I have an 82 300D W123... ********az shows this kit for my car:

[IMG]http://www.***************/secure/PartImages/1233301375.jpg[/IMG]

But this kit for the 300SD, I thought they were supposed to be the same??

[IMG]http://www.***************/secure/PartImages/1263300075.jpg[/IMG]

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<insert>clever statement</insert>

They are not the same!
Two different chassis's!
A 123(D) and a 126(SD).


Order the kit for your car, as far as I can tell, a 123.

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83 SD

84 CD

I do have a W123, thank you for clearing that up. So it appears the W123 bushing is much easier to replace.

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<insert>clever statement</insert>

Yes, they are and If you don't mind, I have a little trick to get them in place. K-Y personal lubricant! I'm serious! A hand held vise with the bushings a little lubed up will press right on in.

The reason you want to use a lube like K-Y is because petroleum based greases will eat rubber!

I have heard this myself, have not needed to replace 'em so can't second.

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83 SD

84 CD

Good point, believe it or not I've had to break out the K-Y to press in the control arm bushings of a Lotus 7 replica I was building long ago. Worked great, the wife gave me a very odd look when she pulled into the garage and saw it on the workbench. Needless to say that bottle never made it back inside...

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<insert>clever statement</insert>

Yeah, K-Y can works wonders for a lot of things! I got myself a little hand crank vise at Ace Hardware and it works well to press rubber bushing in when they're lubed up. You might have to do one at a time though for places like lower control arm bushings where two are required.

If you don't lube them before pressing them in, you risk tearing or damaging them!

The W123 bushings require a "peening" press, which creates a 45 degree chamfered surface on the inside tube -- after assembly. FYI. I'm sure some people have ignored this feature. If you use the proper press, no lubricant is required, as the press is plenty hefty enough to press the properly seat the rubber bushings. It squeezes them together creating a revealed edge on the tube which is then "peened" over by a feature on the press mandrel.

--frankb

Yes, they do. The problem is that the peening is done after assembly, and the bushings first must be pressed into the LCA. This first pressing action is where the lubricant is needed.

I made my own "peening press" out of some old craftsman 1/2 inch drive extentions. The radii on the extentions at the ends matched almost exactly the radii needed on the center sleeve after peening. I just put the extensions into the center sleeve, clamp in a vice and squeeze until the center sleeve is peened properly.

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Bob
'82 300D Petrol B-G Metallic

Nice tip! Shouldn't be too difficult working with that thin aluminum. I was thinking the round bulbous end of a craftsman screw driver might work well with a few solid hammer blows.

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<insert>clever statement</insert>

It's harder than it looks. You want fine control when you're peening it, and using a vice allows you to stop at just the right point.

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Bob
'82 300D Petrol B-G Metallic

Gotcha, thanks again for you help.

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<insert>clever statement</insert>

Thanks for the clarification.

My paper manual stops at 33.3-520/2, but the cd-rom has the above.

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83 SD

84 CD