PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

duxthe1 · #1 01-03-2016, 02:58 PM

.. in the junkyard. A '94 600SL showed up in the LKQ U-Pick yard inventory last week. Figured I should get there soon as the scavengers were likely to strip it clean with a quickness considering this is the first 129 I've seen at a U-Pull yard, ever.

My target would be the front calipers which are for 320 mm rotors. I figured the soft top module would be good for a quick flip too. It took forever to find the car but eventually I located it. A quick look over the car revealed every single module in the car had been pulled already. The wheels were still on it so I was relieved that the calipers that I originally came for were still there.

So off on a search for a tire iron to get the wheels off. A couple rows over a Volvo turned up a nice crank handle 17 mm lug wrench. I head back to the SL and start pulling lug bolts. 4 came out without much fuss but the 5th turned out to be a wheel lock. It was at this time that I realized that somebody already tried to get the other wheel off but gave up at the wheel lock.

I don't give up easy. I figure that with enough leverage I could break the wheel lock. Off to find my leverage. Eventually I found a meaty sway bar (about 1 1/2" dia and 4 ft long) just lying in the back of a van. I lugged it back to the SL and wedged it into the 8 hole wheel. I rocked against it with most of my weight a couple times. Lo and behold the wheel lock pulled out the hub and the wheel was off. The lock only had about 3 threads engaged so I attack the other wheel with confidence and soon its off too. Well sorta, the stand the car was on was too far forward on the right side and only sitting under plastic. This caused the wheel to wedge against it as the car was slowly falling down on that side as the plastic broke.

Off to scavenge a jack, which is rare to find in the yards as they are Nazis about not using jacks in the yard. Hence every car has its jack removed as prep to enter the yard. I remember seeing one looking for my leverage. It was in the junk stored inside of another van. I get it back to the SL, scrounge a crank for it and proceed to jack the car up and put two wheels under a more stable point.

Now I can reap my bounty. Well reap may be a bit optimistic as the bolts are torqued and loc-tite-ed. I've only got my cheapo 19mm wrench to work with. I tried using a nearby alternator as a makeshift mallet to break the bolts loose. All that earned me was a busted knuckle. Back to my leverage. It's heavy, awkward with several bends, but I do eventually manage to wedge it in place to break all 4 bolts loose. It was also handy to rip one of the brake hoses off. I ended up using my alternator mallet on the other side to cut the hose against the rotor. With my meager tools and a few scrounged items I manage to knock the pins out so I dont have to pay for the crappy pads.

I collect my tools

and calipers and head to checkout. I'm only charged the base caliper price, about 10$ less than I expected per each. After the core charges, enviro fees and the 40% holiday weekend discount I'm out the door for less than 40$.

It was a great day in the junkyard. I'll order in new pads and rotors on Monday and get em in the coupe as soon as I can.