It has begun
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,784
Likes: 84
From: SCV SoCal
2002 CLK430
That was Ash's dash two weeks ago and that is "just" the dash prep. There was a lot more work done to the rest of the interior. The engine bay wiring had just as much work done. Can the average forum guy do this level of work? Nope. The above average? Nope. There may be others out there, but "only" guy I've seen do this type of work to a CLK - "on his own" is Ash. He didn't just cut a check. He researched everything that was required, ripped it all apart, made all the factory upgrades AND the aftermarket upgrades AND put it back together.
The level of detail on this car is the kind of work done at the Mercedes Classic Center - and it's "right". How right? Here's an example - Ash called me one day to confirm whether certain pins on the data link connector were supposed to be blank. The data link connector is a 38 pin diagnostic plug and very few trained techs know which pins are null. Ash saw some null pins and had the wherewithal to say, "I wonder if that's right . . . . ."
Ash is the man. Hands down, no questions asked.
Last edited by MarcusF; Dec 15, 2012 at 11:22 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,305
Likes: 50
From: Yokohama, Japan
2000 CLK 320
I don't think most people understand the work that Ash put into this. On a 2001/2002, a 55 engine/trans will drop in. Swapping the engine and trans was "minor" in comparison to all the other work Ash did. Ash's car "was" a pre-2001 vehicle. It "had" ME 2.0. Now its an ME 2.8. That's a body and an engine wiring harness AND making sure that all the upgraded parts that plug in to the harness "work". If anyone is wondering if "they" can do it, look at the following photo -
That was Ash's dash two weeks ago and that is "just" the dash prep. There was a lot more work done to the rest of the interior. The engine bay wiring had just as much work done. Can the average forum guy do this level of work? Nope. The above average? Nope. There may be others out there, but "only" guy I've seen do this type of work to a CLK - "on his own" is Ash. He didn't just cut a check. He researched everything that was required, ripped it all apart, made all the factory upgrades AND the aftermarket upgrades AND put it back together.
The level of detail on this car is the kind of work done at the Mercedes Classic Center - and it's "right". How right? Here's an example - Ash called me one day to confirm whether certain pins on the data link connector were supposed to be blank. The data link connector is a 38 pin diagnostic plug and very few trained techs know which pins are null. Ash saw some null pins and had the wherewithal to say, "I wonder if that's right . . . . ."
Ash is the man. Hands down, no questions asked.
That was Ash's dash two weeks ago and that is "just" the dash prep. There was a lot more work done to the rest of the interior. The engine bay wiring had just as much work done. Can the average forum guy do this level of work? Nope. The above average? Nope. There may be others out there, but "only" guy I've seen do this type of work to a CLK - "on his own" is Ash. He didn't just cut a check. He researched everything that was required, ripped it all apart, made all the factory upgrades AND the aftermarket upgrades AND put it back together.
The level of detail on this car is the kind of work done at the Mercedes Classic Center - and it's "right". How right? Here's an example - Ash called me one day to confirm whether certain pins on the data link connector were supposed to be blank. The data link connector is a 38 pin diagnostic plug and very few trained techs know which pins are null. Ash saw some null pins and had the wherewithal to say, "I wonder if that's right . . . . ."
Ash is the man. Hands down, no questions asked.
Great Job Ash, though I know you're not finished!!!
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,775
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles
CLK W208
Thank you Marcus and William, I'm speechless. I really don't know what to say but that I appreciate te kind words and I'm very humbled by them. I also want to send a very very very special thanks to my very dear friends Tony and Johnny at "Autobahn Coach Works" in Torrance CA and my very close friend Tom, without them this project would have been impossible. Also Quais at Southbay Autohaus which william707 posted some pictures of their cars when he visited me in LA.
Here is the first road test before I took it for a long drive. Car rides very smooth and powerful.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/...AE4741028E.mp4
P.s I guess my AMG style hood humps mod is exposed now. Haha
Here is the first road test before I took it for a long drive. Car rides very smooth and powerful.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/...AE4741028E.mp4
P.s I guess my AMG style hood humps mod is exposed now. Haha
Last edited by VIPclk320; Dec 16, 2012 at 03:03 AM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,435
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From: Nebraska
99CLK320,
I think you should get the Academy Award for the Best Car of the Year/Century!!!!! Plus, let me ask the question, when do you have time to do all of this? You are totally possessed, in a good way of course.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,775
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles
CLK W208
Thank you DL. This project would have been completed significantly faster if I had the time. But do to my business I'm at the office from Monday to Friday and only had Saturday and Sunday's to work on it. But they were some long Saturday and Sundays, usually 8am to 8pm both days and the long thanks giving weekend helped out a lot haha.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 436
Likes: 1
From: Surrey, England.
'00 Mercedes 430/55 clk cabriolet
Hey, hey, she lives!
Great job my friend, she sounds awsome! Are you happy with the exhaust? I know you didn't want to lose any back pressure or power.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad I was able to assist in some way.
Now, finish your car and show us some more of your mods! I'm interested in how you put your interior together with your custom paddle shift, push to start and sprint booster.
Ps, you are the man!
The level of detail is incredible. My engine swap was easier than yours since I started with a 430.
Great job!
Great job my friend, she sounds awsome! Are you happy with the exhaust? I know you didn't want to lose any back pressure or power.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad I was able to assist in some way.
Now, finish your car and show us some more of your mods! I'm interested in how you put your interior together with your custom paddle shift, push to start and sprint booster.
Ps, you are the man!
The level of detail is incredible. My engine swap was easier than yours since I started with a 430.
Great job!
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Super Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
From: West Los Angeles, CA
CLK55 / E350 Coupe
That drive away is a stock AMG exhaust?...what!?
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,775
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles
CLK W208
That you everyone, Nismo great to see you logged on after a while. Nismo is the main info and guidence man behind my project.
Alex: grille is not coming off so get used to it, I hate tr factory grille and that's that buddy. P.s pick up ur phone foo!
Pauljay, thanks mate for all the Leo with the exhaust and the other stuff. I did what we talked about and love it.
Gizzo: no decided against the Ferrari and back to my original car love, Lamborghini but i decided to Waite another year or two because as of right now I'm looking to buy a place and buying a new car for my wife because we are expecting our first one in a few months and I want to get her a four door and also looking at buying a place but this car will stay with me forever and now it can hold me over for two years until I get the other car and i will still keep this.
Time is a hard to find commodity for me I also had a torneuscle in my lower back that kept me out for two weeks. But monday through Friday is completely out of the picture for me. This project was completed over Saturday andsundays, but they were long says and Sundays(8am to sometimes 11pm). So many weekends sacrificed but well worthed. : )
P.s. the videos are with no exhaust just cats, the car now has high flow secondary cad and exhaust and sounds amazing.
Alex: grille is not coming off so get used to it, I hate tr factory grille and that's that buddy. P.s pick up ur phone foo!
Pauljay, thanks mate for all the Leo with the exhaust and the other stuff. I did what we talked about and love it.
Gizzo: no decided against the Ferrari and back to my original car love, Lamborghini but i decided to Waite another year or two because as of right now I'm looking to buy a place and buying a new car for my wife because we are expecting our first one in a few months and I want to get her a four door and also looking at buying a place but this car will stay with me forever and now it can hold me over for two years until I get the other car and i will still keep this.
Time is a hard to find commodity for me I also had a torneuscle in my lower back that kept me out for two weeks. But monday through Friday is completely out of the picture for me. This project was completed over Saturday andsundays, but they were long says and Sundays(8am to sometimes 11pm). So many weekends sacrificed but well worthed. : )
P.s. the videos are with no exhaust just cats, the car now has high flow secondary cad and exhaust and sounds amazing.
Last edited by VIPclk320; Dec 17, 2012 at 01:34 AM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,622
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles, Ca
Sean's Sister--
Ehh that grille is uglyier then Kim k's vagina....my phone sucks man, dropped it recently and haven't gone to sprint yet but I might be changing service...I'll hit u up this week.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 436
Likes: 1
From: Surrey, England.
'00 Mercedes 430/55 clk cabriolet
Word up Ash! What's the latest news?
I wrote about having my transmission custom tuned but since found out that I have an EGS51 in there. I've bought a '52' and am now waiting for delivery then tune!
How's your electrics holding out? Any glitches?
Please update with pics of your interior and CAI.
I wrote about having my transmission custom tuned but since found out that I have an EGS51 in there. I've bought a '52' and am now waiting for delivery then tune!
How's your electrics holding out? Any glitches?
Please update with pics of your interior and CAI.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,254
Likes: 171
2002 CL500 to CL55 conversion
i apologize if this has been covered somewhere in the pages of this thread but im doing a lot of reading and research. i did a similar swap from my 500 engine to the 55 engine. it runs good but im having an issue getting my aux fan to kick on, did you have any kind of issues like this? im worried the amg models came with an extra fuse/relay panel that the other models didn't get....
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,775
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles
CLK W208
The wiring is comely different for the AUX fans. For a 500 is much more straight forward than my swap. If its not coming on on yours check te blower regulator for your heater/ac system. They are controlled by the climate system. I haven't connected mines yet and haven't had any problems with heating, how eer what I'm planning on doing is to do a race setup with an adjustable temp kick in switch but utilizing the existing dual AUX fans. On the CLk I have a mechanical fan and two AUX fans up front so going that route allows me to have the fans kick in at a much lower temperature and the engine running much cooler and efficient than AMG ever intended.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,254
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2002 CL500 to CL55 conversion
i appreciate the feedback. i've been searching high and low on forums the last few days looking for a fix but i couldn't find anything.
what you say about the blower regulator makes sense because the two middle a/c vents are not functioning as they should. i'm gonna do some more research on the subject.
good to see other people doing engine swaps in these mercedes!! a lot of people think i'm doing rocket science over here in my garage lol
edit:i was also considering a manual switch for the engine fan if i couldn't fix this issue. it's a shame i don't have the 2 fan design. i don't like how warm my old m113 engine would get and would like to kick on high speed earlier than it usually comes on. i've read there's some cooling mod i can do with star though...
what you say about the blower regulator makes sense because the two middle a/c vents are not functioning as they should. i'm gonna do some more research on the subject.
good to see other people doing engine swaps in these mercedes!! a lot of people think i'm doing rocket science over here in my garage lol
edit:i was also considering a manual switch for the engine fan if i couldn't fix this issue. it's a shame i don't have the 2 fan design. i don't like how warm my old m113 engine would get and would like to kick on high speed earlier than it usually comes on. i've read there's some cooling mod i can do with star though...
Last edited by ctravis595; Apr 28, 2013 at 01:47 AM.
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: New Zealand
W202 250TD, W208/210/215
heya man, great article! im starting up my project of converting a clk320 w208. then 320 engine is buggered so its coming out anyway. i was toying with idea of putting a cdi engine in but i already have my 202 TD so im now seriously considering doing either a 55 or w209 500 engine in for a weekend driver. i have all the parts i need cause my old man has a merc wreaking yard. just wondering what engine you'd recomend, i think ill go with the 500 but will the 209 engine fit into the 208 as easily as a 208 engine? i gather the engine mounts are almost identical so i dont see the problem there but still some wiring to do and exhaust and computers to change. cheers
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,784
Likes: 84
From: SCV SoCal
2002 CLK430
heya man, great article! im starting up my project of converting a clk320 w208. then 320 engine is buggered so its coming out anyway. i was toying with idea of putting a cdi engine in but i already have my 202 TD so im now seriously considering doing either a 55 or w209 500 engine in for a weekend driver. i have all the parts i need cause my old man has a merc wreaking yard. just wondering what engine you'd recomend, i think ill go with the 500 but will the 209 engine fit into the 208 as easily as a 208 engine? i gather the engine mounts are almost identical so i dont see the problem there but still some wiring to do and exhaust and computers to change. cheers
With either the 55 or the 500, the W209 oil pan won’t fit in the W208 chassis. You’ll need a W208 pan for a W208 chassis. Also, unless the 55 came from a W208, the oil pump pickup may not work in the W208 pan. The W209 has a rear sump pan, the W208 has a front sump pan. The oil pump pickup is designed to fit the pan that it came with. A W208 55 oil pump is part number 1131800401. You can use that. A 430 pump will physically bolt up to the 55 block, but the oil port in the block doesn’t line up with the pump. There is a workaround. According to Blackbenzzz, who has been down this road, the issue can be solved by using the front half of the 1131802501 oil pump which was available in 2003 - 2006 S55 and CL55s, with whatever pump came from the 55 donor block.
I don’t know the particulars of whether a 430 oil pump will mate to a 500 block, or whether the front half of the 2003 - 2006 S55 and CL55 oil pump can be mated to a 500 oil pump – BUT I AM VERY INTERESTED. Please let me know what you find out about this. That goes for anyone – email me or IM me the details. Thanks
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
2001 CLK430
Very interested in that as well, im thinking of dropping in the w209 500 motor into my 2001 clk430, will i be able to use the oil pan and pump from my motor onto the 500 assembly? or will i be lucky enough to be able to drop in the 500 motor with no qualms?
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: New Zealand
W202 250TD, W208/210/215
yeh man thats what im looking at doing, will let you know how i get on
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 535
Likes: 44
From: Pottstown, PA
'97 S500 Coupe, 2016 AMG S63 Coupe, 2007 Audi Q7
The work Ash did was really impressive reviving this old thread shows the skill and the knowledge that is available to readers. Good luck with your mods!!
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,775
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles
CLK W208
hey everyone, decided to drop by and check on this fourm,i haven't been loging in as much but its nice to see the legacy goes on even after my car was trashed and ripped apart from me. haha. I have a new toy car now decided to go with a Porsche 911 997.2 c2s but I will probably be getting into another w208 but this time a 55 out the box and turning it into a track car. keep it going everyone these are great cars and I miss mine everyday.
