Replace my front pipes myself or not

[RaceDiagnostics]

Just got a text from Mercedes to say that my new front pipes are ready to be picked up. I was planning to replace them myself but expect that it wont be easy to get the front pipes out of the middle section.

Any advise on whether I should try it myself or take them to a garage to be fitted?

 

[iscaboy]

I pulled my (cracked and blowing) front pipes, went EEK! because the problem was a LOT worse than I was expecting, bodged them up, and replaced them, took around hour and a half to two hours, lot of that time smoking and cursing and looking for something to bodge with.

This was on a driveway, 1 x trolley jack, 2 x axle stands, 1 x 13 mm combo spanner, 1 x 13 mm ratchet

Top tip, make sure the rear unions are straight and inline before tightening up, that stops the exhaust from drooping in the middle and hitting the bodywork at the rear.

Forgot, small ratchet (6 or 8 mm I think) for removing the plastic protector panels.

 

[nick mercedes]

Give someone at your local fastfit place £20 to do the job.

 

[SilverSaloon]

I know your engine is different but i had to replace the Y piece of the exhaust on my 107. Pig of a job because of the access, but definatly doable. You need 2 people though to be able to reach a socket on the top of the engine whilst you crawl underneath to tighten the bolts from below.

On the 280SL there are copper rings that need to be installed for a nice seal... i suspect yours is similar, so you'll need new ones of these likely if so.

i'd definatly give it a go yourself if (a) you have the time and (b) dont have a friendly garage who would do it for a few quid. If you do, then i'd say get someone else to do the dirty work if they have a ramp as it will be a lot easier.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

The job looks very easy and access looks good. The only worry is splitting the old downpies from the middle section without breaking something.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

OK after a couple of hours the exhaust is off, no major issues to remove other than having to also remove the mid and back sections in order to get the downpipes out of the engine bay, but no big deal. None of the nuts/bolts were ceased and I was able to do it single handed except for one manifold bolt where I needed soneone to hold steady from above.

The pic below shows where the leak was with a bodged repair attempt. Looks like I will nead to trim the end of the new pipes to fit the middle section.

Now the tricky part, you can see that the end of the old pipe is different to the new pipe, the old one also has an olive to fit between the pipe and the manifold, where as the new pipe has no olive but does come with a compression ring. I offered up the new pipe to the manifold and it does seem to fit.

Anyone seen this before?

I'll do the reassembly tomorrow, after I buy a new angle grinder to trim the pipes as I just cant find my old one.

I seem to be spending a fortune on new tools as I have moved house twice in the last 5 years and half my old ones seem to have gone missing.

 

[trainer]

For a minute I thought your first pic was an installation at the Tate Modern.