I've been slowly restoring my W114 on the driveway for some years now as per thread
HERE
Sorry for the long post ahead.
I've fitted a M103 engine for simplicity and reliability. Unlike the original M180 engine it slants 15 degrees to the offside (good) and has the oil filter housing and starter to the nearside (bad) where the LHD column shift rods and levers live.
Here's a picture of how it all sits:
And closer in you can see the selector rods, filter housing and starter motor mounting flange in very close proximity.
With the engine in this position the oil filter housing is just clear but the starter would need to be changed for a reduction gear one like THIS where I could spin the main part out of the way. The standard starter has the solonoid in the casting in the way of the selector rods. Spun 180 degrees it doesn't fit at all.
While using the reduction drive starter would mean nothing clashes, the engine is not sitting correctly. It's nose up and I can't lower it further without the filter housing clashing with the selector rods. I may even need to slot into the subframe and weld up (I can weld steel) which is a bit odd as the same engine fits the same subframe in a R107 Mercedes SL.
Actually, if the engine is at the wrong angle and the rubber guibo is taking the discrepancy, would it just wear out quicker or would it make thumping noises and be dangerous? I'm not going to just leave it but wonder how critical the angle is?
I could just give up on the column shift and fit the mechanism for a standard centre-tunnel shifter. This would be the easiest option. It would allow a standard starter motor rather than the more expensive WOSP. But as the car has had column shift for over half a century it's a shame to lose that part of its character.
So I was thinking of creating a remote oil filter system - either by cutting and welding the original so that there is as little as possible remaining and grafting on a sandwich plate like THIS
Or making something functionally the same out of a block of aluminium.
Downside is I don't have the machinery to CNC something. I could make the shape in CAD, make a 3d print to check everything and send the file somewhere but I suspect expensive???
Or I could get a TIG suitable for aluminium (expensive) learn to use it and graft the sandwich plate and stub of the filter housing together. Or get someone to do the same for me. I have been thinking of getting a TIG for a while, maybe now's the time.
Two things to mention, the filter housing contains the bypass valve so can't be reduced to a simple plate with an 'in' and an 'out' spigot. Well unless I omit the bypass valve which is probably a bad idea. A sandwich plate on the existing housing wouldn't be enough of a reduction in size either.
What would you do? Have I missed a simpler solution?
For the hardcore people that haven't got bored by all of this, related but separate question or two.
Mercedes never made a 5 speed manual column shift. The W114s with 5 speed boxes always had a floor shift. I think column shift was seen as old-fashioned in the late '60s. But Mercedes 5 speed boxes have the same odd side lever system as the 4 speed but with reverse sharing with 5th gear.
In the picture below, the leftmost lever selects 1 or 2, the middle 3 or 4 and the rightmost, R or 5 (or just R on a 4 speed) Heath-Robinson-esque rods and levers run down the steering column into the engine bay and then back along the transmission tunnel to the gearbox's external levers.
For those who haven't experienced a column shift, imagine you pluck your gearstick off the floor and pop it where the indicator stalk is and it still works exactly as before. Towards the driver (formerly to the left), gear 1 and 2. Push from neutral toward the windscreen (formerly to the right) gear 3 and 4. Extra pull against a strong spring toward the driver, reverse. Can you see where this is going? 5th gear has to be with reverse as it shares that lever on the gearbox. So two options. The safer option, connect the (lengthened/shortened levers as before and have 5th gear in an odd place and either never use 5th or treat it like an overdrive for motorways. Or swap levers so that R & 5 are towards the window. This could be unsafe as, for the price of a logical configuration, 1 & 2 are harder to access and R is way too easy to select accidentally. Or swap out to a Merc 4 speed manual from a W201, W123 or W124 so that 4th is 1:1 rather than 0.8??:1 in the 5 speed. Perhaps the 4 speed would be different in some way. Engine is 160-180bhp and I think the 4 speeds were used with 1.8s and diesels?
So TLDR what would you pick column or floor?
If column, how would you resolve oil filter housing clash?
If column, how would you configure gear pattern?
Thanks
HERE
Sorry for the long post ahead.
I've fitted a M103 engine for simplicity and reliability. Unlike the original M180 engine it slants 15 degrees to the offside (good) and has the oil filter housing and starter to the nearside (bad) where the LHD column shift rods and levers live.
Here's a picture of how it all sits:
And closer in you can see the selector rods, filter housing and starter motor mounting flange in very close proximity.
With the engine in this position the oil filter housing is just clear but the starter would need to be changed for a reduction gear one like THIS where I could spin the main part out of the way. The standard starter has the solonoid in the casting in the way of the selector rods. Spun 180 degrees it doesn't fit at all.
While using the reduction drive starter would mean nothing clashes, the engine is not sitting correctly. It's nose up and I can't lower it further without the filter housing clashing with the selector rods. I may even need to slot into the subframe and weld up (I can weld steel) which is a bit odd as the same engine fits the same subframe in a R107 Mercedes SL.
Actually, if the engine is at the wrong angle and the rubber guibo is taking the discrepancy, would it just wear out quicker or would it make thumping noises and be dangerous? I'm not going to just leave it but wonder how critical the angle is?
I could just give up on the column shift and fit the mechanism for a standard centre-tunnel shifter. This would be the easiest option. It would allow a standard starter motor rather than the more expensive WOSP. But as the car has had column shift for over half a century it's a shame to lose that part of its character.
So I was thinking of creating a remote oil filter system - either by cutting and welding the original so that there is as little as possible remaining and grafting on a sandwich plate like THIS
Or making something functionally the same out of a block of aluminium.
Downside is I don't have the machinery to CNC something. I could make the shape in CAD, make a 3d print to check everything and send the file somewhere but I suspect expensive???
Or I could get a TIG suitable for aluminium (expensive) learn to use it and graft the sandwich plate and stub of the filter housing together. Or get someone to do the same for me. I have been thinking of getting a TIG for a while, maybe now's the time.
Two things to mention, the filter housing contains the bypass valve so can't be reduced to a simple plate with an 'in' and an 'out' spigot. Well unless I omit the bypass valve which is probably a bad idea. A sandwich plate on the existing housing wouldn't be enough of a reduction in size either.
What would you do? Have I missed a simpler solution?
For the hardcore people that haven't got bored by all of this, related but separate question or two.
Mercedes never made a 5 speed manual column shift. The W114s with 5 speed boxes always had a floor shift. I think column shift was seen as old-fashioned in the late '60s. But Mercedes 5 speed boxes have the same odd side lever system as the 4 speed but with reverse sharing with 5th gear.
In the picture below, the leftmost lever selects 1 or 2, the middle 3 or 4 and the rightmost, R or 5 (or just R on a 4 speed) Heath-Robinson-esque rods and levers run down the steering column into the engine bay and then back along the transmission tunnel to the gearbox's external levers.
For those who haven't experienced a column shift, imagine you pluck your gearstick off the floor and pop it where the indicator stalk is and it still works exactly as before. Towards the driver (formerly to the left), gear 1 and 2. Push from neutral toward the windscreen (formerly to the right) gear 3 and 4. Extra pull against a strong spring toward the driver, reverse. Can you see where this is going? 5th gear has to be with reverse as it shares that lever on the gearbox. So two options. The safer option, connect the (lengthened/shortened levers as before and have 5th gear in an odd place and either never use 5th or treat it like an overdrive for motorways. Or swap levers so that R & 5 are towards the window. This could be unsafe as, for the price of a logical configuration, 1 & 2 are harder to access and R is way too easy to select accidentally. Or swap out to a Merc 4 speed manual from a W201, W123 or W124 so that 4th is 1:1 rather than 0.8??:1 in the 5 speed. Perhaps the 4 speed would be different in some way. Engine is 160-180bhp and I think the 4 speeds were used with 1.8s and diesels?
So TLDR what would you pick column or floor?
If column, how would you resolve oil filter housing clash?
If column, how would you configure gear pattern?
Thanks
