Leisure-Drive: Benz Toy

Benz Toy is purely the culmination effort for those car enthusiast freaks in order to have their own classic Mercedes Benz ride roadworthy as well as being sensible to maintain. Such innovation has long been regularly deployed to any Old Car for Beginner's rally car.

It is such a customary to have the latest suitable braking system to be fitted on the popular Corolla KE71 series for better rally braking purpose. Not much peculiar either for those old classic W108 Mercedes Benz 280S receiving Carburetor replacement from a Toyota. Despite of its bulletproof reliable W108 model, a long running classic Benz does suffer the failure of its two downdraft carburetors, eventually every two decades or so.

The replacement is sourced from a 1980s Toyota Crown 2.8L. Certainly a new adaptor is required as well as new Jet/ Needle setting. One carburetor settings is much simpler to attain than two, not to mention the long run Ease of Maintenance.

G Class Conversion Part 2; Toyota Engined G-Wagen

Similarly but not for similar replacement reasoning; the Prado engine conversion to a G wagen. The 1KZ-TE has slightly bigger capacity than the original 6 cylinders DOHC; it is merely a 4 cylinders SOHC 2982 cc 2 valves per cylinder turbo charger diesel engine, producing much less at 125hp. Yet its highly rich 287 Nm of torque peaks @ low 2,000 rpm is the main reason for tugging the 2.5 Tonnes G-Wagen, an ideal solution for stop and go city traffic.

Another bonus is the 1KZ-TE comes with the automatic transmission. The replacement engine was introduced way back in 1993. 1KZ-TE has already adopted the electronically controlled fuel injection, ETCS-i (Electronic Throttle Control System - intelligent) technology which is similar in basic construction to a modern gasoline injector, although utilizing considerably higher injection pressures, yet it is still an indirect injection engine.

As the factory boost pressure is set at 7.4-9.7 psi (51-67kpa), there is a lot of untapped potential to be further developed on this popular engine swap choice. There is bountiful evidence that higher pressure set up with the addition of matching Intercooler will achieve a similar power to the original DOHC power plant around 150hp as opposed to those engines fitted to its sedan sibling the W123 280E which rated at 185hp.

There is a another conversion involving further modification by fitting a dtronic Performance Chip as well as employing larger free flow exhaust system producing significant power and torque gain without degrading its fuel consumption, though a larger exhaust piping is quite difficult on the G-Wagen under carriage due to space restriction.

The 1KZ-TE is not sourced as a half cut; so consequently wiring the engine on the G-Wagen is currently the main challenge for our friendly Mercedes Specialist. Interpreting the available wiring diagram scheme does require time.

Perhaps a typical trial and error implantation surgery will have to be implemented. For a start “Cuk Dewantoro” the owner of DCM Mercedes Specialist has already decided not to connect the EGR function for the sake of simple first phase surgery. Should the engine runs smoothly the G-Wagen might have a slight tendency toward high emission.

Complying with our lenient pollution rules will have to be postponed at a later stage, first thing first is to attain successful engine transplantation surgery. The local Police head quarter (not DMV) has recently issued that for every vehicle license renewal such vehicle must have its emission control sticker available.

Yet FYI we need not to pass the strict Euro5 level as anywhere else, the majority of locally produced vehicle is still adhered to at most Euro2.

Pressing on to our conversion issue, though the 1KZ-TE is already mounted on the original G-Wagen engine mount, its transmission is not connected as yet to the Gelanden Wagen’s transfer case. The car has actually suffered a slight miss aligned main driving axle shaft. The DCM Mercedes Specialist “Guru”, Cuk Dewantoro has two main tasks in the drive train sector; first fixing this inherent G-Wagen problem (as I recalled we had to replace ours at the cost of 8 Grand US$ back in early 1990s on a 1986 GE280) and secondly fabricate new connection from the auto trans to the transfer case assembly.

Adamant to please his loyal client Cuk Dewantoro has already devised a plan to mitigate the damaging bank account effect. That is to fabricate 5 Tonnes Mitsubishi truck driving shaft to solve these two main tasks. The Mitsubishi has solid shaft where as G-Wagen’s is seemed to be a specially built with oil filled hollow shaft in order to have a dynamic balanced rotating shaft.

For those who has been driving the G-Wagen, it has very solid and rigid chassis, if there is any slight miss alignments, the chassis has somewhat successfully amplify such out of balance to reverberate through out the whole body structures.

No doubt the fabrication process will be definitely subjected to a rather long trial and error works, which remains to be seen. Fingers crossed Mas Cuk!