My hat is off to you. I changed out the valve stem seals on my 82 380 SL (133K) this last winter, but I had the advantage of having the engine out of the car and on a stand. I used the KD tool and while it worked great for removing the rocker arms the additional compression needed to remove the keepers was difficult to get with the KD as it had a tendency to push the spring to one side and restrict access to the keepers. Those rear cylinders would have been very tough with the engine and hood in place.

I also replaced all the ball studs and then adjusted the valve clearance. I had to go just one step thicker on all sixteen valves to achieve the correct setting, but the engine is extremely quiet at its steady 500 rpm idle speed. I also changed out the holders, seals and O rings on the injectors which probably had an effect as well.

Randy