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478 Posts
Now that my 06 '55 has turned 48 (thousand miles) she's been menopausal, crying all the time (from a water pump whine). So I've been gathering some bits in anticipation of the excuse to get her over to the doctor for some meds.
All things considered, the recently college graduated blonde who was kind enough to help me part with my Benjamins gave me a great deal on this Merc. And she did have a handful of receipts from visits to the stealership. But I wouldn't have minded if she had spent more keeping it up.
I've had to deal mostly with deferred maintenance in my year of ownership, replacing motor mounts, a 40k service, changed all fluid & filters w/ a trans flush, replaced the idler pulley & belt, battery, a window control unit, and the bi-xenon igniter I blew. Oh, and I cant forget the several blown speakers (my better half has a set of keys too...).
Most of the body panels came standard with minor paint blems or dings, and the front bumper had cracks from dragging on parking bumpers. So when I had my Spyder lights installed, I had all that addressed too.
So now that the work is done, it's time to play. Mine is missing the 030 option. So along with the water pump I'm having my '55 lowered with a Bilstein B12 kit, the ECU is being recurved with a Eurocharger tune, the primary cats & resonator are being deleted and replaced with an X-pipe, and of course a new set of 16 NGK's are going in. This and the restoration of the chrome on my 5+ year old Asanti AF120 three piece wheels should hold me over 'till it's time to upgrade the brakes...
That brings me to the install of the Kleeman headers, and a question.
Today, I was all set to change out the plugs thinking it would be a terrific idea to pocket the 4 hours of labor my indy would ding me for. Then I happened to notice the need for a $20 plug boot remover to get the job done. That's no big deal but it got me thinking.
I'm paying fabrication time to delete the cat, install the X-pipe, and the welding needed to hook up the exhaust to the headers. But everything else being done will be billed flat rate, meaning whatever the book says, he is charging.
Replacing the exhaust manifolds pays 4 hours (the time to remove the manifolds and re-install the headers) and changing the plugs pays 4 hours. So I get to pay for 8, even if it takes him only 6 because he has it apart already.
To install the headers, the air box, plug boots and a few bits have to be removed to get to the exhaust manifold bolts. Maybe the plugs have to come out for clearance as well. I could be answering my own question, but should I bother to do the plugs myself?
I'm undecided. anyone care to share some input?
All things considered, the recently college graduated blonde who was kind enough to help me part with my Benjamins gave me a great deal on this Merc. And she did have a handful of receipts from visits to the stealership. But I wouldn't have minded if she had spent more keeping it up.
I've had to deal mostly with deferred maintenance in my year of ownership, replacing motor mounts, a 40k service, changed all fluid & filters w/ a trans flush, replaced the idler pulley & belt, battery, a window control unit, and the bi-xenon igniter I blew. Oh, and I cant forget the several blown speakers (my better half has a set of keys too...).
Most of the body panels came standard with minor paint blems or dings, and the front bumper had cracks from dragging on parking bumpers. So when I had my Spyder lights installed, I had all that addressed too.
So now that the work is done, it's time to play. Mine is missing the 030 option. So along with the water pump I'm having my '55 lowered with a Bilstein B12 kit, the ECU is being recurved with a Eurocharger tune, the primary cats & resonator are being deleted and replaced with an X-pipe, and of course a new set of 16 NGK's are going in. This and the restoration of the chrome on my 5+ year old Asanti AF120 three piece wheels should hold me over 'till it's time to upgrade the brakes...
That brings me to the install of the Kleeman headers, and a question.
Today, I was all set to change out the plugs thinking it would be a terrific idea to pocket the 4 hours of labor my indy would ding me for. Then I happened to notice the need for a $20 plug boot remover to get the job done. That's no big deal but it got me thinking.
I'm paying fabrication time to delete the cat, install the X-pipe, and the welding needed to hook up the exhaust to the headers. But everything else being done will be billed flat rate, meaning whatever the book says, he is charging.
Replacing the exhaust manifolds pays 4 hours (the time to remove the manifolds and re-install the headers) and changing the plugs pays 4 hours. So I get to pay for 8, even if it takes him only 6 because he has it apart already.
To install the headers, the air box, plug boots and a few bits have to be removed to get to the exhaust manifold bolts. Maybe the plugs have to come out for clearance as well. I could be answering my own question, but should I bother to do the plugs myself?
I'm undecided. anyone care to share some input?