Mercedes 220 Engine Build

Ady, Bridge Classic Cars engine specialist has completed another engine build on our 1953 Mercedes 220

Mercedes 220 cracked Flywheel

Whilst cleaning up our original flywheel we have discovered a very small crack through the moulding. This has resulted in the flywheel being unacceptable to refit. Having searched online for some time and speaking to some very useful contacts we have been unable to source a suitable replacement.

We have therefore called in the services of a company that can re-manufacture to the original specification so are now awaiting the new item to arrive before we continue with the final stage of rebuild.

Rebuilding our 1953 Mercedes 220

With all the new parts sourced and the existing parts restored we can now put our engine back together ready for a test run.

Cleaning the 220 engine

Ady is currently cleaning out the corrosion in our Mercedes 220 engine.

Play in Piston Ring

As you can see from the video below. The piston rings are of the wrong size, resulting in a lot of play and causing damage to the engine.

Stripping the Mercedes engine

Ady has now stripped our 1953 Mercedes 220 engine to identify the running issues.

As you can see, we have discovered two major problems which will most certainly require repairing.

Firstly, the pistons have been picked up in the bore causing scoring and the lines that you see. Upon further investigation we discovered a 26 thou clearance which is dragging oil through the system. This clearance should be around 3 thou. In order to rectify this we will need to bore out to fit new pistons. If we are unable to source new pistons then we will have to bore out and fit new linings. The linings will then house standard pistons.

Further more, you can also see the cam lobes are severely pitted so a new cam shaft and followers will need to be sourced. Failing that we will need to send away the original to be re-profiled.

Our Mercedes 220 on the test bed

With the 1953 Mercedes 220 installed on our test bed Ady and Pete are running up the engine for the very first time.

Getting ready to run our engine up

The engine is now set up on our stand ready to be run.

Mercedes 220 Engine work

Our objective is to investigate the poor running of our 1953 Mercedes 220 engine. Already, we have discovered a defect in the carburettor. As you can see from the images below, we have laid a flat edge across the top and one edge shows a slight concave whereas the other shows a convex. This should be completely flat and these are very minor but enough for the carburettor to be operating with a weakness.

We have now stripped the carb and flattened the edge all over to remove the imperfections before rebuilding.