Just got back from the wrecking yard, engine is not out, but will be tomorrow.

Looks very promising. Pulled the oil filter first, no evidence of any metal, pulled a spark plug in each cylinder, all the plugs looked equally severely worn, a little dark (probably dumping more fuel to compensate for shitty spark), but no evidence of any oil burning.

I didn't realize that the balancer bolt was an allen head, but was able to find a strut bolt laying on the ground that fit snug and used Vise grips to roll the engine over about a dozen times. Rolled over very smooth.

Couple of things to note, all the plugs are NGK with the Benz logo on them. They were also tough to remove. Original plugs maybe? Or serviced by MB in the past? Serpentine belt is MB also. Got the engine harness pulled from the fuse box complete, and stashed the ECU for retrieval tomorrow. Not sure the ECU will be of any use..... but will grab it nonetheless.

I pulled the airbox and battery box, and pulled the monster sized fuse box apart piece by piece. Got the inner fender liner out on the drivers side. Pulled the radiator support and rad/cond. Exhaust, bellhousing, and motor mounts should be all that is left. I will have to figure out the torque converter bolts...… since it appears there is no access plate?

Engine should be sitting on the floor in the shop by noon tomorrow hopefully.

Jared