R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

w00t! Congrats!

now go drink some coffee

Woo Hoo!

Thanks for all the support. On a site where people routinely build cars from piles of tubing and old water heaters, this feels rather inconsequential, but I'm happy nonetheless.
Installation is the reverse, and that puts me on step 43 working backwards. Easy peasy.

Awesome!!

I couldn't think of a better B'day (mine) present than to see that bullet in it's rightful home. Thank you for this journey and all of GRM, it has kept my sanity level to a tolerable level while being unemployed.

Klaatu Barada N... necktie... nectar... nickel... noodle. It's an "N" word, it's definitely an "N" word! Klaatu... Barada... N...

[coughs]

Okay then... that's it!

I remember it going from "I started pulling parts" to "Whelp, the drivetrain is out." In a surprisingly short time.

"What is the direct translation of 'Klaatu barada nikto?' And Edmund North said to me, 'There's hope for Earth, if the scientists can be reached.'"

Crackers wrote: I remember it going from "I started pulling parts" to "Whelp, the drivetrain is out." In a surprisingly short time.

It takes much longer to look up tightening torques than loosening torques.
I did use all three torque wrenches today, from 8Nm to 265Nm. Money well spent.
The front suspension/brakes are on and torqued. And the radiator is popped into place. I need to snap on the condenser and then sort out the insanity that is the cooling system.

This thread has just justified the entire existence of the internet.

Congratulations sir. Incredible.

In reply to mikedd969:

I agree!!

Gee you work fast!!

Slippery wrote: Gee you work fast!!

That's what she said.
Seriously. My wife, who is doing proper grown up things, somehow finds 10 minutes in her day to check the thread. She's amazing. There are things I should probably be doing around the house, but she knows me well enough to understand where I am mentally right now, and she's ok with me running with it.

Started reading in December, literally just whooped out loud on a crowded train when I saw the beast back in its shell. I'd like to start writing a book called "The mazduece-it yourself guide to life, love, and lug nuts" because you are truly that phenomenal.

I think I speak for everyone when I ask for a video of the first restart (:

I can't remember if I've ever been so vicariously excited before. Great work.

My turn to chime in. I've been reading this thread for months and only reading mazdaduece's posts 99% of the time...to save time. It makes for an interesting read. You sir are very modest. Down playing a rebuild like this on almost a weekly basis. My various hats are off to you good sir. Keep up the good work!

This thread has my wife asking "how much IS a lift like that anyway?", and telling me not to go cheap.

Which I think is awesome for when I find a better job and we have a house again.

mikedd969 wrote: This thread has just justified the entire existence of the internet. Congratulations sir. Incredible.

A huge thanks, to you for this and to everyone who is still following along. I'm still not sure how all of this happened, but I did just do a couple of twelve hour transits with ear plugs in, so I had time to think about it, trapped in my own head.
I want to say that without the internet I'm just a guy in a garage. There are at least half a dozen of you who have seen where I'm doing this work. Underwhelming is a kind word. It's just me and a set of hand tools that I got in highschool doing a "by the book" fix. Just a guy in a garage. The internet doesn't make it more than that, not really. All it lets me do is tell an evolving story. I wrench, you watch. I stumble, you tell me what I'm tripping over. All at a distance. All over the world. The metrics on the video of the van doing laps at Texas World Speedway humbled me. People from the craziest places clicked a button to watch me chase a Corvette the day before the headbolt let go, and a bunch of them have stuck around to see if I can actually drive it again.
I talked to the guys at GRM last week, and for a time, over half of all the traffic on the whole site, not just the forum, but the whole site, was this thread. Just a guy in his garage, turning wrenches.

Wandering back on topic (weird, I know) this morning I used the zip tie connectors I bought. They weren't the right ones. Dammit.
The ones I bought are in the left, the ones Mercedes used are on the right. Whoever buys this someday will have to suffer through the knowledge that the injector wires on the driver's side have three little plastic doohickeys that don't match. Sorry. The new ones are from Panduit, and honestly, they work great. I'm 99% certain I saw the proper ones sometime during my search, but I ended up with these both because I thought they were right, and because I could order them for less that $0.10 each. I have extras. Lots of extras. In a couple of different sizes. If anybody needs a few, let me know.

Don't forget the chillrenz at schuul.....

759NRNG wrote: Don't forget the chillrenz at schuul.....

When's the last day of school? Sounds like a great target for a first test-drive

bluej wrote:

759NRNG wrote: Don't forget the chillrenz at schuul.....

When's the last day of school? Sounds like a great target for a first test-drive

+1

Can't wait for the first start video

I set an alarm to make sure I have time to clean up and prep dinner before I leave to get the kids. I don't want to say how I learned that this alarm is important, but it most certainly is.
When summer "starts" is a bit fuzzy right now. Lots of orthodontist and high school finals and other things I need to get done. It looks like I have plenty of time to assemble and fire it up. Or try anyway. The van isn't important enough to delay summer, so I need to hustle.

hhaase wrote: This thread has my wife asking "how much IS a lift like that anyway?", and telling me not to go cheap. Which I think is awesome for when I find a better job and we have a house again.

Tell her that a lift like that is currently on sale for $1899.