|
Rust Never Sleeps
I found a rust problem in the trunk under the tail lights - rust. Took a little bit of figuring to see how the water got in (prior to the gapping hole from the rust). I traced it down to imperfections in the weld seams between the rear upper body panel and the quarter panel. The rear upper body panel had been replace by the first owner (I am the second owner) at what I now believe to be an other than Mercedes body shop. I do not think a dealer body shop would make this kind of mistake. Anyway, the welding imperfection allowed water running down the trunk line to seep in behind the top of the tail light. This is why there was no rust in the forward part of the lower quarter panel extensions. The first picture is of the imperfection on the driver's side of the car and the second is after I ground it down, smoothing out the bumps with greated gaps in the tail light rubber seal.
The third (note rear bumper bolt) and fourth pictures are of the damage to the driver's side lower quarter panel extension.
Note that some pictures have portions deleted out. This was done so I could meet the size limitation.
More will follow shortly . . .
|