190 project

[Hunter20]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been looking at starting a project on a 190 recently and i have a few questions that i hope some of you will be able to answer.

My rough plan is to engine swap with something with a bit more umph and then make it into a sort of evo III replica, I have seen some comments on this site with regards to swapping a m111 or a m113, has anyone here completed these swaps or any engine swap and what hiccups did you come across and what would you recommend?

Are generic parts still being produced for the 190 and is it still rather simple to get hold of them?

And probably most important being the base car to buy, i’ve again read on here that people favour the 2.6 as a starting model but as they seem to be hard to find in my area what are other models that would be ok to use and what are the differences that i will come across? autos seem common, what is it like to do a manual conversion on them if possible?

Thanks guys

 

[ChipChop]

Hi Hunter,
my advice would to buy on condition. w201's are very well built cars but still with time rust in lots of obscure places. A good starting point would be an original car that has not been messed around with.
With a sacco panel facelift car open the jacking point covers and look for rust. Look in the area adjacent to the jacking bungs on the floorpan. Is the drain grommet still there? Check the inner rear wheel arches where they join the floor jacking area. If possible take the rear seat base out and look for rust near the floor rubber bung.
Check the rear subframe mounting points and the anti roll bar mount area just above them. Can be a difficult to repair if too far gone (subframe out may be req).
Check under the parcel shelf in the boot for rust and examine the rear screen area with the bootlid open for rust. Again a more difficult area to repair.
Another rust spot can be on the inner front wing under the washer fluid bottle. You may also find the front inner arch liner mount is rusty.
Front wings go at the front lower edge and under the wings sacco panel.

The good news is the metal used on w201's is good quality and the areas above may just need localised repair so grind back to good metal and graft in a new section.
Cars with bodykits from the factory or aftermarket tend to rust much more badly.

Best of luck in your search. Great cars.