Author Topic: My mainly 240D rust repair blog (Read 27732 times)

dseretakis · « **Reply #25 on:** November 13, 2014, 12:33:15 »

My expertise lies in metalwork specifically related to rust repair so I cannot offer great advice re fillers and general bodywork, painting. But from my observations as a hobbyist, I would use lead to cover seams and define sharper edges. I would then do my best at getting all sheetmetal as close to perfect as skills permit and then skimcoat everything with a high quality plastic filler and block sand.

johnk · « **Reply #26 on:** November 14, 2014, 03:00:53 »

That's pretty much what i am reading as I look into it. Thanks

dseretakis · « **Reply #27 on:** October 24, 2015, 22:14:40 »

This month I've been tackling some more rust on the 240D. I started exploring the rusted right side rocker panel and front jack point only to find floor pan rust! The rust is located along the edge of the floor on the sill side.
I fabricated and welded in the front section so far:

dseretakis · « **Reply #28 on:** October 24, 2015, 22:18:14 »

And here it is tacked in place and finally all welded up.

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #29 on:** October 25, 2015, 19:14:45 »

I could understand if this was a 300 turbo coupe, but a 240D? Why???

Nice work though and I suppose it's good training for 113 work later on. Lead is very toxic stuff and that alone is why it's not used much these days. Most body men can't work with it, paint and primer often won't stick to it, and modern fillers are considerably better in most regards. Back when lead was commonly used, mig welders weren't used very much for body work and most panels were brazed on or the really good body men used a small torch to fuse panels together. Done properly, no filler rod is used and no body filler is even needed to finish the seam.

dseretakis · « **Reply #30 on:** October 26, 2015, 14:36:08 »

I don't care much for automatic w123's. A manual everything 240D in a cool period color like China Blue is the holy grail of Mercedes diesels!

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #31 on:** October 26, 2015, 17:31:52 »

Did they not make 300D's in standard? I have a number of rusty old 123's and I agree they're nice cars but I kind of like the 126 better. I'm 6'3'' so I like the extra room. I do like our turbo coupe though.

dseretakis · « **Reply #32 on:** October 27, 2015, 02:30:13 »

A non turbo 300D was available in Europe with a manual transmission but the turbodiesels were only ever made in automatic.

dseretakis · « **Reply #33 on:** November 21, 2015, 13:59:05 »

Here the front passenger floor pan repair is complete. I did not bother to metal finish the weld seams as this area is not visible and the car is valuable enough to justify the effort!

GGR · « **Reply #34 on:** November 21, 2015, 14:31:28 »

That's a strange place to rust, on top of the rocker?

Did you fix the top of the front right inner fender?

dseretakis · « **Reply #35 on:** November 21, 2015, 15:14:11 »

It's actually quite common on the w123 as the rocker is spot welded to the floor pan. Water and salt intrusion into this seam leads to the rocker and floor pan rusting simultaneously. Water intrusion into the cabin also facilitates rust in that area from the top side.

Top of right front inner fender/shock tower area is fixed.

GGR · « **Reply #36 on:** November 21, 2015, 16:43:02 »

Ah! Yes, previous page! I'm getting old!

cabrioletturbo · « **Reply #37 on:** November 21, 2015, 16:52:27 »

First time I bumped onto this thread, this is some fine welding, dseretakis!

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #38 on:** November 21, 2015, 20:18:08 »

When ever I talk to high end restoration shops about their competition at judged car shows, they always point to home restored cars. The owner has all of the time he wants to get it perfect without paying someone to do it, which is very difficult to compete with.

dseretakis · « **Reply #39 on:** November 22, 2015, 14:21:30 »

For cars with little value such as a w123 diesel this is definitely true. The number of hours that I've put into this car far exceeds its value if translated into an hourly rate. When it comes to high value cars that require a different standard, the super high end shops are usually equipped with tools and facilities that are out of reach of your average home restorer.

dseretakis · « **Reply #40 on:** April 23, 2016, 13:13:36 »

Gael will crucify me for continuing to spend my efforts on w123 diesels but my excuse this time is that it's not my own! It's my neighbors car!

The right rear quarter was replaced years ago by a collision shop. Clearly they payed no attention to corrosion protection when they reinstalled it. The result was that the rear apron, quarter panel itself, trunk floor and outer wheel arch to which it was attached all rusted prematurely. Here are some shots of my work so far.

dseretakis · « **Reply #41 on:** April 23, 2016, 13:16:12 »

More:

dseretakis · « **Reply #42 on:** April 28, 2016, 22:30:30 »

Welded between the tack welds and metal finished:

dseretakis · « **Reply #43 on:** April 30, 2016, 01:28:15 »

Lower quarter panel patch section tack welded in place.

News:

Author Topic: My mainly 240D rust repair blog (Read 27732 times)

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