Hey everyone, I just joined because I'm curious about doing an engine swap on a car that my friend's dad owns. It is a 1952 Mercedes 170 DS with the 1.8L 4-cyl diesel with a whopping 38 HP! This car is cool and is in really good shape but it is PAINFULLY slow, as in not able to drive safely on American roads because it's so slow. I've found that the Mercedes OM616/17 engines are very popular for swaps, how difficult/expensive would it be to swap in a more modern 4-cyl. turbodiesel in place of the old one?

 

It depends how much time and money you have, but anything is possible. There was no factory 4-cyl turbo in the USA, only 5-cyl turbo. If there's room, I'd go for the 5-cyl. Even better, I'd put in the OM602 turbo instead... would cost more though.