Picked up an almost brand new hitch today. Got it for free off a friend. It came from a 2005 jeep cherokee and fits width wise, just have to see if i can make it work... it may be too high.

 

Well it's been 6 years since I bumped this thread. A lot has changed in my life, but ol'red is still here!
It is entertaining to read through my younger ramblings and priorities. Since my last post I switched to 33's, a free upgrade that ruined my gas mileage but made me smile, I replaced all the front end bits that didn't get done at first, cracked the dash after 270k miles.... added some more dents, replaced the factory clutch, and now at long last blown the head gasket.
So now as a somewhat more financially stable idiot than before I have decided to follow my dreams and that rather than machining my warped head and lapping the valves like a responsible 22RE owner I am tearing it all out to drop a diesel in.
This new project will take a while to get rolling, literally and figuratively, but I have actually started so hopefully I can follow through and not get distracted. Price target is < current replacement value of the truck so ~$8000, and timeline is ~ 1year though I wouldn't bet on it.

Stage 1 - Strip the 22RE and sell all the parts I can to jumpstart the project fund.
Stage 2 - Buy and service (on the stand) a working OM617
Stage 3 - Install it in the truck
Stage 4 - Restore the truck as much as possible. In reality I'm working on this step already and will be in between and during all the stages).

I've got most of the 22RE parts removed, just the block sitting in the engine bay now, but sadly all I've sold so far are the 33's that were probably the primary factor in overstressing the motor.
If you want anything, hit me up.
And I have sourced a motor I believe, now I'm just praying things sell and scraping all the quarters out of the couch.

 

And so it begins. Brought home a 1983 Mercedes 300sd to pull the motor from. Got her for a screaming deal on the condition the po got to strip everything other than the engine bay and drive line.

Engine starts real easy and idles smooth, drove her on and off the trailer but no further as the transmission is pretty sloppy.
Only problem with screaming deals is that i haven't saved enough yet to buy the kit from doomsday diesel, so I can only go so far at this point. That said I'm pumped to finally get started!

 

Any progress?

 

Yes! A little. I have the 22re yanked. Been slowly cleaning sorting and selling parts. Haven't had time to touch the merc yet unfortunately. I had planned to pull the engine 6 weeks ago, but i fell through the floor of my shed so there is no way i can put it on the stand to rebuild until I fix the shed..... so I'm procrastinating. Been working on my brother's 7.3 this weekend and reignited the itch, so hopefully I'll get off my butt and make some progress.

 

Since I updated earlier in the week I figured I'd post some pics of what I'm working on.
Engine bay is gradually emptying, after i did each bolt out of the accumulated sludge.
This afternoon i removed the heat shield protecting the steering column and discovered a bunch of rust. So bad the forward bolt hole was completely gone. The a-arm is also pretty rough looking. Im going to have to investigate with a wire wherl and see if i need to replace more than just the torsion bars....
And the last picture is the pressure line for the power steering, I can't brake it loose to save my life. And I can't even be lazy and leave it because I discovered it to be perished and crumbly where it was closest to the engine. Though fortunately it hadn't started leaking yet.

 

haha throw a sheet of plywood on the shed floor and call it yota time!