Mercedes 190SL Blogs

The Mercedes 190SL The 190SL was the smaller of the two sports coupes introduced to the North American market by Mercedes Benz in the mid 1950's. It was designed as a less expensive version of the famous 300SL, the sleek, gull-wing roadster that is familiar to even those who are not car enthusiasts : The 300SL was expensive.  To reduce the cost of the 190SL, Mercedes used less expensive parts such as carburetors (rather than fuel injectors) and a chassis that they had already designed for their 190 series sedan. The result was a very popular roaster convertible, or coupe, that sold over 25,000 units from 1955 until 1963.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_190_SL My father bought a 1957 model, used, in 1965.   I was two years old at that time, and as I grew up, that car became my second love - a boy's first love is always his mom, right? I now have the car and am working to restore it. When it's fully restored, mine will look like th

PILOT BEARING REMOVAL Removing the Pilot Bearing using a wedge anchor and axle nut socket The pilot bearing should be replaced when you are replacing the clutch, as it's a very cheap part (less than $30 US when I bought it in 2016).  Its the ring shaped bearing that holds the spline of the transmission centered in the engine crankshaft.  This is a pic of my new pilot bearing installed: Crankshaft rear view with pilot bearing cover removed. On Table 3.4, it's part #16, "Pilot Bearing" Table 3-4.  Notice parts #16 and #17 upper right corner. To start, remove Part #17, the pilot bearing cover. It is more or less a thick metal cap that can be pried off with a large screwdriver.  Don't worry if you bend it up a little while you remove it - it can be hammered flat again enough to fit snugly back in place.  You can see that I secured it to the crankshaft flange with some wire in my above picture to avoid losing it. I tried using various pulle