Air dam/ splitter/ undertray 1986 Mercedes 300sdl parts scrounging

[razordave]

I sourced a bumper from some 90s Chrysler product, cut it in half and hung it upside down from the bottom of my existing front bumper. If I hadn't already slung 30 inch tall 10 ply tires under the car, the air dam would have already ripped off. My old diesel smokes constantly so I devised a plan to disperse the smoke from under the car. I also found a piece of diamond plate that will fit under the new dam pretty nicely. Check out my photos and leave some input.

[razordave]

[razordave]

[razordave]

[razordave]

[razordave]

I'm hoping to have my old pile of car ready for a 1,400 mile relocation trip in a couple months, I've found a boat fuel tank, roughly 27 gallon to almost double my fuel capacity. I'm thinking I could make this trip with only 1 refuel. I've run the car on wmo aft etc and am considering making this trip mostly on wmo as opposed top spending a bunch of cash on diesel.

[razordave]

I acquired parts rights to a 2001 c240, I'm going to take the mirrors, rear bumper and whatever else I think looks more slippery than the 86, I promise the hackers will subside at least slightly. Added bonus is led turn indicators in the mirrors! Looks like a small safety upgrade too

[freebeard]

Where will the auxiliary tank be installed? How many inches of road clearance under that airdam?

[razordave]

If I can fit it into the trunk, I'm thinking that will be the best location, otherwise the rear seat lower cushion is similarly sized, but I really didn't want to have to build a fire wall.

I believe the dam is 2 inches from the ground, I need to figure out my loaded ride height for the trip before I finalize that aspect. The rear of the car appears to sag unloaded, so I opted to leave it low; easier and cleaner to remove material than add.

I'm considering dragging my 2900 lbs roadster behind, it seems the problem with these older aluminum head diesels is cooling. I need to research more about the under tray/ splitter under the front and utilize heat extraction benefits to make the radiators as efficient as possible as opposed to pure drag reduction.

[razordave]

I'm considering stealing the mirrors from the w203, they look to me like they are more aerodynamically slippery.

I do realise they may not be since the windshield, A pillars and the rest of the w126 body is radically different from the 203. The added safety from the built in led turn indicator can't hurt this old rig.