W11X - Coupe/Cabrio - Photos of front wheel wells

[hansr433]

Could someone please post some good resolution images of the inside of the front wheel wells, facing towards the rear.  I think that my restorers forgot to install some sheetmetal.

Thanks

[PeterPortugal]

Hans,

I can help you here...but could you post some pictures of yours so we can see what your concern is.

Regards

Peter

[wwheeler]

I thought I would have better pictures, but maybe this will suffice.
1- Pic looking to the rear of the front well. The splash shield has been removed. My original texture here was in pretty good shape, I just wanted to touch it up a bit with Wurth beige.
2- Pic showing the front facing well for grins. Again, you can see the pattern the factory spray the undercoat texture and I just touched it up.
3 - Not a great pic, but it does show the black splash plate installed. The splash plate has a rubber seal strip against the fender. The rest of the plate is sealed against the body with non-hardening putty. This part was installed after the car was sprayed and why it is black. It has a textured finish similar to the wells. I chose to spray Wurth black stone guard on this panel on top of black paint. 

The splash panel is the metal that may have been left off? I hope this helps.

Wallace

[hansr433]

Thanks Wallace, this is what my front wells are like.  There is obviously something amiss.  Not in the photo, but I can see the screws holding for the rearview mirror.  Very annoying as I keep finding stuff that is very wrong.

[wwheeler]

Yeah, you are missing the splash shield. I am pretty sure they reproduce those. I doubt used from a parts would be worth much and probably in bad shape. You will need the shield to fender seal strip and There are (4) screws that hold the plate on along with the sealing putty. For the sealing putty I used 3M black rope caulk. If you give me until tonight, I will take pics and get part numbers for you.

Wallace

[PeterPortugal]

Hans,

Picture attached of the metal "splash guard".

If your restorer did not know these were missing then that's not a good sign.

Also the bodywork shown in the picture should have seams visible. I think that is worth checking into too. I will send some pictures to your email address.

Regards

Peter

[wwheeler]

More info and pics. The partition panels (as Mercedes calls them) are #111 880 54 (57) 43 - L&R. The seal strip is #110 884 00 98.

My panels are held on by (4) screws all of which are sheet screws with a hex head. See attached. Two can be seen from the wheel well (1st pic) and the other two are installed from inside the engine bay (2nd pic). You can barely see the tips of the screws. BTW, the lower black trim panel also screws into the panel. The chrome molding screws into the fender lip.

That should give you what you need.

[hansr433]

Wallace and Peter,  thank you for your replies.  Now I am even more depressed, but I learned another valuable life lesson:  Never, ever entrust someone with a restoration or important mechanical work without frequent inspections.  Also educate yourself on what needs to be done, and how it should be done.  Because of a 9-10 hour drive to the workshop I engaged, I went infrequently, and now I am having to deal with the BS those guys did.  Even better, if you have the aptitude and space, do the work yourself.

[PeterPortugal]

Hans,

I am stepping back from my earlier comment about the seams as your picture was much more close up than I first thought. I will still send you some pictures I used to assess my cars originality. I soon found where repair panels were added using these pictures as a reference. However, yours may be fine.

Looking at the pictures you sent me the restoration quality looks good but what I am saying is maybe the people who did it did not have enough specific knowledge about your car to realise when obvious and large bits were missing. They should have at least advised you.

If they rebuilt your engine, the low compression issue is not great though.

Are you able to say where you had it done? Or even which country it was done in?

Peter

[hansr433]

Peter, the restoration was done in Western Ontario at a place called Memory Lane Restorations.  The engine was rebuilt by RSP Motor Sports, also in Western Ontario.  Of course, with the car being now in Italy, asking them to repair/fix what I have already paid for is not so simple.  That being so, the car was shipped to the UK right after the restoration and I spent another GBP 10,000 at a shop in the UK fixing odds and ends.  I have done less than 3000 miles on a rotisserie/no money spared restoration and I should have been handed a car good for 100,000 miles with proper maintenance.  Very disappointed with the people who restored the car and mad at myself for not being more attentive to checking their work-in-progress.  In fact, just writing this post is getting my blood boiling.

Dan Caron probably knows them.  Too bad that I only met him through this forum.  He could have saved me some heartache, at least on the engine rebuild.

[PeterPortugal]

When you said the repair shop was 10 hours away I thought you were referring from Tuscany.

I can't do any sort of bodywork but with the info available on the forum, and the friendly advice given, I would tackle anything mechanical. It takes me ages though, but I don't need the car.

I hope you spent your 10k in the UK with Colin Fearns in London aka "Stickandrudderman". He is an active member of the forum and if I had to spend money in the UK, that's where it would go. When I first got the car I had a few "odds and ends" sorted out at "A N Other" classic Mercedes Specialist, also located in Greater London, and on reflection it was not money well spent.