bigben
Active Member
Hello,
I am new to this forum but thought I would start a thread on the engine transplant I am in the process of carrying out. Since the challenges are mostly engine related I guess this is the right forum.
The background is I have a 1989 300SL...
...which I have had for about 5 years now and really enjoy. However it was starting to look a bit sorry for itself so needs a fair bit of bodywork restoration (some of the panels are now a bit pink / rust coloured). Since the engine was going to have to come out anyway I thought why not put a more powerful engine in while I was at it.
So the search was on for a suitable engine, a bit of research showed that the engine used in the C/E36 was based on the M104 engine which is itself an evolution of the M103 engine that was fitted to my SL. As they used the same block this gave a great chance of the physical mounting points being the same. Eventually found a doner car at the right price....
....which looks ok in that picture but was a repaired Cat C write off. The repair apparently being carried out by someone without much idea about mechanics! The weekend after I collected the car I did this....
The following two weeks have been spent parting out the car and retreiving the wiring loom.
The project plan is now as follows:
- Remove engine from SL
- Replace with C36 engine, wire up and get running
- Remove C36 engine
- Get bodywork / suspension restored (the former by pros the latter by me)
- Re install engine
- Enjoy car!
I suspect this will take me at least a year, possibly more but no hurrry.
Any advice on the engine bit welcome, I am under no illusions that the wiring will be easy but have had the advantage of being able to save all the modules from the donor car and a background in electronics engineering.
The other bit I would like pointers on are removing the paint from the engine block which is flakey in places and finding some period wheels which can clear the massive C36 brakes that will be going onto the SL.
Cheers
Ben
I am new to this forum but thought I would start a thread on the engine transplant I am in the process of carrying out. Since the challenges are mostly engine related I guess this is the right forum.
The background is I have a 1989 300SL...

...which I have had for about 5 years now and really enjoy. However it was starting to look a bit sorry for itself so needs a fair bit of bodywork restoration (some of the panels are now a bit pink / rust coloured). Since the engine was going to have to come out anyway I thought why not put a more powerful engine in while I was at it.
So the search was on for a suitable engine, a bit of research showed that the engine used in the C/E36 was based on the M104 engine which is itself an evolution of the M103 engine that was fitted to my SL. As they used the same block this gave a great chance of the physical mounting points being the same. Eventually found a doner car at the right price....

....which looks ok in that picture but was a repaired Cat C write off. The repair apparently being carried out by someone without much idea about mechanics! The weekend after I collected the car I did this....

The following two weeks have been spent parting out the car and retreiving the wiring loom.
The project plan is now as follows:
- Remove engine from SL
- Replace with C36 engine, wire up and get running
- Remove C36 engine
- Get bodywork / suspension restored (the former by pros the latter by me)
- Re install engine
- Enjoy car!
I suspect this will take me at least a year, possibly more but no hurrry.
Any advice on the engine bit welcome, I am under no illusions that the wiring will be easy but have had the advantage of being able to save all the modules from the donor car and a background in electronics engineering.
The other bit I would like pointers on are removing the paint from the engine block which is flakey in places and finding some period wheels which can clear the massive C36 brakes that will be going onto the SL.
Cheers
Ben