Anyone in the Los Angeles area that could look at a 55 for me?

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mtnmort said:
Is the 4BT pretty loud in the cab of your 55? What size tires are you running to get the mileage you are getting?
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I put lots of effort into sound deadening and the 4BT is not as loud in my pig now as the SBC was in in the same rig before. I still have 4:10 gears but I have 35” tires, an 8% over drive transfer case gears and a NV4500 with .73 overdrive so I’m around 1850 RPM @ 70 mph in high gear.



More info with pictures of my 55 here: Target carrier
 
Just as an FYI, the OM617a fits quite nice, and is a very easy engine to work on IMHO. It's not a power horse, but moves the 55 just fine (I can do 75mph on the freeway). I've got a five speed in my '79, which is nice.

With the OM617a, the engine bay is roomy. I have not, however, swapped out turbos or done any other performance modifications that would take up room.....
 
Yup. ^^^^^
Parts are available, and the Mercedes diesel folks are just about as fanatic as this group! Lots of excellent support at "peachparts".

Mercedes engine components are not necessarily cheap, but they ARE obtainable!

5cyl turbo diesel. Touted as "perhaps the best engine ever made by Mercedes".
 
I'll have to look into that. I read a thread about a guy with one in his white 55. He had so many issues it scared me. I'll look into it. How much would a swap like that run? I know that's variable but a rough estimate. I'm also talking to a buddy that did a 6bt in a truck and has done a 4bt. He says it would cost about $10k for the 4bt swap.
 
This is what got me wondering. That and there is a ranger overdrive for the Toyota transmission.
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$5000 would be nice for a 4bt install. I was thinking I'd be paying that to do a Chevy 5.3.

I don't mind paying more money for a vehicle to have better fuel economy. I don't care if I'll never make it up. I just hate getting gas. My 60 got 240 miles a tank and it drove me nuts having to get gas all the time. I want to get in and drive until my butt hurts too bad to drive, not stop every couple of hours for fuel.
 
mtnmort said:
I'll have to look into that. I read a thread about a guy with one in his white 55. He had so many issues it scared me. I'll look into it. How much would a swap like that run? I know that's variable but a rough estimate. I'm also talking to a buddy that did a 6bt in a truck and has done a 4bt. He says it would cost about $10k for the 4bt swap.
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Ha! That's the one I bought. The only real issue was that the oil filter was moved, and he starved the engine of oil, and swapped in a different one. Not the engine's fault, as it were. These motors do require some maintenance, and there are some special tools and "tricks", but all very approachable and fun (for me at least) ;)
 
Well........the motor the PO swapped in received zero love, so I have it apart and have been cleaning, replacing gaskets/seals etc. It ran fine when I got it, but was hard to start. Right now I am rebuilding the turbo. After that, I will start putting the pieces back together ;)
 
I'm still looking at options for the pig I bought. I searched and could not find it, but has anyone here used a Ranger Torque splitter in front of the factory 4spd and transfer case? It says that it would position the chevy engine in the proper place in the engine bay without having to change drive shafts. How does the Factory (h42 I think) compare in strength and durability to other transmissions. And the Ranger is rated up to 420lbs torque. How would this do with either the 5.3 or the 4bt?
 
I bought a blue one out of Sacramento. It's not mine yet, my brother is picking it up on Saturday. The motor spun a bearing so with all the options out there I'm not sure what engine to put in it. I won't get the pig for another month or so and I'll post pictures then.
 
He did say the doors wouldn't stay closed once he opened them, they were latched before. He was wondering if he could just spray it with on blast or something to make the latches work again.
 
Is he driving it home or towing? Maybe just wrap the door posts with some duct tape, etc. until you can take the door card off and spray the linkages and door plunger.

Edit... I remember now, no engine. Roll down the windows and tie the doors closed.
 
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