Whoa, yep, that was a bit of a break I took. Well, actually I've been working on small details that ended up taking much more time than I had anticipated. Here are the updates so far:
The vacuum bypass valve between the intake & IP was obtained from a 617.950 engine. It looks good and like it should work, but I don't know enough about these valves yet to be sure. Is there a difference in vacuum levels or turbo performance as compared to the 617.951? We'll see. To my surprise, these things have been missing from every junkyard car I've come accross - that's why I went for this one since it was the only one I could find.
I now have a cruise control amplifier from a 1983 300SD. It's the 14-pin digital type, and I've got a diagram of all of the pin-outs to try to make this work later. I also found a very informative site that basically tells you how to troubleshoot these systems.
My previously feared heater return hard-line and valve-cover breather tubes are now fabricated! I used some 3/4" tubing and a manual ratcheting bender to make these each in one piece. I also fabricated my own oil separator and welded it to the breather, including a nipple cut off a steel air cleaner so I can use the stock oil drain near the turbo. The oil separator has a 1-1/2" tube extension on it to mate to the air cleaner via some silicone elbows ordered from www.siliconeintakes.com. The air cleaner previously had a water/debris drain with a rubber bulb attached to it at the rear; I'm removing that and hooking up the vent in it's place. If I suck up some water or leaves I'll have to remove them manually I guess - I don't really plan to get that crazy.
I FINALLY got my pilot bearing. The vendor was fairly local but - jimminy-cricket - took 2 weeks to send my part. Wah! Anyway, now I need to have the exterior of the bearing ground about 4 thousandths so I can press it into the existing crankshaft opening - MB made 2 out of the 3 necessary machining steps on these cranks so the opening is not a true 35mm. Mine measured 34.85mm and there should only be about a thousandth overlap for an interference fit (sorry to be switching units but...). I hope to find a grinding shop to modify my bearing tomorrow.
None of my door locks worked with the ignition key, so I found a complete set plus a diesel ignition switch on a 300GD parts car - 4 keys included!!! Score! One seems to be fused onto the door though... I might need a torch.
The same 300GD had a really cool bracket to replace the A/C pump mount on my 300TD motor. It's a stamped sheet-metal part that allows you to remove that massive A/C mount, and still have a place to bolt down the oil line brace. So simple!
I've also received a new pair of fog lights to replace the one broken one I had. After some eBay browsing, I also ended up repairing one of my "E-code" headlight that has the 2ndary "city" bulbs too. One assembly came apart such that the lens separated cleanly from the housing. A little gorillla-glue and life is good again.
The fancy new engine mounts from Mike Serpe at Gwagen-Preserve went on nicely. They couldn't be simpler! I hope things line up when the engine goes in this weekend!
I placed a painful order at Eurotruck for a set of red-front, white-rear suspension springs, plus various rubber parts, shift-linkage bushings, brake hoses, etc. I'll have a lot of this stuff apart anyway so now is the time to do them!
After reading about some brake bleeding tricks I ended up making my own pressure bleeder using a $9 bug sprayer from Home Depot, and a spare reservoir cap I picked up at Pick-n-pull. I drilled a hole in the center of the cap and epoxied in a plastic nipple to attach the sprayer line to. I decided not to install a pressure gauge just because there seems to be adequate feedback when pumping up the bottle. I expect about 10lbs to be plenty to make the fluid flow. I'm also using mil-spec silicone brake fluid that I purchased by the gallon on eBay. It's the good stuff, and only about $35 a gallon plus shipping. I plan to convert all of the hydraulic systems after the new hoses go on.
Well, I'll take & post more photos soon, but that's the update.
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