I was painting my fenders today. Using 735 silver and had trouble removing one of the bumper covers. Once I got it off I found out why. It was rusted out.

I looked around my shop and found a fairly good substitute. A license plate holder that I wasn't needing. I wish it were a bit thicker. I welded on a couple of 1/4x20 nuts and was in business. Except for burning through the galvanized metal.

Funny how one is gone and the other nearly pristine.

The paint came out pretty good too.

Here is the panel. I painted it below the black trim and blended it over the wheel arch.

I used their two part primer, basecoat and two part clear coat. Dried hard as a rock.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

Replacement rears aren't that expensive. The front's are another story.

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'83 300D, 126K miles.

Yeah I briefly thought of buying a part then thought, why? It is just a piece of sheet metal of which we all have some of in our shops, I can make one, my new one is galvanized not just painted or powder coated. Probably better than the original. It isn't like a seat or rear view mirror. It just holds the plastic cover on.

I did get another thing fixed. The heavy rubber guard that is on the chrome bumper had slid to one end. If you look close you can see the exposed end on the shot of the quarter panel that I posted earlier today. I ended up removing it by pulling it off then lubed it with silicone lube and slid it on nice and centered. Makes me think that there may have been a minor accident with the brand new looking support and the rubber effectively slid back.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

Here is how it looks outside.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.