Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - Printable Version

Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - Printable Version

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Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - mcneil - 12-02-2010

Don't ask why the name was Plenum. Long story.

[Image: View001S0006.JPG]

Mod List:
Center muffler removal
Oversized air conditioning condenser
Oil cooler hoses converted to AN- fittings
EGR whathuh?
Added EGT
Currently disassembled for a new head

The car has been in the family since ~120k miles, when my dad bought it. I rescued it from the barn with 220k on the clock, and drove it through college. It was in average condition, and I drove it everywhere, including two trips across the country.

[Image: travel3.jpg]

The original body rusted away in northeastern salt, but the final blow was delivered by an Aztec on the NJ turnpike about 7 years ago. This is a good reason for replacing old pitted windshields with a lot of sun glare.

[Image: DSC00813.JPG]

Gruesome.

Undaunted, I found an '82 300SD with a bad motor, less than 50 miles from the sight of the wreck. Two crazy days with a car hauler and my Dodge pickup and I had myself a solution. The '83 motor went in the '82, along with gauge cluster, steering wheel, recently rebuilt suspension, stereo, and a bunch of other parts. Both cars being the same color, I could even pretend the accident never happened.

First thing after the engine swap was a removal of the center mufflers. A full Kidneyectomy, although I think the removal of a kidney is called a nephrectomy. I welded a length of straight pipe with a cross-bar to support the pipe from the original hangers.

No AC is fine for the northeast, but when I moved to CA I found myself driving in 110 deg heat. This was not working.

Automotive AC systems are driven by their ability to reject heat to the atmosphere via the condenser. This is one reason american cars were known for having kickass AC - they also needed big radiators for the less efficient large displacement motors. Big radiator usually meant room for a big condenser.

Benz used a serpentine tube condenser that almost covered the available area. My replacement condenser was a slightly larger parallel flow condenser. By most books, a PFC will reject 30-50% more heat than a serpentine flow condenser. The PFC I got was about 6% larger, so depending on what you assume for the original serpentine compressor, the PFC gave me a 38-60% increase in performance.

The bottom line is I have left this car parked on a dry lakebed all day at 110F, fired up the AC, and within 90 seconds said "damn, that's too cold.. better turn it down."

Old vs new condenser
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New condenser and lines mounted
[Image: 100_0917.JPG]

Radiator support notched and reinforced with a plate for clearance of the larger lines
[Image: 100_0918.JPG]

Lower line, also increased in size. Also shows the AN bung welded on the oil cooler
[Image: 100_0919.JPG]

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - Captain America - 12-03-2010

The body roll pic is my favorite!

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - winmutt - 12-03-2010

Roll much Big Grin

You should get the 17mm rear sway bar, it will do wonders.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - willbhere4u - 12-03-2010

What did the 17mm sway bar come under? 500sel 560sel?

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - NapaBavarian - 12-12-2010

I'm listening! Where did you get that condenser? I want kick ass AC this summer!

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - mcneil - 01-11-2011

I got the condenser from ACsource, but I wouldn't recommend buying anything from them. Very unreliable. Search around for different units, make sure they're parallel flow, and plan on spending some time fabricating brackets.

Plenum had a cracked head that manifested itself as low compression on #5 and excessive smoke. These last two months have been a teardown and rebuild of the top end. Everything from the block up excluding the IP and accessories has been removed, cleaned, rebuilt, repainted, or replaced.

[Image: DSCN0012.JPG]

So much stuff had just about disintegrated from the 350k miles.. here's the list of what I had to fabricate:

1. New turbo oil supply line; bent up from 10mm tubing, brazed on fittings from old tube
[Image: 100_3631.JPG]

2. Brackets on air cleaner oil drain line
[Image: 100_3508.JPG]

3. EGR exhaust port block-off
[Image: 100_3518.JPG]

4. Puller for lower crank pin
[Image: 100_3373.JPG]

If you're bored at home or work a government job, I put a gallery up here with more pictures.

Currently, it starts right up and runs great, but whines like a siren as soon as the turbo spools. It's killing me, I'm quite sick of driving my Jeep to work and want my freeway panzer back. But I'm hoping to have this turbo issue resolved in a week or so.

Life needs more weekends.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - Captain America - 01-12-2011

I loved looking at your Picasa pics.

I love McMaster-Carr!

Great work

No turbo or intake manifold upgrades?

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - mcneil - 01-12-2011

(01-12-2011, 04:24 PM)Captain America No turbo or intake manifold upgrades?

Not yet.. somewhere someone once told me "don't tune a broken motor", so I wanted to get it back up and running smoothly before making any mods. But then again, someone else once said "only a weenie puts it back together stock", so I at least did the EGR delete.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - dieselboy - 01-12-2011

I just did the head on my car on sun-mon and mine didn't go back together stock either.

My friend has the same car as yours mint with 3 spun rod bearings.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - Captain America - 01-12-2011

(01-12-2011, 06:11 PM)mcneil
(01-12-2011, 04:24 PM)Captain America No turbo or intake manifold upgrades?

... But then again, someone else once said "only a weenie puts it back together stock", so I at least did the EGR delete.

I like this one! ^^^^

Well if your turbo needs to be balanced again, give the guy $50 to put a bigger compressor wheel in it.

Who did the head and turbo work for you? Forgot to ask...

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - mcneil - 01-13-2011

I had this crazy idea that I could get through the head R&R in a weekend or two.. yeah, that was two months ago.

The head was NOS Benz, right out of germany. Found a good deal on it locally. Now I just need a crack-free head for the core.

Dieselboy.. PM me if he's parting anything, especially the head or interior stuff.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - dieselboy - 01-13-2011

I just used the head on mine lol. My head was cracked on every cylinder from overheating.

Were looking for a om603 for his Sd

I did my head and other stuff in 2 days taking my time too.

There is a 560sel at the oceanside jy right now and 2 other sd's along with a odd 78 300d wagon non turbo.

I have a crack free head but a precup fell out and it has a couple dings from it being smashed up.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - mcneil - 09-11-2011

MASSIVE FAILURE!

Transmission started to go (randomly dropping out of gear) and I had no time to R&R it. I did a fluid change, hoping it could limp along for another couple months. On the way home from work, climbing a hill at 85mph (my idea of "limping along.."), the trans let go. As I coasted to the side of the road, the motor quit.

I towed it home and decided to part it out - good thing I didn't go out and get that new transmission. When I got the pan off I found this:

[Image: DSCN0927.JPG]

Oil pump sprocket ate the chain and cracked the pump in half. Game over, man..

I posted some parts I'm selling in the classified section.. check it out - good parts at a good price.

RE: Plenum, the 1982/83300SD - atypicalguy - 03-17-2015

Bummer. What was your source for the head?