swapping engines in.
Not long after the E430 got laid up, a friend offered me an SLK320 for scrap money. The catch was that the control arm on one side had snapped and this had resulted in the sump getting cracked and the gearbox becoming damaged. He had a spare M112 out of an E320 plus gearbox which he chucked in, and my brother and I picked this up as a project to work on together. There was no real rush on this one as it was mainly something for us to do in idle time. The old engine and box are out and the new ones in, the main issue now is slowly grinding down the starter in order to get it to fit properly as the E class engine has the hole on the wrong side. We've blanked it and drilled out the correct side for the SLK, but it's a faff as the mating surface isn't finished properly.
Finally, to bring us up to date I saved an E320 CDI from the scrapyard a couple of weekends ago. The owner hit a speed bump and burst the rad, so I hooked up the trailer and paid him a visit.
I've got a new rad for it and I'm just waiting on a water pump, then with any luck it should see the road again. It seems fairly clean underneath so it definitely deserves a chance!
The OM613 is new to me, which is what has spurred me on to introduce myself - I have some questions to ask in the relevant section, but thought I best say hi first!
Cheers,
Josh
