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A trek up North... Or... "Holy Euro Motor Swap Batman"

169K views 1K replies 73 participants last post by  mclare 
#1 · (Edited)
NOTE: 7/4/17 - I HAVE RESTORED ALL OF THE BROKEN PICTURE LINKS IN THIS THREAD!

Well as some of you know the head gasket in my engine blew a few weeks ago and I have been pondering in what direction I should go. Rebuild mine, get a JY motor or build one up from scratch.

Bondavi and I have been talking for about a year now on a Euro motor conversion and he has a connection up there that gets him very rare items and one that came his way was a Jap spec 220KW (300 HP) Euro motor. He also had the matching EZL and ECU to go with it. We have been bouncing ideas off each other for about a year over this on how to do it, what we would need, etc. I had originally planned on building the motor up at my leisure and do the install at the right time. Well the events ot last month threw those plans out the window.

I have never really trusted that motor and I have said so many times. Well the head gasket went and the motor overheated, not badly, but it did. Originally, Alfred wanted me to just repair my motor, but I told him of it's and the cars checkered history, and so he agreed with me that it should be replaced. We talked of my options there and he said if I wanted more HP I could go the M119 or M120 route and that he had done a M119 swap before and that it was a major PITA. I told him that my good friend 48HP had replicated the AMG performance parts and that a set of cams were available and that I had a local machinist that would do the head work so that all he had to do was the swap and startup and that Tom, my machinist would do the final tune. All he had to do was get it running, and then Tom would do the final tuneup.

My goal was to get at least to the 300HP mark if not a little more and I don't believe the naysayers that it cannot be done easily nor cheaply (relative to "other" pricing). Tom is Polish and studied in Germany at the Mercedes Factory and said he knows the M117 motor quite well and he assured me that it can be increased.

So Bondavi and I talked more and He kept on me about the Jap 220KW motor he had there and assured me that it would be a great jump off point for my engine project. I had the cams from Henric and the machine shop selected, now I needed to get my hands on a set of Mechanical Lifters for the AMG cam conversion. Again Henric came through with flying colors. He was out on a JY trek last week and saw a set in the JY and snagged them for me complete. So now I had all of the parts in house to get started, now I needed the source material.

Bondavi also managed to snag a set of Euro Gen II Sedan bumpers and had set them aside for me some time ago for my sedan. With so much going on here I told him that it would be a year or two before I could get around to mounting them and that ElRojo had expressed an interest in them, so go ahead and sell them to him.

Enter ElRojo into the picture. ElRojo (Dave also, for the sake of confusion, David is Bondavi and Dave is ElRojo, at least in my lexicon) has been SUCH a stand-up guy. Last year when I needed parts for my ASR system, he found them in the yards and knew I was desperately looking for them and called me and asked me what to snag. I met him there the next day and we snagged all of the parts. The next thing he did was point me to my OZ3 wheels on CL. I also told him I was looking for Mech lifters and he found a set in the JY and called me and asked if I still needed them. So he has been there for me and many other members many times. He and I share the same philosophical ideals and we believe in Karma and have often talked about the Karma bus stopping at his door.

So when he passed on the Euro bumpers I asked him why and he said it wasn't in the budget. Dave is a High School teacher of Physics, Biology and now Auto Shop and so like all dedicated teachers he is on a tight budget. We have millions for some asshole like "T.O." or "Ocho Cinco" (WTF is up with that???) but not for the teachers of our children.

So when I heard that I told David not to sell the bumpers, that I was going to buy them for Dave. David agreed that ElRojo was indeed worthy of that and I asked him how much for the engine and the bumpers and he gave me a price that was only $25.00 more than for the engine alone! Bondavi of all people gets it too! Both of these men are stand up guys and I am proud to know them.

I called ElRojo and told him of my plan and he immediately offered to come and "hey, let's make a day out of it!" I said of course and he told me that he had Thursday off because it was "Rosh Hashanah" (The Jewish New Year) and I said that would be perfect. We all coordinated our schedules and the plan was in motion. Up and back in one dash. Leave here as early as we can and get on the road and then up and back in one day. Dave got here to the Antelope Valley right at 7AM and we grabbed a quick breakfast at a local greasy spoon and gassed up.

And here are the pics from the trip:
 
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#2 · (Edited)
First set:

Here we are gassing up:




Here we are on the Grapevine: (It looked like we were going to have a touch of rain, but alas, no...




While going through farm country we saw a Crop Duster and I got some cool pics of it:






We saw a Gen I 126 (well several) along the way:



And the approach onto his street:

 
#3 · (Edited)
And what's in his driveway:



And the subject matter in question all ready to go:



Bondavi doing a little dance to the race fans:



And the "Dave D" AMG that is so famous:



And this is David's Euro 500SL that I am thinking of acquiring:



The equally famous Euro SEC with the TV in it:



More of the SL:





Justinwrock also joined us and here is his 300TE dropped wagon. This thing was FAAASSSST!



And another of the Euro SEC:

 
#4 · (Edited)
So we went to lunch at this place (I forget the name but it was really good.) and we were joined by Cascade too! He dropped into David's just as we were getting ready to leave in his Grand Marquis:

(I razzed him that I would not post his car because it was not a 126, but here it is anyways. If he can drive a hundred or so miles to join us for lunch, then his car can be represented... Next time bring the coupe though Jim LOL)



And some pics from the lunch:









And all of us together:

Top Row: Justinwrock - mclare
Bottom Row: Bondavi - Cascade - ElRojo

(I just HAD to! LOL!)







And some of the trip home:

 
#18 ·
So we went to lunch at this place (I forget the name but it was really good.)
It's called Brookfields, and bondavi, (a serious food and coffee gourmet in his own right,) found it for us.

It could be the great place for us to meet.. for you to end your shakedown cruise when you have the new engine in, (hopefully soon!) and the focal point for a nice big Nor Cal w126 gathering, to celebrate your fully refreshed car.

And a good Nor Cal yard crawl too in Rancho Cordova and Rocklin, too.

It there is more time, a scenic drive around this part of northern California could probably be arranged. We know some real good ones!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Some of the precious cargo:





Some of the trip home:













 
#6 · (Edited)
More:







See if you can spot the ship in there:







Some of the beautiful California countryside:









Well that's it for now. I will post more on my progress as it happens unless this thread swerves off the road.
 
#7 · (Edited)
A BIG HUGE THANKS goes out to Bondavi for getting and saving this very rare engine for me. You continue to astound and humble me.

I just called my contact at Mercedes and he confirms that the serial number to my engine is indeed a 220kW version of the motor. Also EPC confirms this too.
 
#8 ·
Great story and well told Mike!!!

Excellent photo blog, too, thanks!!

Keep us updated as how the project progresses!

We were glad to see some So Cal friends in our home territory!!

Next time, plan to stay an extra day (if possible,) and we'll set up a junkyard crawl.

Always good to see you and Dave. Here or in So Cal.

I hope to get down, soon again. I really enjoy So Cal, and your hospitality and w126 enthusiasm!!!

And of course, going to the yards, AND eating at the good places you know, in each LA Valley (both "Antelope" and "San Fernando" ).
 
#9 ·
Thanks Jim!

It was good seeing you again too! That sure is one sharp GM. Not my style of course, but it's a great trasnpo car so you can keep the miles off your beautiful SEC...
 
#10 · (Edited)
Ah, it was fun, indeed. I'm on lunch break now, but what I really need is a nap!! I can't quite believe that we pulled off a 700 mile drive and did all of that in one day! Great to see Bondavi, Justinwrock and Cascade too! I second the big thanks to Bondavi, and especially Mike for the "Holy Grail" Euro bumper! Looking into getting it painted and installed ASAP.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program (Physics next period....)
:)


PS I think the name of the lunch place was Butterfields-- the pork tenderloin special was excellent!
 
#11 ·
It certainly is my pleasure, mclare! :thumbsup: I'm glad we made it happen after discussions for a long time. This motor had 78k on it, off of a Japanese 560 sedan, in fact the 199 Euro front bumper was from the very same car!

The 4-pot EZL/ecu that you have came from the junkyard Gen2 Euro 1986 500SEL, which I'm not sure at this point will offer advantages over the US spec EZL, but I know it was a high compression 10:1 CR with tri-Y 117.965 motor, used two EZL dials (like the ECE), so you will avoid having to extensively re-wire your car for the 8-pot EZL used on the ECE... either way you have two avenues to run the motor under.

mclare took the 500SL out for a spin, while Dave got his taste of AMG kool-aid with the DaveD SEC, and finally both took turns driving the euro 560. They had fun! I hadn't started the SL in months but when I went to do it, it fired up instantly - paying dividends of a top end job done 1500 miles earlier.

Looking forward to the teardown photos - we pulled the VC's and confirmed the overall cleanliness of the engine interior, along with a chain/guides that while original, looked clean and consistent with a low-miler.

Gonna make a coffee table out of your original 560 shortblock? :D
 
#13 · (Edited)
Wish I had known you were headed to Bondavi's. I would have sent his coupe rear windscreen and seal with you. I still have it here in storage awaiting a trip to Bondavi's.

Maybe when I get BADD ABBY back on the road I can Road Trip test her out in a run to Rocklin and parts north.

She's coming along slowly. Overheating problem solved.
 
#15 ·
Not in the SF bay area this time




Unfortunately, it had to be a quick turnaround for our SoCal friends, so it was brief; but we did gather together 5 of us in the Rocklin/Roseville area, and tried to make a nice lunch gtg out of it.

We would have enjoyed having you though - maybe next time? Been a few weeks since I have had a chance to get to the SF area; unfortunately the SF dentist I still use, wants to see me. < groan >

There's a loosely organized greater Sacramento W126 group (SiNik,iwrock, azimuth_aviation, cascade, bondavi,and a couple of others of us who meet and stay in touch, crawl the yards and help one another out at times. You are welcome to meet up, and we hope So Cal folks can visit now and again too)
 
#20 ·
Sounds like a Central Cali meet should be set up. I've heard talk about one so maybe after Mclare gets his car back together?

Mike
 
#22 ·
Get over yourself.

You got owned, deal with it.

Quit hijacking mclares's thread
 
#25 · (Edited)
Now boys, don't make me sit you two down in the corner for a timeout.
 
#26 ·
here's a pic of the ezl parts on Gen2 euros:

your Gen2 HV 500 ECU and internal EZL dial, along with my spare euro 560 8-pin EZL.

Wiring a US spec to accomodate EZL dials might not be required, if your integrated resistor will work w/ a EZL dial-capable ECU? You should PnP with your US spec wiring and then go from there....

:thumbsup:!
 

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#29 ·
That engine has euro logs. I read somewhere Tri-Ys were not available on the Japanese market. I wonder how they got 300hp without them though. As you're going into some electronics, why not considering Megasquirt fuel & spark? A well executed set up can yield up to 15% power gain. That would put you not too far from 350hp mark. You can make the install easier by using Djet fuel rails and injectors instead of fabricating the rails etc. EDIS iginition would be quite an improvement over the stock set-up, especially at higher rev.
 
#31 ·
NICE! mclare, I'm excited that you've decided to go with the ece motor. And a little jealous. But mostly excited...

Do you think you will do any head or intake work to open things up for the AMG cams?
 
#32 ·
He should be the one to answer that, not us, but my (informed) guess is that he will coax everything possible that the motor has to give, out of it, and he is justifiably looking forward to VERY satisfactory results to behold.

I am really hoping the mechanical results turn out as beautifully as the body and paint work have, on the car (which is a total stunner now). I think it has gone WAY beyond a labour of love. He REALLY perseveres.

Like you - I wish him ONLY the best in this endeavor.
 
#36 ·
So I took the motor into Alfred at European Motor Tech and took if off the truck and he and I went over it and discussed the plan. I am going to go in the morning and mount it to an engine stand and start removing everything from it that can be removed and then I am going to scrub it clean, remove the Valve Covers for powder coating, take an inventory of what parts are needed to be replaced (all new plastic and rubber) and get all of that ordered. Also he pulled my coupe into the shop and started removing the old motor. I will take pics and post them tomorrow.

Once the old motor is out then I am going to remove all of the new components that I have replaced this last year like the Water Pump and all of the senders. The oil pan is new as well as the oil level sender so those will be installed on the new engine. The Euro motor will be completely resealed too. No leaks or drips. All of the hoses that I just replaced I will reuse. I am going to order a new Behr radiator to solve any remaining overheating issues.

One of the things that he and I agreed on was that the entire motor and engine compartment are going to be spotless when we are finished. I have on order a new hood pad that is being custom made with custom logo's and graphics on it. The ASR is going to be excised and the ABS and cruise control repaired. I have in plastic a new dual scoop air cleaner that I sent out and had polished to a mirror finish both top and bottom. I have all new engine and air cleaner decals. It will look and be brand new.

Alfred says he is going take on the good cause and pump as much HP and he can out of it, so that's good. He sees my vision now and told me he has some ideas for tuning it that he will go over with Tom.

Speaking of Tom, I spoke with him on Wednesday and he informed me that he is moving his shop. He mentioned it in Feb. when I had the car dyno'ed, and now he is pulling the trigger on it. He is moving up to Salinas where he lives and going to larger quarters. That's good because his shop here was up a dirt road that played heel on my suspension. So he said that he will pick up the motor, heads and cams once it's all stripped down and take it up there and do the work, then deliver it back to Alfred for installation. Then after Alfred installs it and does the initial tweaking, I will take it up to Tom shop in Salinas and we will dyno it again and then Tom will do any final adjustments while it's on the dyno.

Again, I am going to completely go through the engine bay once the motor is our and clean and repair anything and everything. It will look like it just rolled off the line.

I also have to start thinking about the transmission. All that new power going to a replacement JY tranny from last year is dicey. I have talked to Mark at Sun Valley Mercedes who does Transmission rebuilds and he says he can put in extra clutches and bands to handle up to 400HP. He also said he can install a switch to delay the shift points for a true "Sport/Economy" mode. So I am going to swap out the transmission shifter plate for one with the "E/S" switch so it will look factory.

I asked him if he could put in an electronic shifter so I could put in Paddle shifters. He said no way. Damn. I really want paddle shifters!

So that is the current plan.
 
#37 ·
I asked him if he could put in an electronic shifter so I could put in Paddle shifters. He said no way. Damn. I really want paddle shifters!
That or a ratchet style shifter would be cool
There must be a way to set up the box fully manualised and go paddles, even if the phisical shifting is done externaly with solinoids or the like...
 
#38 ·
He says no... Not without a completely different transmission. And my pockets are not that deep.
 
#39 ·
DAMN!!!

ARGH!!! I've been out on a whirlwind and only got Bondavi's email the other night. Did any of you crazy f*ckers think of leaving me a voice mail? :p I'd have hung out towards SAC if I had any clue that you guys were going to be up!!! I'm stopped in Crescent City at the airport charging the phone on a little road trip where everything is getting....tested :) Running awsome and the rear camber kit rocks! Understeer is way down and even wearing Good Girl's touring tires and five spokes she just let's all four tires scream in the depths of the curves Three days now of fantastic scenery, busting through sections of the Redwoods at speeds that flash on the warning signs at more than double the posted speed:cool: I even scored "a little action" the other night and had a travel buddy I named "Spoiler" for a day :) It would have all been here a day later :( Can't wait to see you get the HP into the car. You'll love it!!! Off towards Gold Beach!!!
 

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#41 ·
DAMN!!! ARGH!!! I've been out on a whirlwind and only got Bondavi's email the other night. Did any of you crazy f*ckers think of leaving me a voice mail? :p
Sorry Roy-- it's all mclare's fault-- he practically forced me at gunpoint to go up and get the holy grail bumper and 220KW engine with him. Really put a crimp in my style....:rolleyes:

No, really-- we should have thought to see where you were on Thursday-- sorry. Next time we'll do better-- I promise.

That north coast drive looks fantastic. How far south of Eureka were you? My parents used to have a house on the coast near Point Arena-- loved that place SOO much (even got married on their deck). I miss the twisties going up to their place-- dramamine drive, as it's known-- but great for drivers!

As to the pending rebuild-- Mike WOW-- looks like there's lots more to come-- even more than you told me on the drive!! (though we did talk about a few other things....). Look forward to seeing the developments... On that note, can you shoot me the number for Mauricio? I'm looking up comparison paint prices. I have the bumpers disassembled, and I'm ready to get them prepped and shot. Maybe rechromed too.
 
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