Hood issue (65 230 sl 4speed)

[Surfer65sl]

I would first like to thank this community for all the great advice I have received.  Today, I am writing because my hood is apparently cracked where the two bolts attach to the hood.  My mechanic has suggested that an aluminum welder may be needed....can a body shop repair this....does anyone have experience with this issue and or advice.  I popped the hood and it came unfastened from the bracket on the left side.

[waqas]

Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the area?

[Surfer65sl]

quote:Originally posted by waqas

Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the area?

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[Surfer65sl]

Hi Gary,

I bought this car on ebay and despite this ugly photo of the hood issue the engine and body are generally in good shape for a daily runner. The car runs incredible....I was told to possibly look into a new hood because this was apparently tinkered with several times before I purchased it.

quote:Originally posted by waqas

Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the area?

[al_lieffring]

I was going to suggest getting this repair kit from Gernold at SL tech.



but it looks like this repair has already been atempted and has broken again.

Because so few cars have aluminum body pannels I doubt a body shop will have a skilled aluminum welder in house. You may be more likely to find one at a race car shop.

[waqas]

I think it can be repaired. You need someone who has specialized in aluminium, as the technique involved is different from steel.

Al's recommendation is spot-on: whilst you have that area open, make sure the nut/plate that sits in this little recess in the hood is in good shape and replace if necessary. A good thread for this can be found here: http://sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=7019.0

[al_lieffring]

quote:Originally posted by Surfer65sl

Hi Gary,

I bought this car on ebay and despite this ugly photo of the hood issue the engine and body are generally in good shape for a daily runner. The car runs incredible....I was told to possibly look into a new hood because this was apparently tinkered with several times before I purchased it

Matt

A new hood would be outrageously expensive, in the many thousands of dollars range, I last priced one in 1980 at around $1500.00 USD I am sure they are many times that now.

Also each hood was individually trimmed to the hood opening of the car it was fit to, so a used hood would not bolt directly onto your car without refitting it to the opening of the fenders. A new hood is made rough cut and is about an inch oversize on each side and has to be cut down to fit the fender opening.

[waqas]

quote:Originally posted by al_lieffring

Also each hood was individually trimmed to the hood opening of the car it was fit to, so a used hood would not bolt directly onto your car without refitting it to the opening of the fenders.

Matt,
You can check if the hood is original: the last few digits of the body number should be stamped inside the rear/left corner of the hood. More details about the body number can be found here: http://sl113.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=DataCard.BodyandPaintNumberPlate

[waltklatt]

Matt,
Here is a bracket I made from scratch to repair a friends hood.
Hope this helps and you dont need a welder for this.  The metal there is very thin and can distort and melt easily.
When selecting the metal, make sure you use aluminum rivets and base metal.  The yellowishe metal is cadzinc plated for corrosion.
The whole thing was painted afterwards with a bit of filler to flush it out.  The car looked like new and was easily adjustable with the bolts sticking out.  I know it's an unorthodox way to fix, but it worked for me, considering the damage to the old hinge area.
Walter
1967 220SL-diesel


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[Benz Dr.]

You can weld aluminium with oxy acet if you know how to do it. Start by cleaning the area so that you have bare metal to work with. Aluminium will melt at a lower temp than steel so the trick is to know what temp the metal is. You can get a special heat sensitive paint stick that will turn colour as it reaches optimum heat range or you can try a simple trick I've seen.
Turn on the acet on your torches and blacken the area you want to weld with the carbon that comes from the flame. As the metal nears the too hot range as you're welding the carbon will turn gray. The lighter it gets the more you're pushing your luck. It actually works but you should practice on a piece of scrap metal first. If you don't know how to braze don't try this - you WILL fail.

You would need a special welding rod and flux for this job. Ideally, it should be tig welded. This is a job for a welder and probably not a body shop.

[Surfer65sl]

Gentleman,

Thanks again for the great advice.  I hope to find a welder / body shop that works with aluminum and get this repaired.  Gernold has suggested this is a flimsy metal design and that he has seen a lot of cars with this problem.  His brackets seem like the easiest way to proceed.  Appreciate the great technical advice.

Best,

quote:Originally posted by Surfer65sl

I would first like to thank this community for all the great advice I have received.  Today, I am writing because my hood is apparently cracked where the two bolts attach to the hood.  My mechanic has suggested that an aluminum welder may be needed....can a body shop repair this....does anyone have experience with this issue and or advice.  I popped the hood and it came unfastened from the bracket on the left side.