OldIHC

I watched the De Boss Garage video. Even the mechanic said it was a good vehicle, his complaint was about poor engineering as far as ease of this procedure goes. If you are going to swap in this engine or any other you will likely have it on an engine stand in which case the cam chain replacement would be way easier than doing it in the vehicle. The truck De Boss did the procedure on had 240,000 kilometers on it, I don't think it's a bad engine because it needed this done with that many kilometers on it.

A total rebuild kit for the 5 cyl is between $500 and $850 and includes the chains as well.

I am no authority on the Mercedes diesel but a quick internet study tells me it has a life of 250,00 to 400,000 miles before a rebuild is required. A rebuild kit for it from MBZ is $3600. I am sure you could find one cheaper than that as that seems excessive to me.

A used reman injector pump $1200 or so, a tranny adaptor $450 to $800. If you can't make the front oil sump fit you would need the aftermarket rear sump, I have no idea what that costs but they are available. All the prices are American dollars.

In my opinion the Chev 5 cylinder is not crazy powerful at 220 HP and 225 LB torque, The Mercedes is rated at 125 HP and 184 LB torque.

I am not slamming diesel engines, I currently own 6 trucks, skid loaders and tractors that are diesel powered. I love diesel engines and they have many advantages and some disadvantages as well. I have done more than one gas to diesel conversion as well and know some of the problems that can be encountered.

In the end the choice is yours based on what you are going to use the truck for. Original is nice! It's all up to you.

To be honest, I never saw the reasoning behind an inline 5. Harder to balance, and has greater power gap than a inline 6. The 6 doesn't have power overlap like a V8 (at least in most configurations). It seams to have all the drawbacks of an inline 4, and none of the benefits of an engine with more cyl. They make sense in radial (round engines) with a single crank throw. It would seam more beneficial to use a smaller bore and more cyl.

I never saw it as well. Often wondered why my favorite chore tractor, a 2600 Ford, is 3 cylinder as is my 4500 Ford backhoe, but they have been really fuel efficient and trouble free for many years. A friend has a 5 cylinder Kubota tractor that he swears by.

As far as I know, the only reason GM made the 5-cylinder was to have another displacement option. The Atlas engine was made in 4-,5- and 6-cylinder configurations, all with the same stroke. Lots of parts commonality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_M ... las_engine

Dean