re. Is this over my head? Opinions Please

[ben swann]

Having just done the entire front end suspension for a '91 200 20V tqa,
I highly recommend following the procedure in the Bentley.  I'll not
reiterate the procedure, but just recommend you refer to it and use to
help plan the job or to see if it seems doable fo you.

With regard to the swaybar, I thought it would be more difficult, but
following instructions really helped - don't deviate too much from the
manual as you may be making it harder on yourself.

Once the proper links and bolts have been disconected, the swaybar
simply drops down and pulls out - no major contortions necessary.
When re-installing, an assistant would be helpful, but I was able to do
it single-handedly - using both hands of course and a selection of
prybars and choice words.

A complete front-end suspension rebuild took me around 15 hours.  I had
a set of front wheel-bearing housings ready to go with new
wheelbearings already pressed in.

The job included repair and replacement of: Removal and re-assembly of
all front suspension down to the subframe for installation of new strut
Cartridges(Bilstien), H&R Springs, strut tower bearings and caps, Brake
pads(Mintek Red) and Rotors (UFOs).

I estimate pulling the subframe would have taken an hour more, but that
was not necessary.  My time included a lot of cleaning and painting as
well.  The rear strut assemblies took about another 2 hours to r/r
springs and struts.

Hope this helps with figuring your timeframe and relative skill level.

Air tools will speed things up.  This is not as trivial as a tuneup or
oil change, but is not extremely difficult either.

This was one of those major jobs where I rolled multiple-interrelated
tasks into one job as I needed to replace the brake pads and rotors,
and to replace strut-tower bearing,as well as wanting to upgrade struts
and springs(some might say I downgraded), and needed wheel bearings.
Some of this was done to be pre-emptive, but since I would be at it
anyway - that's the way I do things.

[<Snippage>

Installation of the sway bar is difficult.  I haven't tried what
Stephane suggests so don't know how well it would work, but I did have
success using a come-along to flex the bar into place.  That's the
method I'd use if I were doing it again.

<Snippage> ]