Forgot to post a couple more photos last night.

Here is a comparison shot of the old and rusty bolts holding the downpipe to the mid section pipe - one broke off, and I still need to remove the rest of it from the mid section pipe. The new fasteners are all stainless steel.



And here is a shot of the cleaned up engine to transmission bolts, plus some of the brackets which I need to figure out:

 

Don't use stainless steal screws at the exhaust system!!!

The do not offer enough torque and the will deform by heat and time, so you won't be able to remove the screws after a while. You must force them until they brake...

 

The motor is back into the car!! Very pleased. I was going to wait for some help from friends, but woke up early and managed to sort it out on my own. Took a couple hours just to line it up nicely and to get two or three bolts started. Quite a pain in the butt to get everything lined up - I used my floor jack to move the trans up, and of course my engine hoist and leveler to position the motor properly. Also a pain in the butt to line the various transmission lines up too. Yee!

A few more hours' worh of work, and the engine mounts were bolted in, the auto trans cooler lines hooked up and all but one of the engine to trans bolts threaded in. The upper starter bolt is kicking my butt at the moment - the downpipe is in the way and making everything difficult to get the bolt into place.

More work tomorrow! Aiming to have everything sorted out by Monday evening, with the exception of the injectors and fuel rail - still waiting for the injectors to be cleaned and those washers to arrive. Ah well.

Still need to pick up the new dipstick I ordered (the handles on the originals have broken) and some power steering fluid. Once everything's together, the plan is just to run some cheap 10/30 dino oil to flush things out, just get the fluids up to temp and them dump the oil right away.

Pix:








and I just love the attention to detail from Benz so I had to shoot a pic of this part of the casting on the block at the front right of the car - there is provision to secure the wire harness!



Oh, and I have some info for Kowalski - the part number for the long ground harness is 208 540 02 30 - but I gotta caution you dude, removing and replacing this ground harness with the engine in place would be rather difficult and time consuming.

 

How high has the nose been lifted? It looks like the jack stands are in the lowest position - about 12 inches. The stands aren't on the a-arms, where are they? Thanks

 

The jackstands are some run of the mill 3 ton capacity pieces I've had for years. They are sitting on the rear mounting point on the front lower control arm. The stands are at their lowest position, or close to it. The car almost might as well be on its wheels.

Reason being is that we were having difficulty getting enough clearance to raise the hood to the completely vertical service position. My garage door was getting in the way! We even had to remove the grille just so it wouldn't contact the garage door!

 

You're the MAN Vince!!! I hope Mr. Murphy stays away and she fires right up the first time with no issues.

The motor looks almost new after the hot tank and paint jobs you did.

I AM SOOOOOO JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Good progress!

 

The life lesson of (the iPhone game) Angey Birds, as my buddy Jimmy pointed out when we were struggling with the engine to trans bolts when we were removing the engine, is that if you run into difficulty with a certain task, is to leave it and try again later with perhaps a slightly different approach.

And the upper starter bolt that was kicking my butt yesterday for a good 30 minutes is now in, resolves in 5 minutes and no headache! Did not remove the other downpipe, just managed to wiggle it in there properly, universal joint and lengthy 24" extension and done! Woot.

Off to do more now...

 

Another long afternoon of wrenching and the car is starting to look much more like a car again! Rad and AC condenser in place, AC and power steering lines hooked up, coolant hoses hooked up, wiring harness hooked up too.

Tomorrow will tackle the remaining crap underneath the car - O2 sensor wiring, heatshields, ground wires and exhaust downpipes to manifolds. Also need to clean up the rad support and the intake ducts, and that will almost be it for the time being!

 

lookin' good buddy, very good.
soon you'll be able to take off with a C55

don't forget the new trunk emblem C55 AMG

 

Heh, actually I wanted to get one of those 5.5L AMG badges, the ones that look like the 6.3, but can't seem to find them anymore. Boo.

Yesterday I finally got the torque converter to flywheel bolts back in, the auto trans lines tied down again, began re-routing the plug in for the oil pan heater, and cleaned up the intake snorkel and rad support. Also managed to figure out the two extra wiring brackets that attach to the engine to trans bolts - thanks to ob1 for the help with that. These brackets hold the O2 sensor wiring out of the way.

The 'to do' list is getting shorter and shorter, but unfortunately, so is my time at home before our holiday! If I find the time, I will try to get the downpipes hooked up to the exhaust manifolds. Doing so will be one of the last big pain in the *** jobs to too, but as ever, it has to be done. Then it's just a matter of connecting up a few small things - some hoses, the fuel rail and injectors, MAF sensor, airbox, fluids...

Ordered a few more things this morning, hopefully that will be it - some plastic clips that hold the intake snorkels in place on the rad support, two plastic covers that go on the underside of the torque converter housing, and the grille/shield that goes in front of the AC fans (but behind the grille on the hood). Surprisingly, that last piece was only C$18. My car's been missing it ever since I got it, so now's the time to complete it I suppose.

 

Just for info, the clip/screws holding the grille have a nasty tendency to drop off and disappear..., so keep a couple in reserve

 

Well, after being up on stands for four weeks, the car is now finally back onto its own wheels!

Last night I connected up the downpipes to the exhaust manifolds, ran the O2 sensor wiring, sorted out the copper coloured bracket holding the large ground harness in place, hooked up a coolant hose, and then dropped the car back down. Now really all that's left is to wait for the injectors and those clips and little bits to arrive back, and the car can be running again!

The injector cleaner guy had to wait for some plastic washers from a supplier, but they should be in now. But he also said he didn't really want the injectors to be cleaned and then sitting around for two weeks, so he'll have them ready for when we get back from holiday. So as soon as we're back, it'll be back to work on the car, getting the fuel rail in, fluids, fire it up!!!

 

We are all waiting for the "baby" to wake up! Hope that the parents won't be too tired to enjoy

 

I've been thinking, you've put a lot of time and effort into this. Even though it's used, you really don't want to break that engine in with a Canadian winter. Once it's running, the "smart thing to do" is to drop it off in SoCal for a PROPER break in. You leave it with me and I'll use it to commute from my house to work every day this winter. I'll make a few passes up to the snow so as not to "shock the system". Naturally I'll send photos, so you don't miss your baby. By the time spring rolls around, the car should be ready for duty in Canada.

That goes for any other C55 owners. Those with a K engine may even qualify for new rear tires when the car is returned.

 

Thanks Marcus for your generous and selfless offer! I think I'll be able to manage.

All quiet for a couple weeks now though, as the wife and I are off to Hawaii for a long anticipated break!!

 

Enjoy your vacation with your wife. She probably will appreciate seeing you more instead of being in your workshop

 

I'm always looking to help. Enjoy the vaca!

 

hi just read the whole thread i take my hat off to you

you have done some work and great to see the pictures and tips of of our guys did the same last year to his c43

cant wait to see a vid of of running

 

How do you enjoy a vacation when you have a C43 with a 55 motor at home waiting for her maiden voyage

All I would be able to think about would be taking my C43/55 out for a little spin

 

Vacation was great! Soaked up the sun, got a nice tan, explored the lovely island of Oahu, planning our next trip there already!

Got back a couple days ago, and spent that time gathering up the freshly cleaned injectors and putting everything back together.

Tried to fire it up yesterday, but, and it's a big 'BUT', it won't idle! Fires up but dies right away unless I have throttle input. Getting misfire codes on cylinders 5 to 7 and sometimes 8, plus also a random misfire code too. Weird.

Double checked all connections. Scrapped away the paint on the valve covers (Where the coil packs mount) because the back sides of the coilpacks have a metallic portion, which I think is needed for grounding purposes. No luck. Changed MAF, still nothing.

Recalled that when I initially mated up the engine and trans, I had to use the bolts to suck them together. Pretty normal I figured. But later, when I went to line up the torque convert to flywheel bolts and tried to turn the crank, I could not crank the engine over at all! WTF? At that point (this is before I left for holiday of course) I loosened up the engine and trans again, and freed up the torque converter and flywheel enough to allow them to rotate. I figured that the torque converter was just off a bit and snugged up the flywheel somehow. Loosened it up and got it sorted out. Or so I thought.

Unfortunately, I do not have access at home to Star diagnostics, and doing so will likely run me about $100 for the tow and the time for the techs to do it. PM'd Money-one and also talked to the local independent Benz guys, and chatted with my mechanic buddy too. I'm going to have another look at it tonight or tomorrow, but apparently with the torque converter to flywheel bolts off, the torque converter should have some slack. If not, it is pushing up against the flywheel too much and that could lead to ignition weirdness (because the shutter wheel for the crank sensor is part of the flywheel too).

Fingers crossed that is the problem. Hope to find out more soon.

 

good luck keep us posted i have a guy on a mb site that has done this in england if your stuck ill drop him a email for you

 

Sorry she didn't fire the first time, I'm sure you will get everything sorted out soon.

KEEP US POSTED

 

Sounds like the torque converter slipped forward while the motor was out. If this has happened, you will destroy the transmission pump upon start-up.

The converter should turn easily with everything bolted up, and the converter to flexplate bolts removed.

It is normal for the converter to move fore and aft a bit during normal operation, this is why automatics use a sheet-metal flywheel (flexplate) instead of a solid metal flywheel. Also to lighten the assembly, as a converter is heavy enough.

If it does not, you have a problem.You need to stop now, and remove all the transmission to motor bolts, along with the torque converter bolts. Leave the lowermost two bolts in, but loosen them some. Support the tranny and motor, and pry them apart. This may give you room to seat the converter properly. If not, something has to come back out.

 

Ai yah. You are full of good news, eh? . Thanks for the suggestions though, seriously. I've never owned or worked on an automatic before, so I'm learning some expensive lessons it appears.

Tonight I loosened up the torque converter to flywheel bolts, and it appears that the converter is interfering with the flywheel somewhere. I marked both and managed to rotate both all the way around. The converter doesn't rotate freely - but I think only because it is contacting the flywheel. I can pry the converter forward a touch, but nit back much further than where it sita right now. It's like being a gyneocologist - the opening is about the same size as youknowhat but I can't get enough leverage to push the converter back any more. I will try loosening the engine to trans bolts up some, prying the two apart and then try to seat the converter more inwards again as suggested. If not, then I'll pull the trans and see. Fingers crossed I didn't bugger up the trans any.....