Valve Job Preparation
 

One of the valve guides on my 380sl came loose for some reason. So, I'm getting ready to do a valve job with the help of an Indie, who's going to let me do as much of the preliminary work as I can in his shop before he does the valves. Since he 's going to lift the engine out of the car to make it easier to work on, I guess it would also be a good time for me to replace the engine mounts, engine shock, upper chain guides (which I already replaced at 100k) and anything else that tends to go on an M116 with 160k+ miles on it. So, I was wondering what else you guys would suggest I replace at this point.

In addition, he's allowing me to get the parts in advance. So I was also wondering whether I should order oversized guides for all the valves, or whether that's something I should let him do after he pulls the head, and examines them . Any other advice concerning this project would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much in advance.

I don't understand why he would pull the engine to do the valves but, hey, I'm not a mechanic. But since the engine is out and you have easy access I would also consider changing:
- the lower timing guides
- the rear engine seal and transmission seals if he pulling the transmission
- radiator and heater hoses and belts if they haven't been changed in awhile.

It's a lot of extra work to pull the engine. Having the engine in the car gives you a very stable platform to work with and there aren't really any access issues. A set of 6" hex bit sockets helps a lot.

The mounts are a piece of cake with the heads off.

I would wait and let him make the call on the parts needed for the head work.