Projekt Mordecai/MRDRMBL/Das Großer Benz

[Rope-Pusher]

I'm sure there's an adapter available from J.C. Whitney so you can use the smog pump form a '70's Chevy in it's place.

[1974Alfa5spd]

That's not an issue. I already replaced it with a unit from a 300E with a paltry 172,000 miles on it.

[Rope-Pusher]

Did you tear it down to clean it and lube it before you installed it? Now they you are our resident smog-pump expert, refurbishing one must seem trivial to you, right?

[1974Alfa5spd]

Now this is where this thread starts getting interesting. This car is equipped with an electro-mechanical fuel injection system called Bosch KE-Jetronic. And it is finicky and a general complete and total pain in the ass. After attempting to tune it for the better part of a year now and getting effectively nowhere, I've decided to go electronic. Fortunately, this is a largely output-based system with very few sensor inputs, so removing all of it's precious valves does effectively f*ckall to the rest of it. The plan is to retrieve a junkyard intake, fit the fuel rail and pressure regulator from a later M104 engine, fit a set of 24lb/hr EV6 injectors (Found on 94-04 Fords), and remove all the K-Jet ancillaries. The orignal ECU and EZL (ignition control unit) will continue to provide spark, while a mega/microsquirt system will take control of fuel delivery. Fortunately, the fuel pump relay is activated by an RPM signal, so it is entirely automatic as it stands and needs no modification.
This is all I have right now, considering this is going to have to happen over the summer when it's more likely that I won't have any need for the car.

[Rope-Pusher]

^ Yanno, a good Carter Thermoquad could ficks all that.



It's not like you're an emissions Nazi, right?


"No Emissions for You!"

[potownrob]

It's not like you're an emissions Nazi, right?

don't forget alfa's in cali

[Rope-Pusher]

It's not like you're an emissions Nazi, right?

don't forget alfa's in cali

So he puts the plates from some other car on it - it still emits less than his Alfa, right?

Ya wanna soothe yer conscience? Go install a new set of spark plugs and plug wires in 10 homeless people's cars and the net effect considering your car and their 10 cars will be 80% fewer emissions than before.

[theholycow]

Ya wanna soothe yer conscience? Go install a new set of spark plugs and plug wires in 10 homeless people's cars and the net effect considering your car and their 10 cars will be 80% fewer emissions than before.

Better idea: Remove the spark plugs and wires from 10 cars. Those cars are off the road and have zero emissions other than material outgassing.

A carburetor will, oddly enough, not meet carb approval. Then again, neither will his intended modifications, but he might slip those by if he keeps them stealthy and his emissions aren't any worse.

Also:

[1974Alfa5spd]

A carburetor will, oddly enough, not meet carb approval. Then again, neither will his intended modifications, but he might slip those by if he keeps them stealthy and his emissions aren't any worse.

My thinking is that not every person in the world is expertly versed in how 80s Merc engines are fed their fuel. The fuel rail is coming from a later model car (Which is CARB approved), and it fits on this engine with practically no modification. So as long as it looks factory and it passes the sniffer test, I'm golden.

[1974Alfa5spd]

I was peeking through the photos on my phone the other day and I remembered I took pictures of my oil pan fiasco


Good shot of the damage. Went all the way through the plug.

Super secure piece of seatbelt holding up the engine, a crossmember I had to remove, and the busted oil pan front and center.

Shiny new oil pump the mechanic put in when he rebuilt the head.

Damn clean in there for 282,000 miles. None of that has been touched since it left Sindelfingen in October 1989.

The drink of choice. Everyone who owns one of these say to use diesel oil, because it has more and better anti-wear additives.

And a shot of how much I had to lift the motor up to get the oil pan over the crossmember.

Meanwhile in present day, eBay has been kind to me, as someone was selling the fuel rail and pressure regulator from an M104 for $60 shipped, and another guy is selling a set of eight good, used, cleaned and flow-tested injectors for $55 shipped. I could've gone to the junkyard and picked six off of a '96-'00 Ford engine, but then I'd have to get them cleaned, anyway, which would cost about as much. So I'd rather kill two birds with one stone.
Meanwhile, these bits have been stagnating about my quarters.

A pre-made wiring harness courtesy of the folks at DIY Auto Tune, with the wires identified and bundled, and the extraneous (Spark output and Fuel Pump) clipped off.

And the coolant (which is to be machined down to 14mm and tapped to M14x1.5 for plug+play) and intake air temperature sensors, and the Innovate LC-1 Wideband Lambda sensor.
The fuel rail was shipped via Economy, so it should be here any time between tomorrow and Monday. The injectors are going to be purchased today or tomorrow. A few bits of high-pressure hose and some fittings need to be identified and purchased, and then I have to go rip an intake manifold off of a junkyard car.

Unfortunately, I'm partially flying by the seat of my pants here. Even though this conversion has been done to a lot of these motors, there is very little documentation on it. I met the friend of the guy who did this conversion to an '89 190E 2.6 (5-speed!) and got his number, so hopefully he'll be willing and able to sit down with me over coffee and point me in the right directions. Otherwise, I'm planning to pretty thoroughly document this so some other sucker doesn't have to do so much hunting and pecking. Also I'd imagine it's kind of interesting to read.

[theholycow]

[94Corolla5Speed]

In for electronics, which is terrifying for me.

[1974Alfa5spd]

Shall I record the assembly of the ECU, then?
Seriously, it's arriving tomorrow, I'll do it if the consensus is yes.

[potownrob]

alfa, if someone had told you two years ago you were going to be in this deep now, would you have believed them?

[1974Alfa5spd]

alfa, if someone had told you two years ago you were going to be in this deep now, would you have believed them?

Knowing myself, I wouldn't doubt them in the least. And frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Even though it's made me want to ragequit a few times, working on this car has vastly expanded my realm of automotive knowledge, and although I can't really say all that makes me a better person, I've had a lot of fun doing it.