Are the 280 six-cylinder gas engines rare in ZA? Those were a factory option and probably easy enough to convert as long as you had a parts car to salvage the CIS stuff from.

 

Not rare. But you won't get one which has been hacked out of an engine bay. However I do know where to find just the engines.

I would guess that for the conversion, the diff, transmission and fuel tank would need to be changed too hey?

 

Fuel tank is the same but you would need a different strainer.

 

Actually, 300D parts are not that rare, nor that expensive, even in South Africa. You won't find many on junk yards because:

1. They never break;
2. Their engines are popular as generators, or for "upgrades" of gassers, 240Ds and G-wagens;
3. There were many more 240Ds, 230Es and 200s than 300Ds.
4. Their owners don't want to drive them unnecessarily, and they don't want to sell them.

There is also the FleaBay option (subject to SA Post Office cooperation...)

But, if you really want to, you can swop a M102 easily, a M110 easily, a M116 V8 fairly easily, a M103 or a M602, M603, M605 or M606 somewhat easily.

Or you can swop in anything from a Chev V8 to a Toyota 7M-GE or 2JZ-GE six-cylinder, a Lexus V8 or even a Toyota 2L or 2L-II 2.4 lt diesel.

EDIT:

Sorry, I meant to say "But, if you really want to, you can swop a M102 easily, a M110 easily, a M116 V8 fairly easily, a M103 or a OM602, OM603, OM605 or OM606 somewhat easily."

 

But, if you really want to, you can swop a M102 easily, a M110 easily, a M116 V8 fairly easily, a M103 or a M602, M603, M605 or M606 somewhat easy.

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Dont forget that the diesels have an o infront of the m
A om601 is an option to, both 601 and 602 is easy to get in there, no need to weld driveshaft, (if the car is an manual to start with atleast) and enginebay is no problem.either. more or less plug&play.

The sixcylinders m103 and om603/om606 is quite tight but doable.

If going diesel and you want the car a longer time, a diff swap to a better ratio might be an option to

 

I'd love to get a nice OM606 in my w123.

But, if the Lexus v8 is more available than anything Mercedes, then I'd do the swap. I've swapped that motor in a few cars before. All alloy quad-cam v8, revs high, and is one of the best sounding none-race engines out there. 6bolt main, super strong internals, and never breaks unless you apply too much boost to them. Oh and they're good for about 5 to 6psi in stock form. The 1uzfe is one of the most reliable engines out there. But, if you're really stuck on brand loyalty then stick with the om617 that you have. They're super reliable and easy to work on.