[V8] This may be too far out even for me....

[toml99 at todomundo.com]

I recently sent some parts to a guy that bought a '94(?)100 avant w/3.6 conversion/5-speed(nobody has done an auto swap afaik as thats just plain wrong). He emailed some pics and it's missing the viscous fan(assume it was in the way and fab guy just removed it).  He got it on Motorgeek and I could find the build thread if you really want, but as my friend Jeff would say "now you are just talking crazytalk".  If you intended on putting your car in the barn and spent a year or 2 doing it yourself.....go for it.  To ask your "wrench" to tackle this is simply "financial suicide".  To quote a guy that stuffed a newer 4.2 into an A6 wagon and decided to sell it as the wife wanted an auto and they got an Allroad  "Over 20K invested plus 100's(100's!) of hrs making this a 1of a kind A6....taking offers over 10K".  I've seen sooooo many projects on MG get started and end up as a fire sale when burnout happens. A local guy had a pearl coupe quattro/3.6(another MG'er) that he bought as is and came by as he lived in the neighborhood.  Steering pump was from coupe, but got fabbed to run on 3.6 belt.  Fab guy failed as mount was weak and cracked, but there was little room for improvement on his plan......As I recall it sold for less than he bought it, and while I had a fleeting urge to buy it as it was stunning from the street/knew better.  
I'll crate up a 3.6 for you cheap if you really want to do something stupid.....Finding a good ZF auto is a lesson in frustration, and just plain wrong....if it would even fit(doubtful)......5-speed's are bomber/available.  Your wife needs exercise in her left foot....Tom
On Jan 17, 2017, at 9:29 AM, Roger M. Woodbury wrote:

> I was driving home from weight training last night. It was very dark and I was more conscious than usual about how few street lights there were between Winterport and Brooks along Route 149. There are stretches of nearly a mile or more along the twisty, hilly section before and after the town of Monroe where the dark is very, very dark indeed and last night it seemed the more so.
> 
> I found myself thinking of how good the Euro lights in the old 100CS Avant really are in comparison to the V8 DOT lights.  I have made the decision to replace the horrid and semi-dangerous DOT lamps with Euros, but that left me to think more about the wagon.
> 
> The chief issues with the wagon are that with 213,000 miles accumulated, the engine is likely a bit tired as is probably the transmission.  When stone cold, the transmission does slip just a tad when first put into gear in the morning, but not again after that.  The engine has some oil leaks which are getting worse, especially the rear main seal which will require dropping the transmission to fix.  There are half a dozen other relatively minor issues, the worst of which is the hvac controller and the a/c compressor.  Finally, the body really, really needs to be restored, although the car is NOT rusty and is in no way even remotely close to failing any sort of inspection.  Meanwhile the wagon runs just fine, but for now it rests in the garage awaiting developments.
> 
> I have been shopping for Mercedes E-class wagons.  The ideal vehicle would be a one owner, 4-matic wagon with between 40 and 65,000 miles.  Such cars exist in reasonable quantity, and the model year I like the best is 2005-2008, and of course, I am in LOVE with the idea of a V8 wagon, although rational thought says that I should be ready to embrace the E320 or E350 V6.  Either way, the bill will be between $10 and $15,000 dollars.  For reference when I bought the 100CS (a 1994), it was 2001 and I paid right around $15,000 for the car with 39,000 miles from new.  That in my opinion was a great value, as the car is still certainly road ready despite its issues.
> 
> But then I began to think deeper as I plunged ahead through the evening's darkness.  The ONLY think the Audi Avant has ever really lacked was about 70 horsepower.  And if the oil leaks were fixed, the body painted, and the other niggling little details fixed, there is no reason why the wagon won't go another fifty thousand miles or even more.
> 
> But wait a second, I thought.  Even if all those issues were fixed, I'd still be down those seventy horsepower....so why not fix that while I'm in there?
> 
> And of course its already been done and quite a lot.  Last night I began to read about the engine swaps that have been done on the C4 chassis wagons.  I even found a source for engine mounts that will enable the mounting of a 3.6 or 4.2 liter V8 in the engine bay.  And I know that engines are around, actually in some quantity and not particularly expensive.
> 
> What I have not found yet is a completed swap where the V8 was mated either to the original 100/A6 transmission, or the ZF transmission from the V8 donor was used in the C4 body.  The revitalized Avant will have to be an automatic transmission car for a couple of reasons. My wife is so "clutch-challenged" that a non-auto car in the house will invite civil war.  And besides, I don't give a rats ass about shifting gears again myself.  I do not believe there are any magic issues in mating the electrical system to the V8 harness either and I think there is PLENTY of room in the bay for surely the 3.6 litre V8.
> 
> So, I'm thinking.  I have the recipient car in hand, resting in the garage now. I have NO particular need for that car to be running today or tomorrow.  The next vehicle that I see us having any real need for is some sort of full sized pickup truck and that probably not until we start the new house that could be as long as two years away.
> 
> I'm going to start to make some lists, do a lot of research and ponder if it could make any sense to bring another V8 into the house, even if it isn't quite the V8 that is normally talked or lamented about on these pages.
> 
> Any thoughts are welcomed. (Including those that suggest I am getting REALLY senile and losing touch with reality!)
> 
> Roger
> 
> 
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