Some serious w124 repair
 

All of my parts finally arrived. I plan on replacing that leaky evap, as well as heater core, and vacuum elements.

While I have it in the garage, I plan on replacing the control arms, as well as links, wheel bearings, calipers, pads, rotors, and brake lines..

I just finished the rear end last summer. Hopefully this repair should button me up for a while...
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You're a brave man loraine!:)

I have done all of these repairs, but not all at one time. If it were me, I would work through the a/c work and get that all sorted out, drive it at least a few days and then put it on the lift and attack it underneath, but that's just the way I approach things.

Having the patience to do all of this at once is a testament to your mental stability as opposed to mine.:D

Have you ever had the dash off of one of these before? If not, I would reccomend that you print out the applicable sections from the FSM and keep them close at hand.

What helped me on dash work was as I took off a subassembly, for example the airbag and steering wheel, I set it on a table with the associated fasteners, then the next thing I took off I set it next to the steering wheel and so forth in order. Then when I started back together with it I went the other way down the row of parts.

Also when I did my dash work, I put the car on the lift and raised it to a level where I could stand next to the car and reach in for certain things, but the car was barely low enough to easily slip up into the seat for other operations. If you don't have a lift a tall set of jackstands should get it high enough for this. The key is that it prevents the need for being upside down under the dash which is never comfortable for very long.

Also, it is possible to do this with the steering wheel in place if you lower it all the way before disconnecting the battery, but if you follow the instructions you can have the wheel off very quickly and it's really nice to have it the heck out of the way. If you do take off the wheel, DON'T let the steering wheel simply turn against the lock pawl while you are breaking loose the steering wheel nut. You can hurt the locking pawl. Just grab the wheel to oppose the force of the wrench loosening the nut.

Best of luck with it and keep us posted in a single thread as you progress. Of course that might be what you started this thread for.

This is what it looks like when you are approximately 1/2 way through:).

I took mine apart about three weeks ago and then got real busy with paying work. Thankfully it is a spare car.

See thread 9. It took me 7 hours to get here.

evap out

I tip my hat to anyone that does the evap job on their own. It looks like a heck of a job.

I plan on doing the jobs consecutive, but not all at once. I will be doing the evap job first, then front end and ultimately the 5 speed trans swap.

I was lucky enough to be able to strip down a 300e that I am sending to the crusher. I removed the dash, and got nearly to the fabled air box before I lost interest. I really can't wait to have a/c again. I replaced compressor, condenser, o rings galore, just to have the ac work for 4 days before the evap blew out. :o

As far as the front end, I decided to go with all genuine parts. I had some issues with aftermarket parts when I did the rear end last summer, so I wanted to see if there is in fact as big a difference as I expect.

Just for reference, control arms, all 3 links w/ends, wheel bearings, rotors, and caliper build kits, where just around $1,000.

Evap,(acm) nissens heater core, vacuum elements, and drier where in the $700 range.

I am planning to start the evap job this weekend, so I will be posting pics on this thread as I progress. I wanted to post just in case you guys think I'm missing something parts-wise. I also need some moral support :D:D

YOU'RE PUTTING IN A MANUAL? Outstanding!!!!!!!!!

Don't let the donor car get away to the crusher until you've completed the transfer. There will be parts that you haven't thought about that are different on a manual transmission car. The cruise control has a clutch switch. The driveshaft and one of the rubber couplings is different (an obvious one) The motor mounts are different, I suppose because of the added impact applied to them with the stick.

You'll love it. These cars absolutely come ALIVE with a stick. It will be a totally different car.

I would love to find a really nice low mileage car and swap my manual into it and start over.

And what if the manual car did not have cruise? Will my current cruise still work?

Cruise will work. Switch turns cruise off when clutch is depressed.

Update:
 

The dash removal process was surprisingly easy. The hardest part was muscling the unit out of the dash. I can't seem to upload any pictures at the moment, but I will on Monday. Frankly, I was unprepared for the blower to exit with the hvac unit.


I started at about noon, and had the hvac unit sitting in my basement by 5pm.


No books either:eek:

I just finished rebuilding the hvac unit about 30 minutes ago. I would call it 3 hours, working at a very leisurely pace. I found the rebuilding of the box to be more tedious than the removal process because the box is so dang fragile.

3 out of 6 vac elements where basically stuck, or partially stuck, and the defrost pod was leaking. After pulling the evap, I was able to see some green staining near the bottom.

I broke a small plastic piece that controlled the lower footwell flaps. Good thing I had a parts car sitting it he driveway.

Does anybody know how much oil I need to be adding to this system at this point ? The new parts will be evap, txv, and receiver/dryer.