Top end saga. . .

[Lexxani]

I figured Id post pics of what Im calling an epic saga. . .

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I have had an oil consumption issue for a little bit and my car ran a little rough (I attributed it to old age), so I dove into diagnostics and I uncovered more than I'd have liked to have.

1st, a broken chain guide on my top right cyl bank (the chain was wearing into the aluminum head).

2nd I was off 10 degrees at the crank and I couldn't get both notches on the left and right banks to align (acquired rails and chain, yet to install).

3) Determined that I had oil fouling on cyls #1 and #7, inspecting the valve guide seals, I had #1 intake valve guide slip right out of the head (long string of expletives as I realized how exponentially greater my project had just become)

4) waterpump bolt decided to shear in the housing (now need to tap it, no big deal)

5) Brittle oil pump line to gage broke as did various vacuum hoses (now I get to redo all the vac lines, well overdue).

6) Thermoswitch nipples snapped (it was the original, probably could have stood to be replaced anyways)

probably some other things will come up in the next few days. I have all the intake bolts removed ( a heat tool has been my best friend) and no I need to remove a 25mm nut holding my EGR pipe from the intake.

I got lucky on the exhaust bolts so far, all the uppers came loose easily (the bottoms are gonna be a PITA as there is so little access in the 107 engine bay) and the 8mm bolts came off the cam towers easily (the back 2 on each sides are gonna be a pain (Im afraid Im gonna have to pull my brake booster)

To sum things up, you never know what you'll find when you do a little diagnoisis.

[GaryF]

and you found a cat under the timing cover !

Had the timing chain and guides done on my 450SLC a year ago but its starting to use a bit of oil, there's now some smoke on startup and there's a tapping noise coming from the top rear of the engine. So long as nothing is about to go bang I'm going to live in denial for a while longer...

Good luck with your growing project.

[Lexxani]

Well it continues.

Today I got the Intake manifold completely removed. It wouldnt come out for the life of me, until I realized that the little 14mm banjo bolt was still attached to the tranny vacuum line., rectified that and bent the egr line to clear the brake booster and the intake came right out.

I fabricated a new piece for my air injection vacumn line that had become brittle and broke when I closed my airbox latch (the one on the very front), I used a section from a damaged metal fuel injector line that I cut and finished with a rotary tool and drilled a port for it, ill post pics later. It beats the old port where a plastic vacuum line was suppose to be inserted.

I also got to finish getting the exhaust manifolds off, the rear nuts on the bottom were a pain, a universal joint on a 1/4 inch drive ratchet did the trick. I had to get under the car to do the pass. side lower rear exhaust nut. I had two of the lower studs come out with the bolt on that side.


I was able to also get all but three the 8mm allen head bolts free without stripping the head or snapping any off in the block. The heat gun has proven to be a wise investment indeed.

I went ahead and ordered Part #ST3054/8G, ($27 from mercedes pn. 000 589 34 07 00) a special allen wrench socket to remove the remaining three bolts. I'll do anything to avoid stripping one of these bolts, they are gonna be a major PITA to remove without the correct tool. It should be in in 2 days to the dealer, then Ill have my heads off, Ill have pictures posted.

Next little filler projects

1) fabricte a cover for where the EGR valve is suppose to sit on the exhaust manifold, as the egr system will not be going back on the car.

2) Refinish my '71 W115 steering wheel that will replace my stock steering wheel wheel.

[alabbasi]

Why don't you try to score a 500SEL engine and gearbox from a Euro. That car will then fly.

[Bcollia]

Good luck Alex! Having the right tools makes all the difference. Well worth the $27 investment. It always helps to have a kitay helping you too!!

Again, good luck sir!

[Lexxani]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

Why don't you try to score a 500SEL engine and gearbox from a Euro. That car will then fly.

Al- I've often considered that (a 500), Id really like to drop in a 560, but we all know that will be consideribly more work. Im really close to pulling the engine and tranny out and replacing the motor mounts and resealing the whole thing as it sits now, it would be very easy.

My problem with the 500 engine is that its especially hard to find a good condition M117 in this area. Whenever I come across a M117 in the yard I always pull the plugs and valve covers and inspect the block, to this date I have yet to find one (even a rust bucket, rust being the killer of the vehicle) that doesent have some kind of topend/bottom end issue.

On another note- there are a 2 126 380 Euros in the yard here, cloth interior, crank windows, import plates on the door jam, the whole nine yards.


Bryan- The kitten is my garage cat, her name is "Sadie-Benz"

[alabbasi]

Might be worth grabbing the euro manifolds as they will give you a bump in power (assuming that they fit under the W107 hood).

[Lexxani]

wouldnt think I would have any issues with the intake, the exhaust manifolds might be a little tricky as the clearance is so daamn tight down there.

My indy says he can get me euro heads for the 450 (reman), im thinking that is gonna be the best course of action.

I already got rid of my cats, and now Im gonna remove all that emissions garbage. Ill actually be able to do it all right as I plan on replacing all the vacuum lines and rubber hoses. I just have to build a cover plate to
fill in where the EGR valve meets the manifold. We dont have inspections here in Fl, and I dont plan on ever selling the car, and its 30 years old. Im fairly certain if any state inspector is to ever perform any inspection they wouldnt know what to look for on a 30+yr old mercedes.

[alabbasi]

Good deal, if you decide to ever go the 5.0 route, I have an 80 500SLC for sale now in the Dallas craigslist. Manual crank everything, velour interior but oddly enough, it has the ACC module.

It runs a little lumpy at idle, but is a real slingshot when you get on it. Almost as fast as my 6.9 which are running perfectly.

[Lexxani]

ACC on a euro. . .quite a unique option.

Im always on the hunt for a functioning ACC servo in the yard, of the 10 or so Ive come across, all have had the dreaded crack down the side. I got things in line for the time being. I rarely ever use my AC, and when I do it blows nice and cold, it was my heater that was the problem. I installed a manual valve from the block to the heater core, and now I have hot and cold.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by Lexxani

ACC on a euro. . .quite a unique option.

Yep, ACC, but no electric windows, velor and no sunroof. It does have the orthopedic drivers seat. Whomever first ordered it must have only been interested in driving.

I thought about converting it into a road rally car.

[Lexxani]

After picking up the socket from the dealer that I ordered last week, I got them both off.

Front view
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q231/ML32AMG/DSC00563.jpg
Drivers Side Block, heads off Cyls 5-6-7-8 (L-R)
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Drivers side cyl head 5-6-7-8 (L-R)
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Passenger Side Block, heads off Cyls 4-3-2-1 (L-R)
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Passenger side cyl head Cyls 4-3-2-1 (L-R)
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Chain tensioner wear
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Whole bay
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Surprisingly, the rear bolts weren't as frozen as I expected. I was really concerned that the rear bolts were going to be a royal PITA, and also a little nervous about rounding off the heads on the bolts.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out was was stuck after removing all the 8mm bolts, as the heads weren't coming off on the front. As it turns out there are 2 little 5mm allen head bolts on the front inside of the head under where the chain guides are installed, pulled them and the heads got loose enough to get off. I had to pry off the exhaust manifolds using the wood handle of a rubber mallet.

Also importantly, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a good grip on the rear top passenger side bolt on the head due to the transmission dipstick bing in the way. I climbed under the car and removed the 19mm banjo bolt over my oil pan and removed the transmission dipstick tube. After doing this, that rear bolt was easy to pull.

Once the heads were loose I found that the cam sprocket will not fit through the head, I had previously used a little speaker wire to bind the chain to the sprocket I scratched a mark in both and separated them. slipped the chain out, and re-oriented them.

It was also important to have a mity vac or similar tool available to remove the little bit of coolant that happened to accumulate in the cylinders. I thought I had it all out, I was wrong.

This all also gives me a change to inspect and re-tape my wiring harness as I found most of the heat shrink to be hard, brittle and cracked.
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Next steps,

1) get the heads refinished. I found a shop that will set the guides really reasonably (recommended by an indy Ive used in the past).

2) go parts shopping. new vac lines, rubber, gaskets, etc. . .

3) Remove all the outdated/power robbing emissions stuff.

4) get back on the road.

[79Mercy]

Wish I had the guts to pull my motor and re-seal it. The leaking rear main seal is getting on my nerves, other than the motor is is great shape, knock on wood.

Let me know if you ever get the "I want to tear apart a m110" fever, I can help: )

[Lexxani]

Today I disassembled the heads themselves. I confirmed my suspicion that it was infact the valve guides on both cylinders.

Cyl heads (Passenger side on top)
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Damn Valve Guides. . .
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I had oil fouling on, and only on #1 and 7, I knew that I had a valve guide problem on cyl 1 (see first post), but after taking a pair of needle nose pliers to the guides on cyl 7, I found my consumption issue there, another loose valve guide. It was not nearly as loose as the one on number one (which i figure is the reason that there was less carbon fouling on this cylinder than on cyl 1). It just goes to show that unless the guides are in there tight to the point of being one with the head, they will leak. . .

On the upside, I was at the yard after work today and noticed there as a '73 450SL-C, with euro bumpers. The front one has a little damage, nothing all that bad, and had the correct turn signals (one is damaged) and fog lamps, and the back looks great with the valences still in tact. It looks like I'll be getting my euro bumpers tomorrow! Stoked! I did however snag the all metal grill star off the grill assembly. Some punks stole my star back in '03 and I replaced (albeit a poor quality replacement job) it myself with one from a parts car (its plastic with a metal covering) This one is all metal, no plastic. . . It looks like im gonna have some polishing to do. . .

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q231/ML32AMG/DSC00576.jpg

Ive also been contemplating pulling the motor and tranny and resealing the thing. sigh. . .this really is turning into a saga of epic porportions. . .

[Lexxani]

Originally Posted by 79Mercy

Let me know if you ever get the "I want to tear apart a m110" fever, I can help: )

you have no idea how many times I wish I had a M110 right now. 1 head, 2 less cylinders. . lots more bay space. . .this damn M117 is really in there tight.