After poking my finger through the metal of my 1987 300TD, I became pretty depressed. You are looking at the front left door.
Since I thought the rust spread throughout the car, I removed the carpet from the drivers footwell and it seems OK. DO I NEED TO WORRY? How can I repair the damage?

Thanks,


DJ

1987 300D 186Km
1987 300TD 196Km
2001 CLK 430 Convertible 32Km

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djankov,

How did this happen ? You live in SO-CAL !

Looks to me that moisture is getting into your rocker channel and rusting it from the inside out. If that is the case, you need to find the entry point and stop the intrusion.

A proper repair would be to cut away all of the compromised steel and mig weld in new sheetmetal. Then finish and paint for an "invisible" repair.

The good news is...it could be alot worse.

__________________
Diesel-guy

The car came from Pennsylvania. It got it for $3250.
I am adding more pictures!

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Don't worry about your car folding or anything like that from this. The actual frame is further in. If you look inside this rust hole, you will see the "meat" of the frame. I knew someone who had a W116 SD and his rocker panels were near non-existent, yet the car was still solid, with no creaking or anything. It's almost like the black part on the outside is just a skin of sorts, not a substantial structure. As a matter of fact, the jacking holes are actually welded to the inner rocker panel, because that's where the meat of the frame is. As I said you should take care of it, but don't be afraid that your car is going to fold up on you.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member