Rust repair

[mnahon]

This isn't a Pagoda; it's a W108. But since the construction is so similar, it would apply equally to a Pagoda.

I was impressed by the balance of job well done vs cost. I think Cees will appreciate this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6u5ZJ-oyrU

[Shvegel]

Well, some of us don’t have a park bench.

[lreppond]

I’m gobsmacked.  The bed frame support (free!) and hacking out a piece of sheet metal from a truck door (free!) made me roll in laughter. 👍

[johnk]

Unbelievable ingenuity. Nice job in forming some of those complicated patches.

[Cees Klumper]

Just goes to show what you can do with basic tools, basic skills and a lot of inginuity and determination. I prefer myself to repair what's needed rather than cutting out whole sections and replacing them with whole repair panels. Although on this car there wasn't much good metal left down below. I liked how he wears protective gear properly. Not sure whether he also replaced the outer box section before covering with rocker cover he made, and I think the gauge metal used may be too thin here and there, which would also have made the job of forming much easier, but overall of course this car is now 4 x more solid than before he did this. Great tip at the end, to douse everything in chain oil inside the panels to prevent future rust issues. $200 to do what professional places would need $20K for no doubt

[Benz Dr.]

Not that anyone would want to, but would you be willing to trust that mess to a serious collision? Get back to me when you're released from the hospital if you even survive.

[lreppond]

“I liked how he wears protective gear properly.” …. spray painting outside with a respirator on and wearing sandals! Thumbs up! 

[dirkbalter]

Wow, that was quiet entertaining. I think he is very intuitive and skillful. Give this guy a budget and he will compete with any "professional"
restauration shop. (IMO) 

[Cees Klumper]

Hey Dan -  I would definitely trust that car to do ok in an accident, save some assurance on that thickness of metal he used, as I wrote.
Frankly, while I don't know what the level of roadworthiness inspection is in Canada, I can say that in California it is non-existent. Only emissions is checked here, quite thoroughly in fact, but absolutely nothing else (brakes anyone?). There must be quite a few rust buckets driving around here that would not hold up in an accident for sure and the authorities don't seem to care. THis is quite different in the other countries I've lived, Netherlands, Switzerland and France - any rust is frowned upon and structural rust is pretty much a guaranteed fail.
The Lancia I am working on at the moment was not quite as bad as this Mercedes, but close to it, and I am very confident that the repairs I did will be as effective, safety wise, as what a professional shop would have done, using only slightly more professional methods than did the guy in this video. Ditto with the Volkswagen I gave a new lease on life earlier this year (although that rust was less structural and more cosmetic).

[mdsalemi]

Not that anyone would want to, but would you be willing to trust that mess to a serious collision? Get back to me when you're released from the hospital if you even survive.

I say that very same thing Dan, every time I see a Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris or similar on the highway doing 80MPH...

[mnahon]

Question is: has Consumer Reports tested a bed frame in a high speed collision? 

[dirkbalter]

Seriously? We are driving 50+ year old cars with very little to no safety features compared to todays even small mass produced cars. And are worried about whether the sheet metal patch panel thickness matches the original? The guy was showing how to do something with nothing. Not a concurs restauration. He wants to drive the car, not haul it to shows. Considering that, I think he did a pretty good job on the garden bench. Anybody who has actually cut, bend, formed and welded sheet metal will agree with me. That was an all metal, welded fix and likely most of the cars currently running are not as structurally sound as this one.

[Benz Dr.]

Saftey standards are high in Ontario - very high. I've welded enough cars back together to know when holes are just covered up and when something is done properly.

Hey, everyone has different standards. Some high, some not so much.

[Leester]

Pretty amazing work with a park bench for a metal brake. But . . . 1 Bilstein jack for sale?

[Dave H]

That’s the kind of guy you want along side you when your stuck on a desert island , top marks for skill and ingenuity given a limited budget due to the cars relative low value.
It wasn’t done correctly but the guy has some serious skills.

[mdsalemi]

I watched most of it, and the work was great. But it's a bit of a joke when he says "Fix for $200, no special tools, nothing--just a good mind set".

Well, I see some serious metalworking skills there. Grinders. Welding equipment, and a LOT of work. A whole lot of work. A whole lot of skill. Maybe $200 worth of steel for the patch panels, but a lot of work. Did I say a lot of work?

That's not welding you do by running to Harbor Freight, buying a $140 flux welder tonight and being able to execute what he did this weekend. No, the guy knows how to weld and more importantly, finish the weld.

Pretty impressive show, regardless of what he was fixing.

[mnahon]

Hey Dan,

I know Ontario's a big place, but maybe he lives close enough to you that he could help you out---you said you were looking for someone.

Meyer

[Benz Dr.]

Hey Dan,

I know Ontario's a big place, but maybe he lives close enough to you that he could help you out---you said you were looking for someone.

Meyer

He'd likely be handy.  Thing is, I have a fantastic welder a half-mile down the road from my place and I got out of frame repairs about 10 years ago. I sold my welder because I never used it anymore.

[stickandrudderman]

He'd likely be handy.  Thing is, I have a fantastic welder a half-mile down the road from my place and I got out of frame repairs about 10 years ago. I sold my welder because I never used it anymore.

A farmer without a welder? Whatever next!

[Benz Dr.]

A farmer without a welder? Whatever next!

I know, imagine that! If my welder didn't live so close it would be a different story. I've actually had to drag a broken piece of machinery down the road ( it's OK, it's graveled ) so he could fix it.