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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63  | 1979 280ge Resurrection in Qatar I'm not sure what forum etiquette is but I thought I had better introduce myself before starting to bother everyone with lots of questions. I live in Qatar (in the Middle East) and while the modern G55 and G63's are on every street corner here there are less than 5 x W460's in the country and less than 10 x W463's that I have been able to find with the help of a friendly traffic department official. It was either by chance or fate that I happened to stumble upon one of the W460's sitting in a scrap yard a few weeks ago and after ascertaining that it had been driven in there 2 years ago and had been sitting was awaiting a rebuild I made an offer on it. The garage owner wanted to facelift it to look like a 2015 W463 with all the chrome and LED bling that adorns the modern models so I felt it was my obligation to save this old girl from being tarted up and to let her live again with some dignity. It was probably the stupidest thing I have ever done as there are NO parts for old vehicles in this country and this one has a Merc M117 retrofitted into it with a BMW 4 speed gearbox (more on that later). So the parts list is looking expensive! Fortunately there are a lot of Lebanese workshops here, and if you have ever been to Lebanon you will know that every 9 in 10 cars on the road is an old Merc. So here she is:        And this is what needs doing.... Mechanical: 1. The starter motor has been butchered to get it to reach the flywheel from the BMW housing so the mechanics are rebuilding it to work. 2. The gearbox was mounted with a poorly fashioned adapter plate so once the starter is in and the engine is tested properly they will evaluate if it can be corrected or if its easier for them to just drop in an old 77 series 4-speed auto box. 3. I have sourced an original 280 engine and gearbox (miraculously) as a backup so that will be the last ditch attempt. The current V8 has AC and a new alternator/water pump/distributor etc. So unless its completely toast the goal will be to get it working with an appropriate gearbox. 4. Once that is all done I'll do a better inspection of the axles, bearings, propshafts, breaks etc. The initial inspection was good and they are all ok-ish, but will need servicing in the near future. 5. The diff lock actuators have been removed from next to the gearbox but the rest of the system is there, so I will remove the rest of it untill I have the desire and cash to rebuild the system. We only have sand here so they are not needed. Cosmetic: Everything really needs work... and probably paint. I have done the wheels and sourced some crappy front seats until I can get my hands on some European ones that will fit (most of the cars here are American or Japaneese, the Euro cars that are here all have electric seats that are too wide for the G). I have also sourced some ML rear seats that will fit with some modification and have made up some templates for some interim carpets until I can get around to Dynamat and properly apolster the interior. Edited by RSF.Gunney 7/17/2017 9:57 AM | |
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| DUTCH Administrator Doppelgänger Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: US, GA, Atlanta Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter Posts: 9963  | ||
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| J.R. Elite Veteran Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Southern Maryland Vehicle(s): 00 G500, 09 911 4S, 11 Cayenne S, 86 280GE (sold) Posts: 828  | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | Re: Introduction w460 Resurrection in Qatar Some more photos of her looking a little less sorry... because everyone like photos.   Bits and pieces being worked on while the mechanics do thier thing on the starter and gearbox. It came with spacers fitted that change the bolt patters from Merc to Toyota, not a bad thing here considering the ammount of land cruisers in the country. For now the wheels got a cosmetic touch up, I'll see later if it will go back to MB wheels.  ML 500 back seats fit very well. (they sit a little further back and a much lower down than in the below image once the old seat brackets are removed.) The fold and tuck mechanism can be maintained.  Carpet Templates being pieced together. I will have to use crappy carpeting untill xmas when I head back to south africa and can pick up some good auto apolstery carpet.  Seat box getting a coat of paint before the seats are mounted.  Edited by RSF.Gunney 11/23/2016 2:57 AM | |
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| Otiswesty Administrator Date registered: Jun 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213 Posts: 3004  | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | ||
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| Otiswesty Administrator Date registered: Jun 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213 Posts: 3004 | ||
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| Otiswesty Administrator Date registered: Jun 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213 Posts: 3004 | RE: Introduction w460 Resurrection in Qatar I have an extra of the vent outlet that goes here if you need it. (console.jpg) Attachments ----------------  console.jpg (232KB - 0 downloads) | |
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| Otiswesty Administrator Date registered: Jun 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213 Posts: 3004 | RE: Introduction w460 Resurrection in Qatar Here is the part I have. Also with it are the original screws and captive nuts. Yes, I am that kind of guy. (Front.jpg) (Back.jpg) Attachments ---------------- Front.jpg (138KB - 0 downloads) Back.jpg (155KB - 0 downloads) | |
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| diesel_jim Veteran Date registered: Jan 2014 Location: N Wiltshire. UK Vehicle(s): LR Defender 110, 1989 W460 SWB Posts: 114  | ||
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| DesertStar Expert Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: San Diego, CA USA Vehicle(s): 85-280GE/95-G320/08-G500 Posts: 2156 | ||
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| Otiswesty Administrator Date registered: Jun 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213 Posts: 3004 | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | RE: Introduction w460 Resurrection in Qatar Thanks very much for the offer on the vent... but I ordered one from Euro Truck Importers a week ago. (Damn). Progress on the truck has been slow as its off-site in an industrial yard (with the mechanics), as predicted the M117 engine with the Frankenstein gearbox was a nightmare, it also turns out that the KJet on the M117 was also trashed and needed a rebuild and one of the exhaust manifold bolts was broken, and the manifold was touching the firewall.... as all of this was going on a fellow vintage G enthusiast (the only other one in the country) called me and told me his old engine was sitting in a yard and before he took it out to put in a Lumina SS engine he had it overhauled. So off I went to get a perfectly overhauled engine and gearbox for scrap value, no doubt the only 280ge engine in the country. It had sat outside for a year so the rubbers were perished and it was dirty but otherwise in very good shape. Work this week has been on the engine and getting parts for it so that before it goes in its as good as rebuilt, I want this to be a daily driver so I don't want idle control issues, vacuum issues etc once its in. The truck gets delivered to my place on Saturday so I can work on it for a week or two while the engine parts arrive, then when the engine is good to go I will send it back to the workshop for the swap. Some pictures... Working hard in the dust and fumes...   ML 55 seats fit perfectly with a 40mm spacer under the front brackets. I will fabricate a 40mm false floor (carpeted) to go under them. Then bolt through the flase floor and through the body with some large metal plate to distribute load.  The "Before" picture of the 280ge.  Taking it home in the wife's avalanche.  Inside the KJet Manifold.... not so good.  KJet cleaned up, all the fuel lines checked (3 were completely blocked) and quick gasket made.  Spark plug ports cleaned out, tonnes of c**p in there after a year outside. All shiny and clean now with the drain holes cleaned out, oily rags will keep them clean until the install. The spark plugs are all brand new.  Bits getting cleaned up and inspected. looks like the fuel distributor to air box pipe is far from origional. I will need to make sure it seals well.  Vacuum hoses being replaced (all of the other larger houses, you can see have craked in the below picture, have been ordered along with a new thermo switch)  Fortunately the engine mounts on this engine are new, the mounts on my truck have not been modified, the radiator is new and most of the original wiring harness is still in tact so it should be a "relatively" simple job of dropping it in, getting the AC compressor to line up (this 280ge has a compressor bracket on it), bolting everything together and then trouble shooting the electrics. My current exhaust is a piece of c**p so from the manifolds back im going to have to have a stainless one made.... I have the origional front box and tail pipe that goes over the fuel tank but from forum research Ive discovered I can pretty much put in a straight through exhaust with only one muffler to create some back pressure. | |
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| DUTCH Administrator Doppelgänger Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: US, GA, Atlanta Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter Posts: 9963 | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | ||
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| DesertStar Expert Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: San Diego, CA USA Vehicle(s): 85-280GE/95-G320/08-G500 Posts: 2156 | ||
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| J.R. Elite Veteran Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Southern Maryland Vehicle(s): 00 G500, 09 911 4S, 11 Cayenne S, 86 280GE (sold) Posts: 828 | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | ||
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| RSF.Gunney Regular Date registered: Nov 2016 Location: Qatar Vehicle(s): W460 - 280ge Posts: 63 | Re: Introduction w460 Resurrection in Qatar Links worked perfectly (I really need to master the search function!) FYI: This is the fuel distributor to WUR routing I was looking for, indicated with red arrows, images added for future reference... It looks like it goes behind the manifold and not through it, which would explain why I have so much left over after going through.    Edited by RSF.Gunney 12/1/2016 2:36 AM | |
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