Benz om617

68Mercury250Ranger · Aug 30, 2015

been watching this thread for a while and was lookin go r a 89-92 ranger for my MB powertrain , but picked up a 1 owner 96 F150 shorty for a great price as the engine was locked up. using my 2.4 N/A MB diesel and 4spd trans in it for a winter vehicle . weight should be pretty close to an extended cab 2wd ranger so I will dig into it. I have a fiberglass sleeper for the F150 that will take2 seatbelts and side seating, so the whole family can ride in a pinch.

couldn't find a solid S/C ranger for under $1200 so I bought the F150 for $350

it won't be a pretty conversion but I will "make it work " hopefully get in the 35-40mpg range , car was pulling 45-47mpg before I sold all the parts off it and the car weighed between 34 and 3500lbs , truck should be close but not near as aerodynamic. hoping for a 100km/h (62.5mph) max cruising speed.
only rural/secondary paved road use so it should be fine. will post pics if anyone is interested, my first choice was a 89-92 ranger supercab but it didn't happen. :beer:

5spd conversion if it works well :icon_thumby:

bobbywalter · Aug 30, 2015

your n/a 4 cyl benz car was getting over 40 mpg consistently and you did not hate the nutless wonder??? thats pretty good.

a 2wd low truck could pull 23-25 pretty regular on the hiway with a turbo model but n/a is gonnabe painful on the highway or freeway.... maybe ok in town if geared perfectly. its not the weight that is the issue....its the drag.

but performance wont be nothing to brag about. i could not do it...so i am glad someone will try it, as it may prove to be a good idea.

i just cant see that wheezer worth putting in a truck...i would leave it in the car and get something with more power for a truck. the n/a 4's make me sick when i have driven them.

68Mercury250Ranger · Aug 30, 2015

I was surprized at its acceleration actually. with an automatic the 2.4 is absolutely useless but with the stick shift behind it , it did well.

I've owned a few 300D 5cyl turbo diesel sedans with the 4spd automatic and they were good enough but with a 5spd manual they would feel completely different.

the 4 cyl car is basically a rolling shell now, ready for me to pull out the engine/trans. bought the car for $450 IIRC and sold wheels off it, doors and interior parts for $700 and kept the part I bought it for in the first place. :yahoo:

only freeway it would see would be a small stretch that's only 90km/h>55mph. most of my driving is on gravel roads and secondary paved roads now. would never use it for a highway cruiser.
0-50mph in 15-20 seconds would be fine for me.

I have a 7.3 powerstroke van>trailer hauler when I want to do some freeway driving. its a lot of fun to drive when it is empty :icon_thumby:

1991fordranger1 · Aug 30, 2015

Well the good news is I got the motor going and had it running great 26 degrees timing 1070 egts enough power to pass on the highway..... on to the terrible news while taking it on a trip to visit family in northern sask the front tire was replaced on Friday before I left as it was faulty and was free thought it was a good plan...... at 110km/h cruising like a dream new tire blew out came down dug I'm the ground from the weight..... from the mark w hit to the next mark on the pavement was 40 paces away the next three were alot closer together..... thru the grace of God my brother and I survived with no more then whiplash Seay belt rash we bashed heads at one point so goose eggs and some cuts the farmer in the he field figured we were dead then we both climbed out running around like chickens with our heads cut off.... we landed right way up roof crumpled down neither doors opened dukes of hazards it out but my brother said the first thing I did was Rev the motor twice then shut down the motor said still good... I got a but of a cuncussion and don't remember anything really passed the first impact to when I was repeatably spelling my name to the farmer.... that all said and done the power train remains un harmed and sitting at the farmera house till I can go saw zall it out and find super truck 2.0 roll cage with a vengeance

68Mercury250Ranger · Aug 30, 2015

ouch! 110km/h is the posted speed limit isn't it? good thing you didn't do this in the winter!

your body will remember this rollover when you are 50, good thing the motor is ok! did you check your lotomax ticket yet? you boys sure got lucky.

1991fordranger1 · Aug 30, 2015

It's the only time in my life when I've braced for death don't even wanna drive anything or think about driving anything for a little while lol

seebeexee · Aug 30, 2015

Wow, that's a horrible experience, for sure. Too bad for the truck, good for the drive train, and great for you and your brother's survival. With that kind of luck, I'd definitely be heading to Vegas because with accidents like that, survivors are rare. I'm glad you both made it.

68Mercury250Ranger · Oct 9, 2015

68Mercury250Ranger said:
I was surprized at its acceleration actually. with an automatic the 2.4 is absolutely useless but with the stick shift behind it , it did well.

I've owned a few 300D 5cyl turbo diesel sedans with the 4spd automatic and they were good enough but with a 5spd manual they would feel completely different.

the 4 cyl car is basically a rolling shell now, ready for me to pull out the engine/trans. bought the car for $450 IIRC and sold wheels off it, doors and interior parts for $700 and kept the part I bought it for in the first place.

only freeway it would see would be a small stretch that's only 90km/h>55mph. most of my driving is on gravel roads and secondary paved roads now. would never use it for a highway cruiser.
0-50mph in 15-20 seconds would be fine for me.

I have a 7.3 powerstroke van>trailer hauler when I want to do some freeway driving. its a lot of fun to drive when it is empty

township is making me remove all my unplated vehicles from MY property. cut the powertrain out of this car tonite, just have to sawsall the front crossmember and its on the ground, keeping engine and trans.
shell is leaving on Friday along with some other stuff. scrap is $75/ton lowest I've ever seen it!!!!! that's about $55 US

I live on a gravel road in the country 10 min from the nearest town, this is BS and I am pissed off about it. I suggested end of feb can have all my stuff out, they said before the snow flies. could be mid nov to mid dec.

I'm ready to build a big fence now! wife wants to plant a row of evergreens to block any view of our house form the road and put an Sbend in our driveway.

I am the only income in my family and selling parts off old trucks and vans pays for all the extra stuff that my income cannot cover.

if I had not been off work injured all of may and June I would be in the process of building my shop now, just killed the funds until summer 2016. not sure if I even want to build a shop here now or even stay here for that matter.

all it takes is 1 neighbor to complain, and my neighbors aren't even close.
I am going to get as many classic cars plated as I can afford and park them all over my lawn, maybe that wil be enough of a statement? :yahoo:

sorry, just letting of steam :annoyed:

68Mercury250Ranger · Dec 8, 2015

fitting in with this thread...........

recently found a company in PA that makes an adapter to bolt the OM617 to a smallblock V8 Ford bellhousing. its around $450 but that's not bad .

I think a 5cyl Turbo motor would work well with a mazda 5spd or ZF behind it? one of those gearvendor under/overdrives would work awesome with a 4cyl diesel , shifting all the time :icon_rofl:

but seriously, if anybody is interested in a kit I'll pass on the info. I might be ordering one if there is anything left in the bank after Christmas. :sad:

1991fordranger1 · Feb 3, 2016

Yep that company makes adapter plates so you can remove Mercedes factory plate from the block and put a plate on in its place to bolt different transmissions on and flywheel adapters to match the trans and starter.. there way is easier then building an entire bell like I had I had spoke with them when building mine

bobbywalter · Feb 3, 2016

68Mercury250Ranger said:
fitting in with this thread...........

recently found a company in PA that makes an adapter to bolt the OM617 to a smallblock V8 Ford bellhousing. its around $450 but that's not bad .

I think a 5cyl Turbo motor would work well with a mazda 5spd or ZF behind it? one of those gearvendor under/overdrives would work awesome with a 4cyl diesel , shifting all the time

but seriously, if anybody is interested in a kit I'll pass on the info. I might be ordering one if there is anything left in the bank after Christmas.

post up the company

the 5 cyl turbo would be awesome with the aod-4r70w or mazda m5od behind it mang!

1991fordranger1 · Feb 3, 2016

Mercedesdiesel4x4.Com

68Mercury250Ranger · Feb 4, 2016

oops, been broke in the new year . no money to work on anything and layoffs looming..........

here is a link to the kit, have it saved in my favorites :icon_thumby:

http://www.mercedesdiesel4x4.com/product_p/a-mb203.htm

cheers James

1991fordranger1 · Feb 4, 2016

Well if I were to do it again just to use a Mercedes I'd do it this way as you order this kit. Bolt the plate on and try to fit it just that fast I spent a lot of time over engineering it but it was because I could... your using a full size Trans in it if you got this route

1991fordranger1 · Feb 25, 2016

I have been working in the shop at other stuff and have the Mercedes motor and trans just sitting there taking up space... It has a rebuilt top end was just done 2 days before i rolled the truck, including resurfacing the head being ground flat valves lapped and resealed, new head gasket and head bolts new thermostat, intake was steamed out egr deleted, new water pump, its got new glow plugs done with head.. i have it coupled to a fm145 brand new clutch components used when put together, with it a manual borg warner that came with the 145... it has the motor mounts still on it that fit it in a 1991 ranger that had a 2.9 in it. IF some one is interested please pm me with what you wanna pay me id package it on a pallet but im located in brandon manitoba canada its a solid unit i would love to build another ranger but the time i dedicated the first time i just done have and cant store it in there forever pm me if interested

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