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I recall someone making this comment in the past on some forum somewhere pertaining to Mercedes-Benz and it made me laugh. It seems fitting to my latest project so let's see what happens. This build is just for fun and in no way very serious but absolutely will get finished. My expectations are to keep it cheap & fun but at the same time have it be something reliable for my occasional commutes into town with everything functioning.
This will be a carbureted, hotrodded M113 5.0 liter with the 722.6 installed into a 1993 400E with some other simple 'high perf' mods. Wish me luck
Something different and I am fond of carbs and tuning them(having a few laying around helps). This engine will get some lumpy cams too so the carb seemed fitting.
I'm not a carb guy but I have had my fun with them, my '84 GMC truck has a built up 350 I put together with an older high rise and a thunder AVS 650 right now on it, it's a different type of fun than newer cars for sure. But give me a laptop and a Megasquirt or HP Tuners any day for a street car. Far more functional and fun IMO.
Will be super cool to see what you do with it though, I love thinking outside the box. Like my turbo Tercel lol.
I'm not a carb guy but I have had my fun with them, my '84 GMC truck has a built up 350 I put together with an older high rise and a thunder AVS 650 right now on it, it's a different type of fun than newer cars for sure. But give me a laptop and a Megasquirt or HP Tuners any day for a street car. Far more functional and fun IMO.
Will be super cool to see what you do with it though, I love thinking outside the box. Like my turbo Tercel lol.
Thanks Joe. I just get tired of our engines being around them constantly and pretty much any mods I see are just tuning and bolt on stuff so I figured hey, let's do something no one else has done. This car will be a 'test mule' in a sense as I have some unique plans for future M113 builds again that no one else has done.
Going with a painted block I will put a light polish on the other bits to give the engine more of an old 'patina.' Should be an unexpected surprise when I pop the hood
Would be cool with big 8-71 BLOWER on top of that engine.
Already thought about a 6-71 setup for a 55 kompressor bottom end. Also looking into an individual throttle body setup designed for Ford small blocks that should work.
Let's see how this test mule comes around. The camshafts have arrived.
I have some extra M113 engine components to use for mocking up the transition into the 124 chassis. I also had an old 722.6 scrap transmission that I gutted to use the case for mock up. The transmission mount is essentially the same as far as it's relationship to the driveshaft so I will use that mount to build establish the engines position underhood and build the engine support arms while still using the V8 engine mounts. There is absolutely no way this engine's exhaust manifolds will fit with the factory steering gearbox. I will modify with a w210 steering rack.
I have some extra cylinder heads that I popped on to check clearances and it looks like this build will fit under the factory hood which I was hoping for. May take some creative mods but I will make it work.
More hillbilly go-fast parts have arrived. I will have to convert this CLS500 M113.967 to a front sump oil pump/pan setup. The 2.24 rear gear has to go!
Heads are ready to go back on. Probably wait until the engine is back in the car to mess with the a/c compressor but it should fit. I have been trying to 'burnish' bits as they go back on to keep with the theme. Also have decided that I will probably run a Speed Demon 750 carb in place of the old gold Holly double pumper. Once the engine is finished I will work more on the steering rack swap and engine mounts.
Yes Sir! No stopping this project now. Except my camshaft re-grinder lost one of the Welch plugs from the end of one of the camshafts. For whatever reason, 23mm is a hard to find freeze plug but may have one coming this week yet.
Both of the cylinder heads are back on and ready for cams/rockers. The oil pan will be last to be installed as I need them to mock up the engine mounts on the bare engine block.
I decided to go with a 650CFM carb as I think it's better matched to this engine. This is a Screamin' Demon 650 CFM double pumper. My wife wants to drive the car so I want her to have decent road manners.
Holidays slowed me down as well as a busy shop. I have the steering rack in position and am starting to make adjustments as it wants to hit the lower control arms at full turns. The engine mounts are finished and POR15'd so I can keep moving forward as this project has turned into yet another monkey on my back. The axles are different so I must ditch the 400E axles and shoot for regular old 300E/300SL axles to mount up to the 300SL differential. I am hoping the length works out as I know they all share a 25 tooth stub axle into the wheel flange. If they break then so be it but the factory stuff is pretty tough. I will have to get creative with the difference in the steering rack width compared with the regular W124 steering center link/tie rod setup but think I have a solution figured out. I will post that solution if successful.
I plan to use a steering coupler (modified) from a W164 ML chassis vehicle. Once the steering rack is in the final position I will cut down and weld up the coupler to fit the Hammer.
I made a large 1/4" steel plate that mounts directly to the front cross-member under the engine to support the steering rack. I did not want to depend on welds for steering and this plate is going nowhere. Once everything is fabb'd up I will remove and paint up the bits. Not very hillbilly like I know to paint parts but I am willing to go the extra mile on this beast. Maybe we will see her at SEMA next year.
I have purchased aftermarket axles for the time being. One, I can return them if they didn't fit which it looks like they should, and two they have a one year warranty so I can get another pair when I break them(which is likely). I swapped over the pinion flange on the differential to match up to the 400 four prong driveshaft and everything else looks compatible like the stub axle end into the 25 spline hub/wheel flange. I would love to know if anyone has ever installed the 3.69 diff into a standard 400E? Personally this would be the first upgrade I would do to one of these cars. What a difference this would make. It's all about the leverage.
The engine is finally ready. I was able to install the front sump oil pan/pump and I installed a starter to spin her over and get oil pressure. I have ordered a FAST racing XIM ignition controller for this build to run the ignition so I can utilize the 58 tooth analog crankshaft sensor and digital hall effect camshaft sensor. The only other input is a MAP sensor. This system should run all of the factory input/output(coil) connections with minimal headaches yet allow programmable ignition timing tables. After much research this has been by far the best system I could find to work with this setup and allows many variances so future adjustments should be allowable. Next is getting the 722.6 transmission up to snuff.
Looks great. Is there a target date to fire it up?
Soon I hope. I just ordered the XIM module and plan to do a quick hook up while the engine is on the stand to make sure my understanding of the connections is correct before I make the final harness. I will definitely shoot a quick video of the engine running on the stand when it happens.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
