My mainly 240D rust repair blog

[dseretakis]

Check it out. Hopefully, I can get to my Pagoda's rust repair needs soon as well!

http://stricht8.wordpress.com

[mdsalemi]

Nice work on the 240D!

[w113dude]

That is some good cutting & spot welding, I wish I had the patients to do tedious & clean work like this, I'm sure your sl will be very happy in your hands.
Well done,

[waqas]

Nice blog (and work)-- looking forward to updates.

Just curious: would it not have been easier to simply swap doors? (since the donor was a the rust-free car)

[w113dude]

Just curious: would it not have been easier to simply swap doors? (since the donor was a the rust-free car)

Yes, much easier but no challenge?

[Bonnyboy]

Wow, that is nice work.   My welds don't turn out like that.     Must be my welder, not the fact that I'm very impatient.

Well done. 

Reminds me of the story where Arthur Rubinstein was approached in the street near the Carnegie Hall in NY by a man who asked, "Pardon me sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?“; to which he replied, "Practice, practice, practice!”.

[mdsalemi]

since the donor was a the rust-free car

How about swapping cars??   Seriously, great work and thanks for sharing.

[dseretakis]

Thanks all!  Yes, swapping the door would have been easier, but being an impractical purist (when it comes to my cars), I like to retain as much original sheetmetal and paint as possible.  This includes paint on the inside of the door!  I actually repaired the rusty front passenger side door on this same car three years ago.  At that time I took things a step further and fabricated the patch.  I'm never doing that again.  I consider cutting a piece from a donor car "cheating" in comparison.
Have a look here: 
http://stricht8garage.shutterfly.com/

[star63]

Beautiful !!!

...and these are just for transporting, right?...

[GGR]

Dimitri has gold in his hands, I'm not sure he realizes it! Just needs to spend more time on the Pagoda which is in need of help.

Dimitri, you need something like this : http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/16/who-needs-to-lift-a-car-when-you-can-tilt-it/ 

You could also consider the Joe Alexander method, I read he is lifting the cars on the side. When you decide doing some serious work on the Pagoda, let me know. I will come and help you take all the mechanicals parts out as per needed.

[dseretakis]

I'm now doing a long overdue front shock mount and jack point repair on the 240D.
Here are some photos of the rust:

[dseretakis]

Once font fender was removed rust was found between some mating surfaces involved in shock mounting area. Spot welds drilled out, metal between mating surfaces was cleaned of rust by grinding and naval jelly applications. POR-15 and weld through primer used before panels plug welded back together.

Also seen is the shock mounting area I cut out from a scrap yard. This will be grafted into my car once the area is cleaned up. The panel is being prepared here.

[dseretakis]

Here I'm starting to clean up rust in shock mount area by methodically cutting out compromised steel. Notice the upper control arm visible through the hole. This car is so overbuilt that I've been driving it for years with this amount of structural compromise. Amazing!

[GGR]

Amazing work Dimitri! However, with that amount of structural rust, you have to make sure that the suspension anchoring points are still located precisely where they should, as years of pounding on a weakened structure may well have put it out of shape. I guess by presenting your cut out patch on the car will tell you if something is wrong. If it aligns perfectly I guess you're good. If not, you need to start looking where the issue is. 

[dseretakis]

The spring perch and shock mount are intimately related and made from a super thick steel stamping which has not been compromised yet. The shock mount area above and adjacent to this is what has completely rusted but doesn't appear to have changed the geometry of the front end. Again, testament to how overbuilt this car is!

[GGR]

Overbuilt, and bio-degradable! They really were thinking ahead of their time!

[dseretakis]

Haha. The w123 diesels are astonishing cars. You know 1000 years from now when the world is over as we know it due to natural disasters and nuclear holocausts, what will be left are cockroaches eating twinkies and driving 240Ds:)

[dseretakis]

Come on now Gael, we all know that you have a secret w123 diesel fetish:)

[GGR]

Oh no! 240Ds driven by giant cockroaches! What a fate!

[dseretakis]

Here's some more progress. I tacked in the patch panel then welded it all up and metal finished the seams.

[johnk]

dseretakis,
Beautiful work. Inspires me want to start my 280 right away. I need some advice though. I have not restored a car for over thirty years, and when I did I used lead for any important repairs. I see that you re-sculpture the metal by building it up with addition steell added by the MIG welder, which has to be time consuming and hard to shape. I don't have much skill yet in the area of welding. Is there an advantage of adding steel over using lead? I have a lot to catch up on current techniques.

I appreciate any advice.

thanks
John K

[dseretakis]

Thanks John. I don't have any experience using lead yet but I'd like to learn.  My lack of experience with lead  is part of the reason why I use mig and sculpt it. I know that it is common practice to add metal by welding to correct panel gaps but sharp contours are probably better created using lead. There are also some pretty impressive plastic fillers available today if you wish to go that route.

[GGR]

Dimitri,

impressive job! (I already see the giant cockroaches, in 1000 years from know, bent over the engine bay of your car eating their twinkies go "Ah, these humans, they really knew about craftsmanship. They don't make them like that anymore!").
 

... but sharp contours are probably better created using lead. There are also some pretty impressive plastic fillers available today if you wish to go that route.

That is an interesting question. I think lead was used a lot in older times. But what is the correct technique on a Pagoda in need of repair? The notches next to the headlights were shaped out of lead apparently, so lead is still relevant on a Pagoda. But what about repairs? What were the methods used in the 60s and early 70s? When a Pagoda gets restored, should we use repair techniques that are period correct? Or take advantage of newer ones? Where does lead fall among this?

[dseretakis]

I'm starting to think that I'm the giant cockroach now especially after picking up another 240D!
I would use lead to recreate the fender notches. Let's not forget that all the heat generated from welding does not do kind things to sheetmetal ( shrinking, warpage etc.)

[johnk]

Lead was actually the repair method of choice before bondo came on the scene. I don't know when the transition occurred, but I do know when I started restoring cars in high school and college in the mid 70's, lead is what the old timers and quality restorer's used. I learned to use it to for the classic cars I was working on, but I was no where's near as good as the old timers. They used all lead and no bondo. The best I could do was to get it close with lead and then finish off with a thin coat of bondo. Of course back then I was not aware of TIG and MIG welders being used on sheet metal. I only had a torch and braising rods, and would coat any seams with lead before applying bondo as the flux from the brass rods often reacted with the Bondo causing bubbles down the road.

I am assuming modern day body fillers are much better than when I used them, and do not shrink six months after the car is painted like they use do. A perfect bondo finish would often become slightly visible as time elapsed. If anybody has any input on this subject I would greatly appreciate it as I am getting ready to start my first project in almost 30 years.