W110 200

[capecustom]

Hi everyone,
I have just bought a rather delapidated, but very solid and origonal 200 fintail.
It has a lot of dents but I can get this repaired easily.
I have a lot of questions concerning my ability to swap parts from other models to bring this cute 'little' car into the 21st century. The car drives very well, but the engine is not very good, and I would like a bit more speed.
I understand i can swap the rear axle from a W111 250, with disk brakes and a taller diff ratio, and that I can fit larger wheels.
What other engines will fit the car, and which is the best manual gerrbox to use.
Are there any vented front brake assemblys from other models which will fit? and what about some A/C. The interior is in very good condition, so I would like a factory looking setup.
It is a column change 4 speed, but I am not to bothered about converting to a floor change.

Any help at all from anybody would be most appreciated,
thanks.

[finback]

The engine from a 230 of the same vintage should fit right in the engine bay with no major modifications. I personally am a big fan of the column mounted manual tranny. The original equipment front disc/rear drum set up really does provide very good braking. In general, these are delightful cars which provide spritely performance because of their great engineering design and light weight.

Is this car from South Africa?

Keep the revs up!

John Kuhn Bleimaier

[capecustom]

I have the original service book for the car, and the owners handbook and even the MB parts book! It was last stamped in 1979 at 97000 miles. It has spent its whole life in South africa, but the lack of sun dmage to the dash etc, leads me to beleive it has spent a large ammount of its life parked in a garage. The car has 39,000 miles on the odometer, which from the condition of the car means it has probably done 139,000. I quite like the column change as well, it is not difficult to use once you get used to it.
It is quite amazing how well the car drives, despite having been totally neglected for quite a few years. It is not very fast at accelerating tho.
I think if I can get a 230 engine that would be the best swap, and you are right the brakes are not at all bad. I am just used to high performance modern cars where solid front brakes are a thing of the past.

I would like to fit power steering as well, does anyone know which cars share the same steering box?

[finback]

Power streerig was an original option on these cars. My Finback does not have it and I only notice the effort when parking. I have before me a May 1962 road test report on the Finbacks from 1962 from CAR & DRIVER. They said, "It is impossible to find fault with the steering, which combines a fine degree of precision with a damping of road shocks and vibration."

All the best,

John Kuhn Bleimaier, "65 190Dc et al

[wilderness140]

$400 have pics many good parts suspension not road worthy, some body good, chrome good , seats good, 4spd. on floor, email me at wilderness140@yahoo.com