Thanks for the response. I have a 1989 300E with 125K miles. I regret that my search did not lead me to some of the threads you suggested so I will just have to salvage what I can. I probably will not resort to Plastic explosives but I will use some of the suggestions, since I am not the first to do 'drilling' before 'jiggling'.

Thanks to all those MBers and Techs who have contributed to teaching and coaching and guiding us novices.