Just so happens I've got a Ford tractor It's New Holland's 1720 3 cylinder DIESEL!

phosphoric acid. I've had very good results with that stuff.

about $10 for a gallon jug at most home improvement stores.

Sometimes I use an air compressor and spray gun. I stick the hose into the bottle and spray away....under the weel wells, under carriage, floor boards, trunk wells, etc.

be carefull not to get it on your exterior paint work, it will stain.

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1987 300TDT
1981 VW MKI Caddy 1.6 diesel, waiting on engine swap
1983 D-50 Power Ram 4x4 "Mitsubishi" 2.3 turbo diesel
assorted gas powered crap and motorcycles

RIP: 1984 300TDT, 1982 300TDT, 1984 190D 2.2, 1992 300D 2.5, 1987 300TDT, 1982 Maxima LD28, 1983 Maxima LD28, Isuzu C223 P'ups X3, 1983 Holiday Rambler 6.2 Banks turbo diesel, 1984 Winnebago LeSharo 2.1 TD, 1985 Allegro 6.5

Good to hear! Its the 'cream' color. I'll give a shout if I see you.

What state school are you going to? I'm going to Southern CT State Un. If you are ever in the area I have the only blue W126 on campus. Thier is a white 300SEL thats around sometimes thats it. Old MB's are rare, however their are a lot of the newer C class and e class. Their is even an SL55 at one of the dorms.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I may just move to the alternate universe where PEH lives. Imagine a place without any corrosion!

Seriously, I use Ospho (phosporic acid) and POR for corrosion control.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I'm actually just out of school (graduated last May from Bucknell), but now work at a newspaper in the same town as Penn State U (I cover sports there). There aren't many old MBs here, but there were even less when I was in college at Bucknell ... there were two other ones I always saw, a yellow diesel 115 ... I think it belonged to a professor, and then there was a gray 300D just like mine, but with tinted windows. I'd hear it coming while I was out running and get all excited every time. Those were the only two, though. Lots of newer ones though, as BU has many "weathly" students.

Somebody in my workplace has a very attractive C43 AMG and has parked it next to my car a few times. I believe it is the 203 chassis...nice looking car. Have to find out who the owner is!

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

My prime concern is where the rust is progressing out of sight. Like inside the rocker panels. That also influemces the jack points as well. I always mix up a batch of grease and oil and spray it in 1/2" holes using the available undercoat plugs to seal the holes. The rockers panels are 14 gauge steel i believe. This i do after the required body work is completed and painted as to do the body work later the cleanup would be nearly impossible. The oil and grease creep around in there and reduce oxidation rate to just about nothing. Same mixture into any subframes etc that i can get into. Live in very harsh rustbelt area to start with. Still own a hydralic grease and graphite gun that was required to treat cars years ago. Unfortunatly the large barrels of product are no longer available. Just had to make sure no future work in any area applied as to do it later would required steam cleaning. My old cars were the last ones of their type on the road when used year round and some were still in pretty good shape bodywise. Surface rust on mercedes always has looked like primarily primer/paint adhesion problems or water creep underneath. Seems like non waterproof original primer was used. Starting from an unprotected point like window lip that paint was scrapped off or by trim clip hole. Like to get back to primary clean metal and go from there myself. That way know for sure rust is not going to come back at those locations. Just my beliefs.

I've used Rust Bullet on a very small area that started due to a plugged trunk drain. Got to both sides of that one so I'm golden. Also used it underneath my battery tray and on the tray itself, and on some surface rust in the engine compartment sunroof drains(which were plugged up too). The car was taken care of, just the drains were ignored since not everybody has the inside scoop on this stuff. The Rust Bullet is good to use for tight hidden areas, you only have to knock the loose rust off and paint a couple of coats on it and you're done.
I recently bought some jack hole plugs. My jack points are rust free, and what I did was pressure wash them out, roll up one of those blue paper towels, run it up into the holes to get the excess dirt/water out, roll up another one(I'm good at rolling things)slather some wheel bearing grease on that one and run it up in there, just to put a light coating inside, put some grease on the end of the plugs and plug 'em. I'll never use those jack points most likely.
Regarding the Fluid Film Spray; I understand that it's good to spray it inside the rockers. What do I remove to access the inside of the rockers? I see there is a cover of some sort at the rear of the front wheel wells- how does this come off? Someone do post a list of the likely places on w123s that could benefit from a liberal application of Fluid Film Spray.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

buy a southwest car and move to the sun shine state and stay out of SALT and clean it a lot,i have used por15 great stuff. Dennis

Think person is speaking of plastic inner well mud flap. Retained by several screws. Front end of actual rocker panel is capped with metal. I drill access holes along bottom of rockers and spray in there. In fact if I remember some of mine were already drilled with plugs. But this may be where aftermarket applied rustproofing job was previously done. Cannot think of any other access to internal area of rockers.

Very glad I started this thread.
Much good information, between hijacks.

The bottom of my 85 300SD is coated with a black waxy substance that has kept rust at bay for 20 years. Not sure what it is , or if it is factory applied.

THats what I do with my W116...........I don't drive it in the winter months and it park in my driveway away from the street. And I know where he lives sees more salt over the winter than I do. The W123 however begining next winter will see salt becase by then I will have sold my other 2 cars.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

all of the abover are surely true. the most important thing on an older benz is caulking the front and rear windwhield with black silicone to keep water out of the body areas not designed to deal with water. simple easy doesnt take too long. you need to clean the area really well first with some kind of cleaner such as alcohol let it dry then run a small bead between the glass and rubber.

if this is not done, you get a rusty floor which may not be known until the seat starts to fall through, and rust above the wheel opening in back and the bottom of the trunk on each side.

happy benzing.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

"the most important thing on an older benz is caulking the front and rear windwhield with black silicone to keep water out of the body areas not designed to deal with water."

Please don't do this! Silicone absorbs water and will cause rust around your windows!

The correct thing is butyl rubber sealant, any auto glass shop can reseal your windows for you.