The following post deals with the conversion of a 1985 500 SEL to 300 SDL from a 82 car.
All things considerd the swap went well and was not overly difficult.
You will have to use most of the parts off the diesel car including transmission, rad, fan, shroud.
You have to wire in the glow plugs and coolant and oil pressure sensors (easy)
You can reuse the driveshaft from the SEL providing you change the yolk on the transmission (you need a 30 mm deep 12 point socket)
you will not be able to use the driverside engine shock as the mount is on the wrong side of the frame.
The gas tanks are the same although i ended up changing them anyway, I made new fuel lines using inexpensive brake line hose available at any auto parts store.
YOu will need to switch the steering lock and ignition switch to the diesel car because of the vacuum shutoff.
When completed the car works well, no noticable differance in speed was detected, car accelerated to 100 MPH easily although the speedometer reads 10 km to fast. (possibly due to changes in differential)
And to make it more unique, get a 300SDL trunk badge, and since this is a 85, get a TURBODIESEL trunk badge as opposed to the TURBO badge used from 86-87, 90-91.
-Joe
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