Installing the Engine

The story of this car’s engine has been unusual, and now it goes into the next chapter – getting stuffed back into the car.   A few things to point out – this engine is heavy, even for an alloy block and is a tight fit into the 107 chassis.  The front of the car has to be lifted up on jack stands in order for the transmission to hit the proper angle into the tunnel while dangling in the air.  The front wheels come off also, in order that you can reach the hole on the bottom of the front subframe to insert the motor mount bolts from underneath.  But, first things first, put together the engine noise.  It helps to have young helpers involved.

While the boys were involved with that, I went under the car to connect the front half of the drive shaft.  The Mercedes driveshafts are balanced from the factory and it is essential to get the marks lined up if you need to put the two halves back together.  The rear section of the driveshaft has a small peen mark, which I highlighted with a white paint marker before putting it back in previously.  Once the decades of road grime are removed from the front half, you can see the paint marks for alignment made at the factory.  I simply spun a rear wheel until I could see the mark on the rear from the underside, then slid the front half on with plenty of grease on the splines.

Next, chain up the engine with the lifting brackets and a balance bar and start hoisting.  You will want the chains on the engine to be as short as practicable because the engine will need to go high in order to clear the front radiator support.  It is necessary to have a balance bar on the hoist to angle the engine, as well as a good friend to help with the process, one to crank and the other to guide the engine.

Getting the engine in place involves a lot of delicate lifting and cranking the angle of the engine to get the transmission into the tunnel, while gently pushing the lift forward as the sump clears the radiator support.

Finally, once the engine is in the bay, gently drop the engine onto the rubber mounts (replaced with new ones, right?).  Fixing the engine mounts is a fiddly job, requiring one person to turn the Allen bolts with a 10MM key from underneath and the other person to line up the bracket with the captive nut.  I kept the engine on the hoist until the front mounts were fitted up, because it is a delicate process and it helps to be able to move the engine slightly as you do it.

Here is the engine now in place, with the front mounts fitted.  The engine is rocked backward a little because in this photo I have not yet raised the transmission to attach the mount.