We took out our rear window on the '83 today to see what the damage from rust was and to take care of it, and this is what we were met with (beware, many pictures) the HORRORS

Any help or suggesstions on how to deal with this would be very very much appreciated.

Here they are:

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__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

More Pictures:

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Even more:

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Help on this????

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sand, apply POR-15 rust killer, then weld like metal or worser use fiberglass to build up.

i feel for ya! i wonder what is under my sd rear glass?

__________________
1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's)
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD)
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K
1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K
1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD)
1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE)

609 Certification

grind, weld and POR-15. Don't be afraid to cut the rust out, it has to go. You don't have to duplicate the old metal exactly though. Mig in strips where inside and outside panels are pointing AT each other, then butt weld PERPENDICULAR another strip the thickness of the 2 pieces where they are spotwelded together. Yeah, it's work, but it's probably a lot more doable than you think.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I also found the same thing on my 83sd, rear window leaking, removed the window and I just about freaked out but my auto body guy said,"relax" and as Pete Burton said" It is more doable than you think". The auto body guy took an air powerd wizzer and proceeded to cut out all the cancer. He left high spots where ever he could so the glass would sit right. Then he formed 2 pieces of L stock together and bent to fit. He then fit it so it becme the pinch weld where the glass sits, he drilled sm holes in the base of the L and pop rivetedon to the body, he then put some sort of smoo or body gooo, and reassembled it and installed the glass. That was almost 2 years ago and no leaks. steve 83sd

"Repair shops see the MB star and dollar signs light up in their eyes."
This used to be a real problem years ago, I do not beleive that it is a big problem today, Honda, Ford or MB, they will light up their eyes equally.
This past Decebmer I finally decided to take my 240D 77 for major body work, it had become a rust buckett (I live in Houston), the door bottoms were pretty much gone, the floors were opening up, lots of rust under the front windshield gaskett and a leaky Sears battery had taken care of the metal all the way down to the Jack support area. Also water was pouring into the trunk and I assumed that this was caused by rust at the frame. With this much rust I was faced with two options, either junk the car or fix it, I decided to fix the car simply because it had a new motor. The entire affair including a complete pait job cost me 4.4K.
I contacted several body shops, most showed no interest & advised me to junk the car. One shop offered to do the job for 2.2K, Ibut did not want a bondo job so I went with the expensive body shop, it took them a total of three months to complete the work, the car was stripped to the bone, the new floor boards were all welded plates to ensure structural unity of the body.
One lesson learned from all this is that rust can be fixed if you are willing to pay for it, but if you see rust, that is the tip of the iceberg, expect a lot more down below once you open up the area.

Vahe
240d 77 350K

If you got all that rust repaired and the entire vehicle painted for $4.4K, and they did quality work, then you got a steal.

Just to paint a vehicle with proper prep and a high quality paint costs $3K for a good job. You can spend quite a bit more for additional perfection.

I fully expect to spend $3k-$4k to paint my car. And I will do a bit of the prep work as well. Throw in another $1k to have the metal cleaned up and new door and window seals.

Good body work is not cheap. Junk body work is usually pretty cheap though.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

So far JBweld and pieces of sheet metal have led to a very nice job on the rear window, my dad has been rebuilding it slowly with metal pieces JBwelded in, its working very well....that JBweld is SO strong! We're nearing the final stages of work, just a little more JB weld and then a final painting/rust treatment and it should be good for the window to go back in, and hopefully it will be good to go for at least a number of years. I'll take some pics in a day or two to show how we fixed it.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

If you took a mid '70s Honda or Ford to a body shop for the type of repair that you describe they probably wouldn't waste their time making a real estimate. They may give you a ridiculous price to see if they could part a fool and his money.

Body shops have to stand behind their work or be sued for it. They cannot do shortcut "cheap jobs" and stay in business.

We're approaching the final stages of reconstruction A little more JBweld and then some rust protector/paint/top coat of paint and it will be all set. Total amount of JB Weld used: 18oz Amount of sheet metal: approx 9 separate pieces I'll post some pictures tomorrow evening showing what it looks like painted....

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

i havent seen a better documentation of rust damage since dr ballards pics of the bismarck. seriously though if the car is a keeper consider welding in new metal.a small mig welder can be rented cheaply and the panel can be cut from a donor.

More Documentation! The repair is going well, we're in the final stages of painting and finishing up the surfaces, next monday the window goes back in.

Pics galore:















(More on the next page of the thread.....)

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