230 ce newbie

[bigharry]

hi ppl, ive just found myself a car i loved during my childhood:bannana:. a carat 230 ce, circa 1989. i was wondering whether i could replace the tired engine with a 300 maybe? or possibly larger?
would there be alot of electrical isuses?

better still, is there any independents out the who carry out conversions?

cheers h

 

[imadoofus]

I would have thought you're better off buying a 300, and swapping over the bodykit & wheels, then selling the 230

 

[bigharry]

the car is pristine, thats the problem. i dont mind doing a engine swap depending on cost. if i appears to be to expensive i might have to go down the 300 route ten retro fitting t kit, which i would be as expensive maybe?

 

[grober]

The easiest conversions are all in line engines since the car was originally designed for these narrow more economic engines. V8's are possible but involve much more work. The early inline sixes are easiest with the cruder mechanical injection cars preferable to the later integrated ignition and injection system cars which can also suffer from flaky engine wiring looms. Don't get me wrong the later sixes are probably better more economic engines but for a conversion a contemporary 3 litre six would be easiest IMHO. Even a 2.6 straight six from a w124 or w201 would be a nice cruiser. For a successful conversion you will need an entire DONOR car for all the essential bits and bobs required. If you are a bit more adventurous and willing to really get into the electrics ecu's etc then a 4 cylinder 230 kompressor engine or even a 270 5 cylinder turbo diesel would be interesting but difficult choices. You will find most independents are wary of taking on jobs like these due to the time and huge number of imponderables involved. Costs would be high also for people who really know what they are doing. So its really a DIY job with selective interventions by independent workshops for setting things like tracking and engine mixture control etc

Having said all that there's really only one choice and the best to keep the authenticity of a 89 car
3 litre straight six

 

[bigharry]

cheers, i plan on giving the engine a serious overhaual before i fit it so i very pleased. will there e any gearbox issues?

 

[grober]

Cars of that vintage have the 4 speed switchable e/s hydraulic gearbox which are pretty fulproof if looked after with regular fluid and filter changes. If you have a donor car I would be inclined to transplant the engine/gearbox as one unit if you can since there may well be slight internal differences to ratios etc from the 4 to 6 cylinder engines. Make sure the gearbox fluid transfer pipes and the radiator cooling coil are in good nick as they are known to corrode with disastrous consequences for the gear box. I would take the chance to install a separate gearbox fluid cooler radiator myself but not strictly necessary.

 

[bigharry]

im off to find some engines. thank you very much for your help