1975 Mercedes 280ce V8 project.

[popuptoaster]

I had built and mostly finished a 24v cossie mk5 cortina and was using it while considering what colour to paint it when it caught fire and was written off, couldn't bring myself to start again so i spent some of the insurance money buying this coupe, i've always loved this shape Merc but had a little nagging voice in my head complaining the saloon looks a little dumpy from some angles.

The coupes, with the lower and shorter roof are just about perfect in my eyes so when a solid but scruffy one came up at a good price i grabbed it, I decided it needs more power and a V8 soundtrack and although the Merc V8's are cheap and easy to get hold of, they can be expensive to maintain so i've picked up a 5.7 litre pontiac V8 and TH400 auto box to drop into it.

The plan is to get the engine and box into the car, lower it a couple of inches, add widened 15" steel rims in place of the 14"s and stay with the traditional steel hubcaps, run a double exhaust out the back and tidy and paint the body work.

I'm going to modernise the interior with a decent ICE system and better seats and carpets, keeping the cream colour but going to high backed leather front seats, and i may modify the instrument binnacle by making it wider so i can fit a rev counter in it if i can find one that looks a match for the original clocks. I may add electric windows as they were optional on these anyway and its a mild pain to have to reach round to drop the rear windows, the car has an electric roof already which works fine.

Anyway, have some pics of the car and a pic of the V8 and i'll update as things go on, should be able to start on it pretty soon as i'm negotiating a spot in a workshop so i can get it indoors out of the weather.













Its got the biggest boot in the world, so plenty of room for an LPG tank.



I'm off round the M25 on Thursday to pick up a cream leather interior from a modern Merc coupe, im hoping i can use carpet as well as the front and rear seats to spruce up the inside of mine.

[V8 EsCos]

Should be a nice sleeper when it's done [8D]

Mark

[Burtle]

That will make a great motor, I'm really starting to like the old merc's too.


Nath

[fha772]

Looks like a good project, but if it was me i'd go for the Merc V8, as you said they are cheap, but they're not too expensive to maintain. To be honest we've had 6 Merc V8 cars and never had a major problem with any of them, i think you'll find the parts for the Pontiac V8 will be a simular price and it'll be less reliable, than the Merc. Plus the Merc engine will be a 90% bolt-in job.

[popuptoaster]

I could pick up a V8 SL or SLC and canabalise it for bits to fit a Merc V8, but trouble is doing the cam chain on the merc engine would cost more than i paid for the Poncho lump AND the TH400, my engine has already been warmed up slightly with high compression headas, a cam and the holley carb, it also came with proper headers although i'm not sure i can squeeze them in, with more tuning bits much easier to find than for a Mercedes engine, plus the TH400 should be tougher than an old Merc box, if i was planning on leaving the engine standard then maybe i'd think about running a merc engine, but i know myself well enough to realise i'll get bored and want more power eventually.

[p.whitelock]

Looks like a cool project! Good luck with it all, itll be interesting to read any updates.

[hotrodjon]

That sounds like a great project, I nice classic shape and a reliable and powerful engine with that magical yank V8 burble. LPG is also a great idea, I run a'77 AMC Hornet as a daily. It is fitted with the 4.2 litre straight engine and LPG and I get 10 miles per pound which is as cheap to run as an old Fiesta.

[GJM]

I built a W123 coupé for similar reasons, but opted for the M103 6-cylinder engine from a W126 300SE.

And a twin-turbo kit, as supplied to Mercedes (Hughes at Beaconsfield had the last ones) by Turbo Technics. 320bhp and it was a straightforward bolt-in job.

The car was originally fitted with the period 14" Mercedes 'Baroque' (some call them 'Mexican Hat') alloys, but these were replaced with identical-looking 15" rims that were made by ATS for the W107 Mercedes SLC.

Slightly lower suspension and better brakes meant it looked standard, but went like anything but!