Like any gearhead, I love buying parts just as much as turning a wrench, but the same roadblocks keep me dissatisfied when shopping at certain retailers. Free shipping often comes at a price, long hold times are the only way to get support, and returns usually involve a tiring back-and-forth. Has...

One of the most challenging jobs on the 1975 450SL will be the timing chain. It starts out innocently enough but will take on a life of it’s own. 1975 Mercedes 450SL timing chain While learning can be a challenge, it’s always worth the time and in the process we will discover how to and how not...

  Prepping a Mercedes 450SL for a timing chain Now we are ready for step two of the timing chain replacement on our 1975 Mercedes-Benz 450SL. The first step is to decide how you will go about moving the engine and there are two options. Option 1: Remove the subframe and hold the engine in place...

Our timing chain three part series concludes with the installation of the chain. It is of utmost importance to be thorough and to check everything two and three times. Be sure your engine is set to TDC as discussed in the previous articles of Chain Gang. Once the engine is at TDC you will need...

Anyone who has driven a diesel long enough, knows about diesel “algae” and the nasty effects it can have. While the Mercedes diesel is a true masterwork of engineering, it does however need to be taken care of to get the millions of miles so many love to claim they can achieve. So what exactly...

If the air from your LR3’s HVAC system is starting to get that old gymsock smell, it might be time to replace the cabin air filter. The entire job takes less than 10 minutes. Three minutes if you have done it before. Diagnosis: In case you’re not keeping track of the maintenance intervals for...

The engine shocks or torque dampers are literally small shock absorbers for the engine. These shocks or torque dampers keep the engine from rotating or twisting when it is put under heavy load through acceleration. The diagram shows an example of how an engine responds when under acceleration....

Performance builds on turbo cars often evolve with the same series of modifications: intake, intercooler, exhaust, and tune. An intake matters because that is how the car breathes. An exhaust matters because quiet mufflers equal greater flow resistance and slower turbo spool up. A software tune...

The results of a fuel system cleaner I tested recently, are simply shocking. The image above shows a stock, all original 1981 Mercedes-Benz 240D in light ivory with Sienna MB-Tex interior. As you can clearly see, the power that is being unleashed from this 240D with the aid of Adobe Photoshop,...

As our classic Mercedes age, so do many of the original plastic components. One such system that has a fair number of plastic and rubber parts is the vacuum controlled HVAC system. While the 1975 450SL and earlier models relied mostly on manual A/C and heater controls, a few components relied...