Parts suggestions needed - picking up car soon

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by mosu

Good tip on Napa! I found them quite expensive in Toronto so I didn't give them a second thought.

I didn't see Napa as having an on-line presence in Canada, but they do in Buffalo!

Originally Posted by mosu

I pinged the guy doing the part-out. Worst case, ScooterABC, can I convince you to pull out the spring and brackets from the parts car and send it my way at a more reasonable price?

Exhaust other options, of which there are many, first. If it were me I would contact the owner of the ebay listing that was cancelled and find out what is up with that. It is also a part that would be easier to pull at at a junkyard than at my home since the cars are elevated and you don't care if you drop the suspension to the point where it pulls a rubber brake hose... I could do it at home but our time lines don't mesh well - my parts car is almost at the point where I can try to drive it (fuel pump waiting to be put in) and I want to document the engine/transmission functionality before I do something that is disabling to the car... I also want to leave my options open to selling the parts car as a driving car (albeit without the things I want like the cluster, trim, some of the interior...). It's a perfect parts car (I think) for someone who wants a fintail drivetrain and has a rusty body car w/ bad engine...

I think you are also likely to find a forum member who has these parts sitting on the shelf and will part with them cheap. Post on benzworld also for this...

[Squiggle Dog]

Even when you have the car off the ground and the rear end hanging with the shock absorbers removed... when you remove the bracket holding on the center axle spring it will pop and scare the heck out you.

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

Even when you have the car off the ground and the rear end hanging with the shock absorbers removed... when you remove the bracket holding on the center axle spring it will pop and scare the heck out you.

I was still assuming you would use a spring compressor. Just easier access at a junkyard than under jack stands... And you don't care as much about damaging a brake hose, and you don't have to reassemble things afterwards. But I agree, springs can be scary and dangerous and you shouldn't mess with them without appropriate safety precautions.

Every so often I see a car at the junkyard that is literally about to tip over and I report it. Sometimes they fix it, sometimes they have a "whatever" attitude. I find that upsetting. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents involving cars falling on people at junkyards...

[mosu]

Hmm, no bite on the wanted post on either forum. I didn't realize these would be so hard to find. No vendor stocks the springs. Poked around an assortment of years of the W110 for one too.

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by mosu

Hmm, no bite on the wanted post on either forum. I didn't realize these would be so hard to find. No vendor stocks the springs. Poked around an assortment of years of the W110 for one too.

Did you contact the ebay seller who cancelled the listing?

[mosu]

Yep, not a peep in reply from them.

[JMela]

There's a couple of mb specific wrecking yards out there, Tri Star in AZ and a few in CA. Might beat the bushes and see if they have any.

[ScooterABC]

Silver Star Dismantlers-Mercedes Repair,Parts,Service,Salvage should be able to help you. If they want more than $300 let me know and I'll do it myself on my parts car.

I would like to reiterate that the spring and bracket are _incredibly_ common parts and the spring typically never fails, only the hydraulic version fails. So finding this should be super easy. Getting someone who wants to remove it however...

[mosu]

Thanks for all the leads guys. I'm travelling, hence my slow reply. A forum member came through for me bigtime, so the compensator should be on its way to Toronto.

Will keep you posted of the progress!

[mosu]

Update:

Drove the car home today! Super-happy!

I went prepared for the worst and it was the exact opposite - strong engine, steady steering and pretty good mileage. It was a 550 km trip all in all. Several baked seals have reared their ugly heads, drenching the driver's side of the motor in a massive oil leak. Looks like oil is puddling at the distributor shaft, the fuel pump and hoses and the dipstick tube. Valve cover gasket is new. Oil pan gasket is likely toast as well.

Which seals should I look into replacing there?