Long time since I've been here...please help on frame rail question

[prefervintage]

Hello all...it's been many years since I've been a member...good to see Cees is still here, Joe Alexander's posts and so on. This is a great forum and I miss participating. I had to put things 280Sl aside a decade ago due to an awful divorce...but I did keep my car! I'm diving back in with gusto into prepping my SL for new paint. I am finally also getting to some rust...have patch steel and MIG welder ready...my left rear frame rail needs work. My question is, I can't make out how this was constructed...K&K replacements look like a box according to website pictures...mine seems to be a shell with thin wheel arch metal tacked to it. Is it OK for me to grind away all rust, and just cut and weld steel patch sections in? I'm not worried about wheel arch metal...that's easy. I just want to make sure this is supported well enough being structural...I've attached a few photos. I appreciate any opinions...many thanks guys!! Joe

[Peter]

My welder figured this out for me, but maybe this drawing helps.

Its for https://www.sls-hh-shop.de/main/en/62-body-frame-panelling-61-floor-panels-230sl-250sl-280sl-c-3_2340_85

/Peter

[prefervintage]

Hi....that picture helps...it shows that section of mine before the wheel arch is an open channel laying sideways...any word out there about what happens if you cut out the rotted box section and weld in a new one from K&K, and what that does to body alignment? Or is it better to weld in patches without taking out the whole section? This car has small yellow Ziebart plugs all over so I'm hoping that actually staves off rust in other areas...they didn't hit frames rails on either side under the rockers though, hence my current rust issue...

[ja17]

Around here we call that area the "dog leg" it is the arched section which goes from the side frame rail to the top spring perch. You should buy #37 on diagram to start with. It is fairly complex and difficult to make from scratch since it originally a curved stamping. Some of the other damage on your car is in the inner wheel house (#53) of your car. This area you may be able to fabricate without replacing the whole part. Once the rust damaged areas are cleaned-up you will find other areas needing attention. Make sure your jack supports #32 are solid.

[prefervintage]

Thanks Joe...good to see you still here...you and Cees are like the SL oracles! The 'dogleg', as you said was pretty bad at the bottom...I cut it out today, posting a pic here...I'll be able to make do with the K&K patch panel. The rest of the side rail and upper part of the dog leg is good...only very superficial surface rust. The car was Ziebarted, but they didn't get into this area very well. I pulled the back carpet behind the driver seat, and found a hole, and remains of some bondo and primer...someone did a hack job years ago. The rear axle support area is still good, and is the jacking tube, thank goodness. This is the worst part of the car, one that has spent its life in the northeast U.S., so the Ziebart undercoat and inside panel spray, although sloppy, did help this car survive. When I'm done here and a few other spots on the car, its getting stripped for new paint, and I'll have the Ziebart plugs pulled and sealed then...after I poke a scope through the holes to see what's going on in those hidden panels. Meanwhile, I'll keep cutting and grinding metal, wire brushing, and get ready to MIG the patch panel when it comes...not looking forward to cutting the patch to fit the void...anyone else have a car that's had Ziebart years ago? If so, how did yours fare the years??

[prefervintage]

A few others pics showing the area inside the car, and up inside the dogleg...

[Lange]

Thank you for the updates and information on your repairs. I have a 230SL that was originally the same color as yours and spent time in IL and NJ where the rust got to it. The rust issues are more widespread than yours and presents a problem as I don't have the ability or equipment to undertake major repairs. Thinking about selling the car as is, which runs well, or parting it out. Hate to do that because it has been in the family since 1974.

[johnk]

I replaced 37 on my car by splicing the bottom half of the k&k panel in rather than replacing the whole panel and it worked pretty good. A good days work once a I figured out what to do. I felt so much better when it was done that way rather trying to just patch it.

[Shvegel]

My friend Rick who did my car made the part out of sheetmetal.

[Shvegel]

Lange,
 A restoration of a rusty car can easily top $100,000 or about 20 percent more than the car is worth done.  I have done mine with nearly all my own labor and it is a very involved process.  If you are not in love with your particular 230 you are much better off selling it.

This is a video of a 230 that Colin Ferns is doing in his shop (Stickandrudderman here).  Notice that he says there are 700 hours just cleaning up the bits and putting the car back together. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auExob4dbKQ&feature=youtu.be

[Bonnyboy]

I find the process of tracking down rust, diving deep into the inner parts of the structural components and then fixing it piece by piece with patch panels made on my bench very relaxing. 

If I had someone charging to do the work it would not have been worth it but to do it myself all it cost was probably $250 - ($100 of "satin" sheet, $50 in grinding wheels, fittings, drills and wire brushes, $75 in primers and paint and $25 for band aids, polysporin and burn ointment) and at least 500+ hours of work.   

Yes you gotta love the car.

The one thing to check is that the car is straight before welding.   Check your door gaps as it is sitting on the wheels and then again when being picked up by a hoist (so you can get in to do the welding) - especially if your rockers and inside metal pieces are compromised - you want the car to be straight when on the wheels - millimeters count.


 

[Naj ✝︎]

Hi,

Re: Dog Leg Panel
I Suggest you save as much good parts of the old panel as possible.
The panel from KK Mfg is slightly oversize and fits over the old panel.
See Pictures.
The full size panel is from KK and the part cut off one from SLS.
The SLS panel fits into the KK panel (1st pic)

naj