Reinforcement Struts in Forward Wheelhouse
In previous blogs, I have discussed my progress on my 280SL which was in fair shape with considerable rust damage mainly in the floor and side rails. I did a little work in the front to replace the two piece crossmember to which the front bumper attaches. My initial thought was that the rest of the front of the car was in fairly good shape with no visible rust damage.
One day I was reading an article in this forum that the writer said that when he inspected any Pagoda, one of the first places to look for rust was in the Reinforcement Strut at the top of each front wheelhouse. His article said the rust was very often on the top of the Reinforcement Strut. Thanks to that article I looked at my struts and found significant rust on the top of both struts and in the Inner Front Fender Wheelhouse panels, that I had not seen before.
When I found this rust damage I already had my body on a rotisserie to work on the rust in the floor. I had intended to leave the car on the rotisserie to be media blasted and painted, after I finished the metal repair work.
When I looked at the restoration work that others in the forum have done that involved replacing the Reinforcement Strut, it was obvious that the approved solution was to remove both front fenders and then replace the entire strut and replace or repair the inner finder wall as needed. That gave me two problems, first I realized that it was not structurally possible to remove the fenders while the car was on the rotisserie. Second, at my experience level, I was not confident that I could remove and reattach the fenders without seriously warping the car even if I had the car off the rotisserie.
I found other info in the forum that suggested that most of the Reinforcement Strut could be replaced without taking the fenders off. I also found that the aft portion of each of the existing struts behind the removable Dirt Shield did not have rust damage. I removed the front 35 inches of the exiting strut which revealed that the rust damage to the inner fender wall was mainly where it attached to the lip of the outer fender (where the fender meets the side of the hood) just aft of the attachment point for the top of the Shock Absorber, both sides.
I have attaches 2 photos that show the new Reinforcement Strut just fitted in place in the driver’s side wheelhouse. The 3rd photo shows the section of the Inner Fender panel that I removed for rust which included the angled bracket where the hood latch engages.
After that 3” by 8” panel was removed, I then removed a 4” x 4” panel just aft, that would allow me access to weld the aft end of the new strut to the stub of the old strut that did not have rust damage. I then recreated both the 3x8 panel and the 4x4 panel and fit them in place. The 4th photo shows the both of these replacement panels in place.
I have attached several other photos in the next segments that show the more on the complete repair.
Howard
280SL 4-Speed
