300e distributor cap installation
 

Any hints, booby traps or things I should keep my eye out for? There always are ya know.
Thom

If my memory serves me right, you'll need a 3mm allen head. Buy a quality allen head socket that attaches to a wrench and go SLOW when trying to loosen the 3mm allen head bolts. They can break off.

I'm pretty sure they are 5mm. On my 300SEL, the bottom one is tough to reach, I ended up using a universal joint with a 5mm hex bit socket to pull the bottom screw.

Other than that, it was straight forward.

I installed the cap, rotor and plug wires this morning and there were no big surprises. Just have to have an assortment of Allen keys handy. And you were right about that bottom bolt maheath, it was slow going as I loosened it the old fashioned way...a half turn at a time. The new one went in quickly though. It started up nicely the first time although I haven't had time for a road test yet. Thanks to all who responded.

Thom

Check Benzmac's reply in this thread. 5mm - dist cap, 3mm - rotor.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/10481-distributor-89-300se.html?highlight=3mm

OK, I've had some time to road test the car since the tune-up and all seems very well. The old distributor cap was worn down and corroded like you wouldn't believe. The car now runs smoother, and the problem I was having with the car not being able to re-start after warm up seems to have disappeared. It also idles about 50-100 RPMs higher. Good news indeed. Should have done this at the first sign of problems but didn't want to just throw parts at the problem. One should replace the ignition parts on a used car anyway, just to obtain a zero point or benchmark. Now...on to the horn ring and brushes... :D
Thom