108 280SE complete teardown help

[locry]

i'll be acquiring a w108 280se soon(hopefully). it was last used about 5 yrs ago when it was parked in running condition by the PO. It's a rusted out bucket of bolts now, but i figure i can still salvage all the mechanicals, this includes all the struts, axles, suspension. steering components etc. I also plan on dismantling all the glass, chrome trim useable interior pieces and such... as i also am restoring a 68 250s (fitted with a 615). All the parts i can reuse can and WILL be used i hope.

any tips regarding disassembly of everything that comes to mind is welcomed and appreciated. thanks

[300SDog]

Why dont you use a cutting torch instead of hassling with rusted suspension bolts? I once bought a 114 rear subframe at junkyard and they cut it out of the parts car in 20 minutes.

Then you can take your time on stuff like wood dashboard trim and interior bits.

[cth350]

I've taken a lot of cars apart. Sometimes it can be fun. Mostly, it's hard work. Decide what pieces you really want and how much room you've got to store them. Size and weight can be a big deal.

For instance, you can take the whole front suspension assembly off, but it weights over 200 pounds. It's not easy to move about that way. But if you've got a hand truck and a place to put it, why not.

I've learned that it's a lot easier to take the springs out of the car when it's still assembled. I had a welding shop build me a special saddle for my jack. It's nothing more than a V shaped bit of steel with the edges rounded, welded to a piece of bar stock. With the car on jack stands and this thing holding up the pivot for the inner control arm, removing the front springs is easy. They've got tremendous force, so just let it out slowly. Keep the car between you and the spring.

A sawzall is an easy way to cut out the crossmember that supports the radiator. This makes engine removal much faster. Wanna save the exhaust system? Unbolt it. Don't want to save the exhaust system? Cut the pipes.

Wanna save the drive shaft? Crawl under the car and undo the bolts that hold it to the flex plate. Do the three that you can reach most easily. Having one back wheel off the ground is necessary to rotate the drive shaft. Don't want to save it? When the motor's held up by the engine hoist, just give it a good yank.

Wanna challenge, remove the whole wire harness w/o cutting the wires. It's easy if you remove the brake booster and the dash and unbolt the fuse box. Then use a sawzall to enlarge the whole the wiring goes through. Obviously, you don't do that on a car you want to keep. Not interested in wasting 3 hours removing the wire harness, take out the wire cutters and snip off the connectors.

Note that you can save the tail light harness, since it's completely separate. Also, with the help of a razor blade, you can gingerly remove the wire harness that keeps the engine going from the rest. That's presuming your 250 is missing the original wiring and you want to put this motor there. There are subtle differences between the two FI setups, so this isn't such a bad investment of time.

-CTH

[locry]

cool!

thanks for the tips guys

i'll probably end up cutting up the donor car, since i don't have space for another car, though i do have space for more parts.

any suggestions regarding glass removal? this is something i've never done before... how do i remove the chrome pieces/glass etc

[cth350]

i usually salvage the glass at the expense of the chrome. It'faster that way.

you can get both together. Use a knife to slice up the rubber holding the front and rear glass. Gentil pressure from the inside across the top will separate it from the body.

get practice with the rear glass; it's expendable. The only times I've had people ask for one is when a cinderblock was put through it (twice in 16 years).

If you tear off the chrome, you can cut the rubber from inside and out. With the chrome in place, you can only work from the inside.

-CTH