New '83 300CD..."I think it needs an alignment..."
 

I bought an '83 300CD with about 280,000 miles on it. The seller suggested an alignment.

Attached are the before/during pics of a complete front suspension overhaul.

I've R&R'd just about everything and am waiting for a spring compressor to get it all re-installed.

Yes, I used a two-rod/clamp-type compressor to successfully remove the springs. Then I tried to duplicate the feat with installing them. One of the clamps slipped, the spring let off a little "sproing" and luckily I wasn't killed since the clamps stayed attached.

As depicted, you can see how tight it is in the wheelwell - and no, I did not use the compressor exactly as depicted. When in use, I engaged the safety rods which also make it harder to compress the spring since they take up about a coil's worth of travel. You can also see that you can't really fit the clamps symmetrically on the spring since there are parts in the way. I could not fit a single-rod "internal" compressor into the spring.

Oh - and the club sandwich was a bonus find from a local deli near the brake shop where they bent me a new brake line for the one that I broke. It was an awesome sandwich.

Part two
 

More pics

Part three
 

Current status and pics of cleaned/new parts.

I degreased the car using a poor-man's pressure washer since the car was in my garage: a spray bottle of simple green, a toilet brush, and a pump-type garden sprayer with only water. I trapped the runoff in a 2'x4' drip pan and transferred years-worth of crud into empty milk bottles which I took to the local HAZMAT waste site.

I took the parts to a military base auto hobby shop and parts-washed everything, then cleaned primed and painted where appropriate. I masked contact surfaces and bearing/bushing faces to keep all finished metal surfaces clean.

I'm waiting for the springs to be installed before I reinstall the wheel bearings and the brakes. Working in the wheel well is easier if you don't have a large metal disc right in front of you.

Despite warnings by other Members I did the same thing with similar results.

I had be encouraged by my success with using he Generic Spring Compressor on the Rear Springs; but, the Front Spring must have at least 2 time the compression strength.

I ended up making the below spring compressor. It only compresses the spring up into the upper spring perch.

I found out later that in the DIY section that mine is partly similar to one another member who made a set that does it all. His worked like the factor one does. He also used 3/4 threaded rod.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f.../zMVC-369F.jpg