1UZ into MB 190E

[Trollburger]

conversion for Mercedes Benz 190E in South Korea.

Originally I was planing to get 1uz vvti into my 190E, but it's changed to non-vvti because its intake mechanism looked very far from my technical expectation. Although I didn't have any problems with immobilizer, drive-by-wire and other electrical stuff, I decided to go back to traditional engine for easy tune up.

So I bought another non-vvti engine from Japan and I gotta go to Japan to bring that. It costs almost similar either enjoying the tour or just waiting for shipping at home with my cat.

Here's the picture the seller showed

*picture link fixed

 

[Merxus]

I can't access your pics.
I am currently fitting a 1uz to an 82 w126 sec coupe.
Biggest obstacles so far for me-steering box hitting exhaust manifold, gear linkage on wrong side. Wiring.
I am interested in your swap and will follow.

 

[Trollburger]

yeah steering is the biggest problem I've found especially for those generation of MB like ours. most of classic MB owners change their steering mechanism to rack&pinion to make more room with any type of conversions. do you use original steering box? think I saw some of your posts from other site while I was googling. (guess it would be still difficult even if change it)

the picture, I think there's wrong with access authority. fixed it. thx to let me know
btw, gonna go to take ferry to Japan on this Wednesday. I'll post some about this travel too.

 

[Merxus]

That is a clean looking engine.
Yes I didnt want to remove the steering box as where I am working on the car there is no electricity for welding etc.
Maybe there is someone else doing the same swap as I havent posted anything online about it yet. Maybe we can swap some tips?
I will post up thread on it here.

 

[Trollburger]

Here's my plan. 1UZFE+Z33 adapter+3VZ flywheel+Z33 disc+3VZ pressure plate+Z33 tranny. Very common swap for Nissan 1UZers like the S series. For 190E, just found some guys in UK already did it, but there's no picture and conversion process. Let's see what happens. I'm driving my car with the original engine yet and still buying the parts.

 

[Trollburger]

Engine room expansion



Engine room was not big enough to fit 1UZ on proper position, so lowered cross member about 2 inches. Steering box replacement to rack & pinion seems mandatory, not optional. Still ongoing... cutting, welding, and smashing!

 

[190-v8]

Any progress?

Any more new progress on this project?

I am doing the exact same swap over here in Canada - 1UZ+Z33. I am going to run the R200v Nissan diff.

I also have a front sump 1UZ - seemed like the best under engine profile of the oil sumps available.

I am about to start pulling the motor/trans next week and start with the "editing" of the cross member. Any more pics you can post of the engine bay and changes you made would be great to see!

PW

 

[Trollburger]

Any more new progress on this project?

I am doing the exact same swap over here in Canada - 1UZ+Z33. I am going to run the R200v Nissan diff.

I also have a front sump 1UZ - seemed like the best under engine profile of the oil sumps available.

I am about to start pulling the motor/trans next week and start with the "editing" of the cross member. Any more pics you can post of the engine bay and changes you made would be great to see!

PW

It's cool that I have a company Now I'm having a break due to some personal reasons. I will post some as soon as it progresses. You can check my blog either. Only a few pictures and written by Korean, but you can check some pictures though. (http://blog.naver.com/kamikaja282) My last work was making a bracket for using W210 steering. The black one behind lowered member. Exhaust manifolds would be the next work.

 

[Trollburger]

Almost done

There were huge achievements just in a week. Fit the engine on proper position, made exhaust header, mounted the transmission with cutting tunnel. I'd say it's almost done! I was really worried if A/C should be deleted, but it didn't happen as the engine placed lower with modified member.

See the pictures at linked blog written by my garage boss.
(He is also professional racing mechanic from Japan specialized at AE86
Most of posts in the blog are about his AE86, 190hp at 9000rpm with N/A)

http://blog.daum.net/yahho/1541209

 

[Trollburger]

Oh I forgot to say some more.
Most of 1UZ-Z33 conversion recipes online, they are not trustable.
Even the kit makers. The adaptor bought for more than $300, it didn't fit.
I've spent really long time to buy the correct items again and again...
Yet I'm not sure that the clutch will be broken into pieces.

 

[190-v8]

Oh I forgot to say some more.
Most of 1UZ-Z33 conversion recipes online, they are not trustable.
Even the kit makers. The adaptor bought for more than $300, it didn't fit.
I've spent really long time to buy the correct items again and again...
Yet I'm not sure that the clutch will be broken into pieces.

I was worried about this as well. I bought a copy of a .dxf file for the 1uz and z33 online. I burned a test piece on my CNC plasma table and it seems to fit ok.

 

[Trollburger]

I was worried about this as well. I bought a copy of a .dxf file for the 1uz and z33 online. I burned a test piece on my CNC plasma table and it seems to fit ok.

I saw someone selling that drawing. It looked more risky to me at that time, so I decided to pay more for complete product. And now I regret this choice. Have spent too much time and money to rework a piece of junk. Please post some of yours too. Now I'm buying the exhaust parts.

 

[190-v8]

Just got my car into my workshop this weekend. Getting ready to pull the stock motor/trans.

 

[190-v8]

I am going to start a build thread on here too.

Pierre

 

[Trollburger]

This conversion was finished about a month ago. Check the videos below first.

https://youtu.be/4KlNb9dCUek
https://youtu.be/APLub4w4UkQ

And some pictures are attached.

3" single exhaust is not so noisy as much as some guys on the forum warned that it's too big for 265bhp 4.0L engine. I think if I went 2.75", I would be disappointed. 3" is a way to go. Although regarding that Korea is more sensitive with exhaust noise than US(just my opinion), it's still acceptable.

I don't think I need to mention how fast it is. Maybe someone could say V8 on a compact sedan with a short wheelbase and light body is too slow though...

And the fuel economy, it's just incredible. I can't measure exact mileage because my mechanical speedometer doesn't work yet. Depending on my navigation mileage, it shows around 11~12km/L(25~28MPG) on the highway at 130~140km/h(75~85MPH) all the time. The engine revs 3,000rpm only at 140km/h. If I slow down to 90~100km/h(2,500rpm), fuel economy is around 14km/L(32MPG), but I can't help putting on the gas I guess that light weight of this Mercedes Benz and 3.0 differential ratio attribute to it.

Some body and chassis side problems like suspension setup and widened tranny tunnel interior are not solved yet, but it runs great anyway.

Missing pictures are on my blog written in Korean.
http://blog.naver.com/kamikaja282

 

[190-v8]

Congratulations on getting the car all together! The exhaust looks fantastic as well.

Pierre

 

[George_R]

Remove the death mushroom from engine bay and the car will be fantastic

 

[Trollburger]

Congratulations on getting the car all together! The exhaust looks fantastic as well.

Pierre

Thank you! How is your projects going? Both of V8 and the house I mean.

Remove the death mushroom from engine bay and the car will be fantastic

Yeah I also hate that ugly sponge. Need ITB to get rid of it.

 

[Truegeek007]

Hey, never really posted on here, rebuilding a 1990 1uzfe, was wondering if I could get all the stock Lexus parts such as dash computer and auto trans, and stuff them in the 190e

 

[Zuffen]

I have done something similar with a Suzuki MightyBoy.

Fitted a dash and wiring loom, plus the firewall for good measure, out of a Daewoo Matiz (GM Geo) and whilst it can be done it's heaps of work.

The biggest deal is make sue the 190E is wide enough between the A pillars to fit the dash. Plus make sure it clears the doors when they close.

When I did mine I had to narrow the dash by 52mm and I'm just re-doing this with a Nissan Pulsar dash and it needs 136mm removed. It will happen but expect some headaches.