Mercedes Unimog

[MK1RS Bruce]

So after spending six months working in Malaysia this was a long distance kind of spur of the moment purchase.

I have wanted one for a long time, due to the fact that it is essentially a tractor that will do 50MPH with all then benefits that tractors have but with double the top speed.

Has anyone else ever owned one? Mine is a U1000 424.

I havent had much chance to use it yet but first impressions are that it will go almost anywhere and when it gets stuck you just twist the switch, lock the diffs and keep on going

[MK1RS Bruce]

normalbloke said:

Yeah yep, I bought one.Like you, purely for the fun. Ran it for about 6 years. Also a U1000AG, so had the full hydraulics, 3 way tip, 16 spd and 3 point linkage. Mine was in excellent mechanical condition, but needed a fair bit of body work, which I was happy to do. I was warned the machanicals can easily run into multiple thousands if poorly maintained. Did a few upgrades along the way, better tyres(405/70/20 at spec), Werner winches both ends,hydraulic rear ground anchor, nudge bar, also upgraded the injector pump and fitted the factory turbo, to about 180bhp. The 100 got woefully tiresome after a while! Fire away if you have any other Qs.

Sounds like yours was quite a machine, I have just spent the weekend fabricating and fitting a hydraulic pick up hitch onto mine. It had a hitch and 3 point linkage at one point but it was removed and sold before I bought it. It still has the hydraulics so not a massive issue. I was thinking about a turbo kit too, where did you source your parts from? Cheers

[MK1RS Bruce]

If it's registered as a tractor or agricultural vehicle then anyone with a car license can use it and tow up to something like 24 tonne max gross weight. However if you choose to run it on red diesel there are restrictions on what you can do with it, must relate to farming forestry or snow clearance.

Just rebuilt all the brakes on it as some were sticking now it flys again.

Still looking at the turbo option but seems I need to have a look and see if it has the oil squirters for piston cooling. Not sure if they can be retro fitted if not there tho so might be a no go.

I use mine for towing a trailer with my autotest car, cheeky way to avoid having to do my trailer test! Used it for my mates wedding as the wedding car for me and him and the other best man.

[MK1RS Bruce]

If it's registered as a tractor or agricultural vehicle then anyone with a car license can use it and tow up to something like 24 tonne max gross weight. However if you choose to run it on red diesel there are restrictions on what you can do with it, must relate to farming forestry or snow clearance.

Just rebuilt all the brakes on it as some were sticking now it flys again.

Still looking at the turbo option but seems I need to have a look and see if it has the oil squirters for piston cooling. Not sure if they can be retro fitted if not there tho so might be a no go.

I use mine for towing a trailer with my autotest car, cheeky way to avoid having to do my trailer test! Used it for my mates wedding as the wedding car for me and him and the other best man.

[MK1RS Bruce]

Thanks for the Info, was planning on fitting an EGT sensor, how close to the manifold ports should it be ideally, or is there generally not much difference between exhaust port and say 300mm down the down pipe?

Yeah still got the Mk1 focus RS

In the process of fully re-building it too, its only done 44k and is pretty rare on an 04 plate so decided I needed to look after it since its value seems to be appreciating.

Have you got / had one? They are a brilliant car

[MK1RS Bruce]

normalbloke said:

I'll have a trawl through my images in the PC when I'm back on it. I might have an image of the probe location. General opinion is that it goes in front of the turbo( when you fit one).
I sort of have an RS, I've got one of the CSG Transit Connects running full RS underpinnings.

Gotcha, so prior to turbo install somewhere reasonably close to the exhaust manifold.

Haha RS transit connects are amazing, I would love one! Does it have the wider front track from the RS? Probably a good bit lighter than a normal RS when its empty too!

[MK1RS Bruce]

Will have a look at it tomorrow, was going to weld in a tapped bush to screw the sensor into but will see how i get on.

The Mk1 RSs are a lot quicker than the numbers might suggest, 285 at the wheels with less weight will absolutely fly I bet. Mine was standard before I began pulling it apart but was pushing 215 at the wheels on the dyno, hopefully i can get it running right once i get it all back together.

how long have you had your for?

what did you use your unimog for?

[MK1RS Bruce]

Thats brilliant, think all the ones I have been looking at are 1/2" NPT bosses. Did the probe you had come calibrated or did you have to do that yourself?

What is the make and model of the turbo, would like to make my own kit up like you did as Atkinson Vos kit is quite expensive.

where did you take the oil feed for the turbo from, did you run the return back into the sump?

Sorry for all the questions but just keen to get it right first time haha.

[MK1RS Bruce]

normalbloke said:

I've had the Connect for about 6 months or so. It's just used as a runaround in the afternoons when my wife (sometimes) has the sensible parts hauler! The Unimog was purely a toy.

Ah so not had the connect too long then, let me know if you want any info on the RS bits, I have had mine a while so no a little about them and some of the issues that can crop up. My mog is essentially a toy as well, hopefully get it working on the farm at some point but for now its a nice machine for odd haulage jobs and a good machine to work on.

[MK1RS Bruce]

jwrigglesworth said:

Woo hoo, at last a thread on PH about MOGS.
They're quite addictive as I'm on my third (still haven't sold the first 2)
Currently rebuilding a rare xLWB U1100 that i found in Finland.
The thread on FB is 'Unimog 416 DOKA'

Haha yeah not sure if this is the first one or not but certainly not much about them on here.

I like the green convertible its nicely done! Had a look at the 416 DOKA too on FB, thats some build, how long have you had it?

[MK1RS Bruce]

normalbloke said:

Apologies for the late reply, Turbi was a Garrett T04B. That's only part of the story though, and I don't have any further details from the data plate, but the info is out thereGarrett and KKK were the 2 OE suppliers.. I managed to find a NOS luckily. Manifold came for AV. Exhaust I made myself(easy enough)
EGT gauge was a reputable brand, did not need any calibration. Oil feed point is already there in the block with a bung in it. Likewise, the drain point should already be there in the side of the sump. I seem to remember I used a large bore hydraulic hose and banjo for the return..All from memory, it was a long time ago!

No worries, will get some time this weekend to investigate the oil feed and return, I think a feed can be taken from the main gallery based on what I have been reading, return would be easy to make even if the sump doesn't have a port for it.

I have been looking online for the turbos worked out it is a TB04B27 or TB04B81 I think I would need, but suppliers seem to be few and far between. maybe just need to look a little harder. I will speak to AV and see if they have any manifolds for sale, they might not be too keen if they now supply the whole kit, I would just like to do the whole job myself but will see how it goes. I know a guy up here who has made an MB trac kit for the 352 engine so he might be able to point me in the right direction.

Did you ever look into plumbing in an intercooler?