After a year of hard use on the stock long-block I have finally blown a piston. I must admit that the catastrophic failure is not a huge surprise since the engine had 109,000 miles, and there were a few bad episodes of detonation during the past year of fun and experimenting at the track (one at 17+ psi of boost when the vacuum line to my wastegate snapped). I believe I must have developed a hotspot that finally let go, as the blowout happened at idle.

Anyhow, after considering several options (even some real crazy non-MB V8/Tranny swaps), I have decided to simply rebuild my engine, but upgrade it to produce & safely handle more power.

At this point, I know we will be doing a very light bore, adding some custom built aftermarket pistons that can handle waaay more HP than I’ll ever be dishing out, using total seal bearings, and making some needed improvements on the head. (CKlasse, I swear I’m not trying to compete with you

I am hoping that some of you super-tech types (Jeff, Kleemann, etc.) can help me get some much needed information. I need to know what the stock 220 rods tolerance levels are. Can they safely handle 300hp, or will I need to use an aftermarket rod like a Crower? (CKlasse I believe you just ordered some Crowers right? You also are ordering some cams from them as well if I’m not mistaken. I may want to look at this as well. Any info on this would be much appreciated.)

In addition, what is the tolerance level of the crank itself? We are thinking that it should be fine at 300HP, but does anyone know how much HP it could safely handle?

Finally, I seem to remember someone saying that they actually had the shop manuals for w202. We could really use the information on the C220, 230, and 230K. Any chance you might be able to burn me a copy, email me PDF’s or whatever? I’d pay if necessary, but given how much this is going to put me in the hole, would prefer a gift of kindness.

TIA,
Jason