Machine the hub lead in surface, taking off a few thou, concentric to the wheel location diameter.
Extend this lead in and take off the rusty wheel location diameter up to the spacer face.
Make a sleeve a few thou over-size and the length of the wheel location diameter that can be pressed or shrunk onto the new lead in face up to the spacer face surface on the hub.
Machine the diameter of the sleeve to fit the wheel inside diameter.
It is important that every thing is kept concentric and square to the disk mounting face.
Naturally you need the lathe and the skill or know someone who does.
I never said it would be easy.

Or you could laser weld the lead in diameter for 5 mm from the existing wheel locating diameter slightly over the wheel location diameter, you would not need 100% coverage.
Then machine the weld to the wheel location diameter.
Laser weld does not apply much heat, three or four beads of weld around the circumference would be ample. You do not need arc welding, too much heat.
This is a simpler method and probably best.

 

I like it! I'd I were to do it, I'd start with a new SLK55 hub. Let me think on this a bit. Thanks!

 

Or spray weld, then machine as abom79 does ( Andy Booth lives in Pensacola ):

 

My work connection blocks YouTube, but I will watch later on. I appreciate the lead, especially if this is a service in Pensacola, as I'm all of 45 minutes from there. Keep the ideas rolling in!

The SRT-6 front brakes were swapped back on last night. Car is driving perfectly, now. Believe things are ready for the trip - tomorrow!

 

And we're off! About 200 miles into what should be about a 12-1300 mile weekend. Car is running well. Oil level light came on, so we pulled over right away. Oil level is right where it was when I checked it last night. Light went out, but now is coming and going. Guessing the sensor is going bad. Hope that is the worst casualty of the weekend.

 

Have fun! Take it easy on that skinny pedal--you need to leave some tread on your rear tires to get you home.

 

We're are here at Fontana Village with the group. Everything went well today, and the car performed beautifully. So far, it is everything I hoped it would be when I set out to build it!

 

OK, back from just about 1250 miles of absolutely thrashing the car. What a blast! Car ran like a top, and I was anything but kind to it. The engine just sings when way up high, and as hard as this might be to understand, everything seems to feel alive and happy when running 10/10 at 4k+. The transmission shifts at 6700, and it feels like it would keep right on going (I like the rods where they are, though).

If you ever get a chance to travel to an event surrounding Tail of the Dragon/US129, the Cherohala Skyway, or any of the other incredible driving roads in this area of Tennessee, North Carolina and norther Georgia, DO IT! I have had the privilege of driving on roads all of the US, Alaska and many parts of Europe. While there are challenging roads, beautiful roads, and wonderful scenery in so many places, so few have all of it packaged together. So few areas have made their roads a tourism attraction all their own. The Crossfire event is run twice a year. Once in the spring, and again in the fall on the first weekend of October. Get in your car, and make plans. The Crossfire folks are some of the kindest and most welcoming "car guys" I have ever attended an event with. Cannot possibly say enough good things about them. Check the Crossfire Forums in the event section HERE to get info, and get your reservations in early. DO IT! You'll be glad you did.

At the event, the car became a point of a lot of discussion. More than one person commented that the M113K was too much engine for the car. They're not completely wrong, but they're also wrong. I did find the car to be much more of a handful to get through the corners than the 3.2L normally aspirated (N/A) guys did. The power comes on like a hammer, and is often hard to modulate, unless one is willing to leave it in a lower gear, and keep the RPMs up very high for many miles at a time (I wasn't). This resulted in a need for strategy to plan for wide open throttle (WOT) downshifts, and the resulting tire spin/back end boogie. The resulting speed that came was in place just about the time it was necessary to get back on the brakes to setup for the next corner. The corner was always met with the front end diving and then aiming for the outside of the corner (understeer). Front brakes (SRT-6) were definitely tasked out. Rears felt OK, but never even approached lockup, so more could probably happen there, too. Despite all of that, the feeling of what capabilities are on tap, the sound, the smoothness, the whole package. Words cannot describe it all. If you have ever ridden in a E/S/CL/whatever-55 AMG, you understand the feeling. Now put that into something more than 1000# lighter, mix them together, now you've got a slightly better idea of what you're dealing with. Not everyone's cup of tea, but if that sounds even a little appealing to you, track me down at an event, we'll go for a ride!

I have a lot of experience with mountain driving, having lived in the Rockies for many years. The roads there are sometimes great, sometimes rough, but always challenging, no matter what you are driving. However, this car was all new to me, and it is a handful. To that end, a few adjustments are in order.

First and foremost, tires. The car is running decent tires (Continental rebrands) that were purchased when this car was only a N/A Limited. Time to step those up. I talked tires a long time with the 'faster' folks at the event, and most like Hankook for these cars. Most wanted a 235 tire up front, and a 285 in the rear. I currently have a 225 up front and a 255 in the rear.

Second, brakes. The spacers and lug stud conversion have shown up for the SLK55 brakes. These will be put on, but even they will be a stop gap until a set of 360mm/6-pot brakes can be sourced. Probably should consider the 4-pot rear brakes, if a set can be found.

Third, springs. Currently, there are SRT-6 springs on the front of the car. With the N/A engine, the front end sat sky high. With this engine, it sits like it is an SRT-6 on lowering spring. They're too soft for this setup, and probably the primary contributor to the understeer and extreme dive in the corners. In any case, with corner weight data in hand, consultation with some spring manufacturers for slightly stiffer springs is in order. The next concern will be that the Bilstein B6 front shocks are going to have issues. Not looking for race suspension and the associated harsh ride, so will need to think about B8's or something equivalent to give a good mix of handling and comfort. Stress on that second part - this is still my Wife's (Donna) car. She doesn't want a race car ride, either.

Fourth, LSD. Not that kind. This winter work must commence on the HAG215 project, and the Wavetrac limited slip differential. It looks like the code has been cracked on how to get that larger differential in there, but no one will know for sure, until it is done.

Fifth, exhaust. The only other problem that crept up on this trip was an exhaust leak that needs to be tracked down and killed with extreme prejudice. Nothing like making your hard work sound like a jalopy!

Some parting notes.

The SLK55 seats kept you absolutely planted. No sliding around, excellent support, and very comfortable. Driving position for my 5'8" frame was perfect. My 17 year-old, 6'3" son drove the Tail of the Dragon in this car (Yeah, I deserve a medal for that one!), and he could not fit in the seats properly for this type of driving. They sit a little taller than the Crossfire seats, and he had visibility problems, especially with right hand ascending turns. If you're an average size person like me, you'll love them. If you are already having trouble fitting in a Crossfire/SLK(R170) then you will hate them.

I have built more hot rods in my time than I can count. While high strung four cylinder turbocharged engines are my passion, I have had more than my fair share of hot V8s. I have never experienced an engine like the M113K. This particular one was a virtually unknown engine, with only assurances from the seller that "it ran fine when pulled". What is known is that it sat out of the car for over a year, under a tarp in the hot, humid air of central Georgia. The only work done to the basic engine is the work that you see in this thread (fluids, gaskets, water pump, etc). Most of that was normal, preventative work. The engine never got hot, did not burn a drop of oil, and the oil now looks just about as clean as when it went into the engine 800 miles before this thrash of a trip. No one could ask for anything more from it.

My original intention was to end this thread, right about here. The driveline is in the car, runs and drives well, and looks complete.

However, after thinking about it, there is more to add to this thread. The swap is not complete until the entire package of what it takes to put a M113K into a Crossfire/R170 and take this back to a well balanced, sorted car is complete. Sure, it's fast. It's comfortable, the project could end right here. However, this swap should perform as if the car had come from AMG. Power-wise, it does. Handling still leaves some to be desired. Long term durability of the rear end is in doubt. Until these items are fully addressed, I do not consider this a completed project.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank everyone who has read along on this journey. It may seem like it just started to the casual observer, but it required hundreds of hours of work, long nights, and little sleep in a few places. There was general anxiety about many things, including the aforementioned junkyard engine, electronics, cooling system, fuel leaks, incompatible parts, and so many other details. I am hoping someone out there will read all of this, feel inspired and empowered to make their own M113/M113K swap a reality. I'd also like to thank the many people who offered advice and experience, both in the thread and via PM's. You know who you are.

I'd like to thank my son, William, for all his help along the way. Most of all, Donna, who declined issuing a missing persons report, or just finding a replacement husband. I'm coming in from the shop, now, Dear.

 

^^ Interesting to hear your observations about how the car performs (usually, swap reports are just "yeah, it's fast and fun!")

The third paragraph was intriguing. I go back-and-forth about wanting a M113 swap vs. keeping the stock engine with 6 speed manual. It's been said that a NA 6-speed can pretty much keep up with an SRT6 at TOD due to all the twisties. I don't know. There's also something to be said for the fun of driving a slower car hard vs. having to watch your step with a more powerful engine in the same car...like the base Boxster or Cayman vs. the "S" model. (neither of which I've had the pleasure of driving.)

Thanks for the post-TOD report.

 

As they say, the last 10% of a project is the hardest.

 

If I was building for this type of driving exclusively, then I would not hesitate on the N/A M113, preferably the 5.4. The linear response of the N/A engine would be ideal. This is evident in a lot of hard core racers' choices on cars and drivelines. As a long time driver of turbocharged cars, I will say that there is a lot of driving technique. I knew exactly how to keep the turbo engine 'happy' and on power. Of course, that also required the 5 speed manual that went with it. I would say a 5.4 M113 with a 6 speed would be an absolute joy to drive on these roads. In fact, I'd even take that over the M112K, any day of the week. Since this is meant to be an all around "fun" car, then the jaw dropping power of the M113K is hard to beat.

Absolutely no doubt!

 

Hub spacers referenced above have arrived. Also, 78mm lug stud conversion kit from Motorsport Hardware also arrived. Will try to get out into the shop this evening, and do a test fit, and if successful, the 4-pot brakes will go back on. Now that I know they exist, really want to jump all the way up to the 360mm/6-pot fronts and 330mm vented disc 4-pot rears. That combo would probably solve the braking issues for tight courses.

The front springs are the next challenge. Not sure any of the off the shelf solutions will work. Has anyone had a custom OEM-type spring made for them? I'd love to hear about your experience. I have gone for custom coil over springs, but those are generally standard 2.5" type springs, and almost off the shelf.

Once these two items are on their way, the next challenge will be to bring a past project for this car back to the front burner. Last winter, I began work on a modernized LCD instrument cluster conversion. A Crossfire cluster was victimized for this, but what I can tell you is that it is working on the bench. I can pull off the CAN bus messages, and anything else that is missing from the CAN bus is added in through an Arduino (Teensy) board that I designed and had made (I'm a nerdy engineer). The software I am running is called RealDash, and thanks to Crossfire Forum member @rbracy10406 , it is off the ground. The software runs on Android, and the bulk of the people running it put it on their Android head unit, or add a tablet. Way too basic for me! Once complete, the solution will be seamless, and appear OEM, which is the effect I am after. I will try to dig up some pics of it (it's *ugly* right now), but I am at work, and without the pics for now. This is kind of a cold-weather type of a project, so it was shelved since about March. I'll get back on it fairly soon. If you have worked with RealDash, or something similar, PM me. I'd love to trade stories, ideas, etc.

So why post about this here? Much like the points I made above about closing the loop on the package, this is another part. The RealDash conversion is not just about some fancy looking toy in the car. Actually, the dash will be able to convey a lot more information to the driver than the stock one can. For example, already integrated and working are the following extra sensors: Wideband O2, oil pressure, fuel pressure, intake air temperature, intercooler coolant temperature, and I may had a fuel temperature/ethanol content sensor (debating on this one). The best part about this is that there will be no external gauges, gauge pods, or any other ugly add-ons. Well, save one. Part of this will be eliminating the steering wheel, and replacing with a W205 wheel (already in hand), like this one:



I have three of these (with minor styling variations) in hand already. Work has already begun on communicating with it (it uses LIN Bus). Work on this latter part would be accelerated by spending a day with a similarly equipped car and some test equipment, so that it coming. One neat thing in this addition will be the paddle shifters. Yes! The TCU in the car has this option enabled, and this will close that loop, once complete. The other buttons in the wheel for controlling the radio will be able to talk to the double DIN Android head unit already onboard, and the other buttons will control the dash, pretty similarly to the original intent in the car the wheel came from. Hoping that this will be a slick addition to the car. For the curious, the airbag situation has already been sorted, based on experience from users in other MB platforms.

The RealDash will likely deploy into the car before the steering wheel, and the steering wheel will complement it later. The more mechanical projects that are still out there (brakes, suspension, tires, Killer Chiller, etc) will come before these, but I wanted to give a peek into what is up and coming. Always on the move!

p.s.-I already have a plan for the logo on the steering wheel. I am open to comments or suggestions, but the Mercedes star is not going to be part of this one!

 

I received some pics back from the picture vendors at Tail of the Dragon, and I just had to share. Here's the car last weekend at the Dragon, with my 17 year old at the wheel!

 

Those 6 pots were standard on the first couple years of the SLK 55 but were taken off and added as part of the P30? package. There were so many complaints filed to Mercedes about them. Most complaints were because they were too loud and squeaked too much. In the article I read it stated around 80-90% was from a specific age group and gender. I know which of who they’re referencing but I’ll let everyone figure that one out for themselves lol.

Also about the newer MB steering wheel and it’s said controls. Is this something you could possibly make/produce as an upgrade for XF users that would want this “since day 1 of ownership for me” to purchase ? Hell I’d even do the work myself if you had a step by step or something similar showing it from A-Z? I read a post of one of the Benz forums where a guy added an R171 SLK steering wheel with all of its functions made to work in his R170 SLK320. I was lost about 3 paragraphs in on the 10 page write up. Thank you for sharing a log of your insight into this awesome build!!! Also thank you in advance for any help with the Merc SW

 

I saw one writeup on SLKWorld on a 'buttoned' steering wheel, but it looked like a mess. Do you have a link?

I put out a request on MBWorld for someone with any 2008-16 model MB with steering wheel controls in my area, so that I could hook up my equipment and snoop on the bus. One of the things I said I'd do is to publish all of the information for the community as a whole. If you are in the FL panhandle or surrounding areas, and you'd like to help, I would love to talk to you.

As for a kit, I'm not sure I'd want to do that, as support gets to be more than I can deal with. There is a member here that offers a turnkey kit to add paddle shifters to the existing CF steering wheel. It's a great option, and one I was considering myself, before wanting all the buttons. I have also considered simply re-wiring the W205 wheel, and adding my own communications stuff to it, but I really don't like that idea.

 

I’m always down to talk shop on the Crossfire. Especially now that you’ve done what I’ve came close to pulling the trigger on myself but I’ve gone back and forth from the M113k to the M112 3.7L with the 55 internals and bigger supercharger on it. 550whp one guy was claiming on that setup.

Here’s the 3.2 to 3.7 build I’m speaking of!!!!
https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...-call-c37.html


Also here’s the Post where the Steering wheel upgrade is documented i believe...
https://www.slkworld.com/threads/slk....533795/page-4

 

The 3.7 sounds REAL interesting. Wonder if you could build one out of a 3.2 N/A block? I have one of those sitting on the shop floor. I am guessing they had to sleeve that engine to get that done.

I have seen the other thread. I want to be able to talk to that bus directly, and get all of the functions. Looking for someone who owns a model that has that or a similar steering wheel, so that I can reverse engineer the communications protocol. I think it can be done.

 

So back into the shop for a couple of hours today. First order of business was the exhaust leak. It turned out to be a bolt in the left side exhaust joint where the downpipe joins the rear exhaust section. Replaced that, and tightened everything up, fixed that issue. Fixed a few other minor things that rattled apart on the Dragon trip.

After that, sights turned to the brakes. The spacers and the studs arrived. First, the spacer has a large hub centering area. I thought about a standard hub centric spacer, and honestly, that would be fine, but I wanted to be sure that the wheel would really center. Putting it into the wheel showed that the wheel had a bit of rust and some burrs keeping it from fitting. Some quick work with a sanding roll on a Dremel made for a good but still tight fit.

Next, a test fit of the studs happened. These are the 78mm versions. Putting the spacer onto the existing brake setup, and test fitting the wheel showed the stud protruding about 2mm too far, and the SRT6 center cap would not fit on. Some quick work on the grinder took care of that.


And on the car:


Once the studs were all Loctited in, the spacer was put on fitting nicely over the hub.


A quick test drive showed it all centered nicely, and bedding the brakes back down resulted in definitely more stopping power over the SRT6 brakes. Pleased that this part is finally finished.

 

Brakes are an interesting subject. You can get the stock brakes to perform, it just take the right pads, fluid and cooling ducts. Depending on how long you plan to abuse the brakes, for example 10 minutes, 20, 30, an hour at a time will dictate how far you need to go. If it's an occasional blast down a curvy road the right pads and brake fluid are enough. If you do more and are cheap add cooling ducts. If the fluid still boils it's time for larger calipers and rotors in addition to appropriate pads and fluid. I like slotted myself (355 mm) but be aware, if your really using your brakes hard the front rotors won't last and the calipers will need to be rebuilt often. I have Stoptech's BBK on the front. I'm on my 3rd set of rotors and have rebuilt the calipers twice. In other words, the initial investment isn't the final solution. Find and get the setup with the cheapest consumables. Even with a BBK and huge rotors you can overheat the front brakes, it just takes a longer duration of abuse and super sticky tires...Hoosiers for example. I haven't used every street tire available but from what I've had, Yokohama AD08's were real good unless overheated at which point they fell off a bit. The Kumho RS3's were what I used most often for sizing and price to performance. Both have been super ceded but I imagine the RS4 and new Yodo's are similar. Then I stepped up to Hoosiers. I was racing with 245's on the front and 275's on the rear. My rear brake calipers are stock with slotted stock sized rotors and they've done the job and never needed attention. You don't need to change them for any reason other than looks.
Don't lower your car too much. Crossfires have limited shock travel and if lowered you could end up ridding the bump stops. It won't matter much on the front (new bump stops are cheap) but the rear is another story. Run out of rear travel suddenly in a corner and the rear gets snap loose. (no warning). Another problem with lowering the rear a lot is the axel boots tend to tear. Lowering is good .... go too low and you'll be sorry. Spring rates ....... the best overall for a street warrior is what K&W sells. They are 630 front and ..... I believe 450 rear. I have to double check on the rear but it's close to the stock SRT rate so you don't need to change anything except if you want to lower it a bit. For racing I preferred the K&W's with stiff bump stops to Ground Control, if I'm being honest. The only advantage to the Ground Control is the ease of adjustment.
If I have more thoughts I'll add them later, if you have questions....if I have answers......

Les

 

Very good points!

On my last project car, I used Wilwood 6 piston front calipers, on a 345x28mm rotors. The pad swept area was relatively small, and as such left a lot of performance on the table


The setup as a package is important. My gut told me that the reduced pad are was going to hurt performance. While these were vastly superior to the OE setup, I always felt that a lot was left on the table.

Back to the Crossfire, the fluid has been changed out completely for Wilwood 570. Others like Motul, but the 570 has worked well for me in several cars, including some track applications.

Ducting is something that is being seriously considered. It appears to not be that hard to do. What was your solution to this?

I'm leaning more and more towards KW V2's. I will give them a call with my corner weight data, and see what they have to say. As stated before, this is meant to be a refined ride, and I do not want it to cross over into a track car. This part is very important to me, and that would be my only hesitancy on going straight to the coilovers.