Mercedes

Today I replaced the passenger-side braking support rod bushing on my 1982 300SD. The job didn't go so well on the driver's side, because I attempted to use all of the specified replacement hardware. Unfortunately, Meyle is currently delivering substandard and improper hardware for remounting the bushing carrier, with the effect that the nut shears off of its captive shim and causes you to live in a world of hurt. Using the original hardware with some red thread locker seems to be a workable solution; I've done it on the other side with good results, and now I've done it on both sides. In the process, I also learned that one can trivially press the new bushing in with the old hardware.

Last Tuesday I crashed my Mercedes. I was behind a guy who wouldn't get over, he went extra-slow around a turn which put me on his ass, then he hit the brakes. He had ABS, I didn't. I bent his bumper, the front of my 300SD was pretty-well mangled, though it seems repairable. He said we would simply deal with the issue between us, and then called my insurance company.

Luckily, I was not left without a car for long...

The day before yesterday, I replaced the thermostat on my 300SD.

Every time I work on this vehicle I have it shoved in my face that it's meant to be serviced on a lift, and only on a lift. I actually went and bought ramps for this job, which only works because my driveway slants down, and I put the ramps there, somewhat leveling the vehicle (it was still down slightly in front.)

My Benz is once again in commission. I replaced the alternator, which was kind of a suck-ass job, but honestly not all that bad. You just have to yank off the air filter system including the tube going to the turbocharger and you can get at it all from the top. You can also get there from the bottom, but I was doing the work on dirt and couldn't get there that way (can't put a jack stand on dirt, can't really block tires safely either.)