117 timing chain rails

[delucat2]

I just replaced the 3 upper rails in the 560SL. It was a fairly
simple job that required a lot of stuff be moved and pushed out of the way, but not much heavy disassembly of parts. In order to make my tool kit mercedes capable, I added a full set of allen socket drivers (4mm to 17mm) for doing everything from removing little bolts to the drain plug in the rear diff. (including the oil pan and the steering wheel). The 1 1/16 inch socket is close enough to the 27 mm needed to turn the engine over with a breaker bar by the crank bolt. Other than that, the rest of the tools are straight forward. Get a torque wrench and learn how to use it. I also am very careful when starting a spark plug into the head. This is a job to be done by hand (either at the end of the 3/8 extention or in a length of fuel hose, never forced with a driver!
There are some very poor choices of material that were made, but the overall approach and accessibility is good. No need to shy away from even this task for the DIY crowd. Spend $60 on the pin puller or small slide hammer. The job would have been easy if I had done that. It cost me about 3-4 hours to struggle with a home grown socket,washer and bolt puller.