So here's the thread where I post all of the questions that came up over four days of sitting by myself. Again, the car is a 1972 280SEL 4.5.

1. Vibration. The car has a speed-related vibration that starts at about 70 mph. It comes and goes, cycling over 30-60 seconds, sometimes longer. It is dependent on the road surface (!) -- very little vibration on concrete, bad vibration over new tarmac. There seems to be a mode at about 80-82 mph where it is worst, although it continues to be present up over 100 mph. It is *not* related to tire wear/wheel balance, as the tires are brand new Bridgestones; nor is it flex disc, as that was replaced at the dealer (and yes, it vibrated before the replacement as well). The vibration is in the vertical plane, which says to me either driveline or major suspension. It seems to be telegraphed most strongly through the steering column, but that may just be because that's a nice long lever.

2. Steering. The car has almost no ability to self-center -- that is, it requires input to bring it back to straight after turning the wheel at highway speed. The tire folks said I needed new kingpins; that's possible, but I know that I probably also need new subframe bushings, and will be attempting that first. Is this non-centering behavior typical for this chassis?

3. Fuel injection hoses. One of the connections between the main fuel rail and the injector (passenger side, front cylinder) has a leak at the rail end when cold. The clamp is tightened to its limit. Therefore, I want to renew all of the FI hoses. Can I use regular FI hose from the local auto parts store, cut to length, or is there some magic about the MB FI hose?

4. Transmission leaks. There's a drip of ATF which appears to be coming from the torque converter; haven't had a chance to track it down specifically. However, the ATF level is well above the top mark (1.5 cm?) -- would this cause such a leak? Any easy way to remove some ATF without opening up the pan? How about transmission stop-leak -- anyone used that on these cars?

5. Steering column bushings. The PO disconnected the horn because the contact for the switch was being grounded by something in the steering column, causing the horn to sound continuously. He mentioned that there were some bushings that need to be replaced. The column shifter is also fairly loose. The service manual lists a whole disassembly process, but I can't easily see from the diagram what parts he meant. Anyone have any experience with taking the column apart?

I've got a ton more, but I figure I need to save some of the fun for later. Thanks for any help you can offer!