Rear tail replacement

[Mpgeslak]

Hi all,

I am working on replacing the outer rear tail piece.  Does anyone have any experience with the best way to remove the old piece?

I have attached a photo of the replacement piece I have.

Thanks for any help!!

Michael

[mdsalemi]

I believe it is welded in place. Therefore, removing the old one and adding this replacement will require cutting, followed by welding, and filling.

When my car was restored years ago, they discovered that a new piece like yours have been welded right over the damage piece. The proper way to address this ridiculous “fix” was to cut out both and replace with one proper one.

[Jonny B]

Yes, it is welded in. When my car was hit in the rear some years ago, that is what the body guys had to do. It is two pieces that are spot welded at the bottom.

[stickandrudderman]

That's just the outer panel. You'll need the inner panel too.

[Cees Klumper]

They are probably spot welded in place. Look for where the spot welds are. I use a spot weld cutter to remove those, which leaves the supporting metal in place, but you can also drill them out.

[Mpgeslak]

Thanks for the information.  It does look like it is spot welded.

Stick, can the inner piece be left in place when removing the outer piece?  I don’t think the inner piece has any rust, just the outer.

[Mpgeslak]

I should have added that  I am concerned that cutting the tail piece off incorrectly will lead to a lot of work getting the new one to fit

[dirkbalter]

In general, however the old panel is welded, you want to weld the new one. (spot-welds, continous.....)
Use the new panel as a template to insure you are not cutting too much. Use the trunk lid, bumper holes and
side fender gaps to verify alignment before welding. Not sure where your replacement panel came from, but the MB OEM panels, when available, have imo a better fit than the aftermarket ones.

[Mpgeslak]

Thanks Dirk for the information, and the photos are very helpful.

Unfortunately, MB doesn’t have any Outer Tail pieces available so I had to go with an aftermarket version.   Very worried about the fit.

[dirkbalter]

yup, the aftermarket ones can be a bit tricky at times. I recall that my taillights wouldn't fit right into the panel and required grinding and "massaging". Some of my aftermarket panels came from SLS out of Germany.