Engine swap-M102 in W123 230E

[6.9forever]

Hi All -

My son has a 1984 230E. Great car, champagne gold metallic. Alas, its engine suffered a blown head gasket and he was pretty despondent. We found a donor car in Rose Bay (Sydney). It was the ideal candidate. Crap body with great engine and for $900 it was his! The good parts pulled off it will pay for it when re-sold! So, free engine! He, his granddad, his awesome girlfriend and good mate pulled the engine and/or dropped the donor engine in, and voila'! The mighty 230E lives to drive for many another year!

This all took no time at all - about 4 days.

Now, how many cars could you do that with, these days? Love it.

Think I need a W123. As the famous W123 World's Mark Cosovich says: "Best saloon car of the 20th century"!

I'm inclined to agree.

 

[c107]

Great that the W123 is still on the road. I had a 1985 W123 230E, was a really good car. Sold it in 2002. I wonder if it is still on the road?

 

[6.9forever]

Hope so, Bryce.

Donor engine had done 222,000 km (documented) and was good to go!

 

[SEL_69L]

222,000 klms is not too far, because folks who bought a W123 new were reasonably well off, and so tended to keep the Merc for longer trips, where there was much less cold running and frequent starts involved, and used another car as a daily driver.

Idle the donor engine, with the oil filler cap removed. Check to see if it is smokey. Also check exhaust, especially after backing off the throttle from full revs.

My 1998 C280 has covered 212,000 klms, and shows no sign of being smokey, and still delivers full power like a new engine. I figure that it lived a charmed, garaged life in the hands of owners before me, and served mainly as a long distance runner, not a daily driver.
Having said that, the C280 over the next few weeks, is going to be my only daily driver, because my daughter will be borrowing my i20; her fella is having his Toyota Chaser turbo re painted.