That looks way more fun than searching all over greater Boston for a hot tank! I dont have an air compressor but I think I may buy one for this whole engine swap project.

Almost done
 

i know i haven't posted here in a while - been busy doing the swap.

its nearly complete - engine back and in car was aligned yesterday. washed the oil and grease off the car. put on new bunt rims and tires i bought for $100 on craigslist....

with the new engine, 100% suspension rebuild, and new (reman) steering box, the car rides AMAZING.

the shop foreman came over when i was paying for the alignment and wanted to know who did the work. i pridefully got to respond that i did all of it - and was offered a job in the shop :-)

Congratulations!

(I hope you responded to the job offer by saying he couldn't afford quality...)

Sounds like you and I spent our summer the same way. I replaced a 338k eng with a rod knock with a 98k euro & rebuilt tans.

I envy you guys that have that kind of space out of the weather to work in.

Same here. Putting the new engine in my 85 last month was a pain simply because I was a slave to the weather. one day it would be 100 with 90% humidity, the next raining.... Sucks, but you do what you have to.

I have a one car garage, but I don't have the Vertical clearance to do an engine swap on a Honda, much less a Benz.

You and me both.

I've been struggling with wood reinforced party tents for the last year. Nightmare. They kind of help when it rains but wind and rain (and we are talking Holland!) isn't funny.

My next house will probably be a one bed roomed bungalow with 12 huge industrial sized barns! Yeee HA.

My garage would be the size of my house if my wife and the Zoneing authority, as well as my bank account would allow it. As it is my wife wouldn't....and neither would the bank account....I know what a two car garage would cost much less a three car agarge....more than I can justify since my entire collection of cars is worth a fraction of what that would cost.

Its a moot issue if the zoneing board would even approve it.

But we have our dreams...and dreams are cheap anyway. Its reality thats expensive.

I guess I take it for granted until I read some posts about what some of you have accomplished in far more trying conditions. It definitely makes life easier, but the down side is the temptation to collect way too much stuff.

Trust me....I hear what you are saying....and my wife will back me up, I collect too much stuff even without a huge garage.

I've done tranmission replacements at midnight during a heavy rain with two inches of rainwater running by..ALONE. Did the current engine in my Honda during a major winter snowstorm with a tarp stretched overhead to keep most of the snow away (got mild frostbite doing that job). Helped someone replace a timing belt on a renault along side the road in Italy (found out the US market Renalt Alliance (sold as I think the Renault 17 overseas) actually had a renault 21 engine for the US market.

Being I'm NOT a mechanic by trade almost everything is an exercise with making do with what you have or can borrow. Many tools you can't justify if you will only use them once or twice and they are expensive. And there is amost always a way to get results without special tools called out in the FSM.

Such as adjusting the Mechanical Fuel injection systems of early SL's and SE's 2.8 liter engines, since the FSM tools have been unobtanium for decades.

And I've been making do with what a little creativity can accomplish for over 35 years.

Not that I wouldn't preffer a huge mechanics tool chest.....I just can't afford to shell out $5,000+ for tools as a shade tree mechanic. If I win the lottery soon I still might get one.