yay rust.. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TheDon · #1 01-24-2006, 05:49 PM

i knew i had a spot of rust on my car so i decided to investigate to see if it was leaking from the inside of the trunk.. which it isnt.. but i poked the rust spot and my finger went through.. here are some pics and what i think i can do to fix it if you can interject it would be great

thats the outside..

inside the trunk you can see the hole..

the right side area in the trunk.. no rust but some water leaking from the tailight assembly.. some sealent should fix it right?

now here is what i want to do..

see if someone with a parts car can cut me the piece i need.. ya know not the whole rear fender area just the spot i need and cut away the cancer until i reach good stuf and sand it all down and weld the donor spot in.. kinda like a small skin graft.. sound good? i know any w123 chasis sedan will work so all ideas and knowledge would be great.. i wont be undertaking this repair just yet.. but its top priority now.. i think my girlfriends step dad has access to welding stuff or he can do it for me.. but i do need something temporary so water from driving wont get in.. a sponge perhaps? or just a piece of metal glued over the spot.. i have access to some thin sheets of sheet metal..i belive the sheet metal is stainless.. but it might not be.. its to thin to weld .. everyminute i dont do something about this rust i get worried..

Nate · #2 01-24-2006, 06:50 PM

For TEMPORARY use, you could clean the inside of it with rubbing alchol, then use a large gob of JB weld. Keep in mind youll have to cut this panal out, so just a gob of it around the hole, dont layer it or anything unless you want to remove the entire panal... You might even be able to use sho goo
Good luck
~Nate

TheDon · #3 01-24-2006, 06:51 PM

who moved my post.. i put it in techincal cuz it was kinda not diesel engine related but.. i guess it gets more attention here

i dont rember posting in diesel discussion... ahh my foot is asleep

jb weld you say.. could i jbweld a piece of that sheet metal i have in place for a little bit until i can get it repaired

rg2098 · #4 01-24-2006, 07:02 PM

Same spot was on my car from the antenna leaking. It's been fixed properly now and you can't tell the difference but before I cleaned all the rust off, POR15ed it and calked a piece of metal back over it and filled in the bottom with undercoating.

d.delano · #5 01-24-2006, 07:04 PM

I had the same problem in the same spot although not quite as bad. I cleaned of the loose scale, applied naval jelly inside and out. I then put a piece of galvanized steel on the inside, and laid it in a bed of thick gutter sealant. After that I put JB weld on the outside, applied appropriately in proportion to the size of the hole. I smoothed that out. I have since slathered the inside of the trunk wells and the outside seams and the point where the fender lip meets the trunk well panel with Rust Bullet which is just like POR-15 only slightly better. Made sure the trunk plug was clear. Everything's fine now, that spot won't see any more rust. No air, no moisture, no rust. Can't even see it unless you get under the car. A good repair that didn't involve cutting and welding, I know it sounds real ghetto but if you do it properly it will last.

TheDon · #6 01-24-2006, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rg2098

Same spot was on my car from the antenna leaking. It's been fixed properly now and you can't tell the difference but before I cleaned all the rust off, POR15ed it and calked a piece of metal back over it and filled in the bottom with undercoating.

sounds like a good idea.. but what about the piece of rust on the wheel fender area.. just sand it down and por 15 then bond it and more por 15 and then paint stuff

Holson Adi · #7 01-24-2006, 10:02 PM

My 300CD's trunk looked worse than that, so I used a liberal amount of duct tape... and it stayed nice and dry :-D

Might do the same to my Jeep's driver's floor!

deanyel · #8 01-24-2006, 10:26 PM

I would clean it up, with a wire brush on a drill, then clean with solvent, then fill it with long strand catalyzed body filler, which has remarkable tensil strength, maybe $15 to $20 a quart. You could fill a hole ten times that size and it would hold. Then sand it down with a sanding disk on a drill, slap a coat of black paint on it, inside and out. Might take an hour. Keep water away from it and it will last for many years - easily the life of the car. Save the cutting torch/welding idea for when you have a Gullwing.

bgkast · #9 01-24-2006, 10:28 PM

That looks familiar.

We should have a welding party.

86560SEL · #10 01-24-2006, 10:47 PM

Your Jeep is a 95' and it has a rusty floor? Oh, I noticed that you are in the far north....
My great aunt that lives in Detriot bought a new Cadillac in 1977-78. By 1980, it had all but rusted away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holson Adi

My 300CD's trunk looked worse than that, so I used a liberal amount of duct tape... and it stayed nice and dry :-D

Might do the same to my Jeep's driver's floor!

86560SEL · #11 01-24-2006, 10:59 PM

Seems like trunk rust is such a very common problem on the mid 80s and older Mercedes.

I have a W126 that has some rust issues in the trunk, despite being a southern car. Its all because of the stupid leaks- it has nothing to do with salt, because it is not an issue in the south. I cannot imagine how bad they must get up north, with the leaks and salt against them.

I replaced my antenna seal today, so that should take care of that leak. Now, I have to fix my leaky taillamps (which I may just take some black caulking to

). I also think I have a leaky rear window issue, because I have rust on the upper part of my trunk under the rear window (click link) : http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachment.php
I do not think I have any rust in my trunk other than what is in the photo. I am going to do more investigating later on.

You would think as expensive as these cars were when new, (over $40K-$50K in some cases) that they would have better seals. When I say this, I hear a lot of "well they are old - over 20 years old, you must expect it, etc, etc.", but I have recently had other cars of the same vintage (mid 80s American and Japenese makes) without interior/trunk leaks. My old 81' Toyota did have a trunk leak, because of the seal, but it had NO window or interior leaks.

Just some thoughts.

(EDIT: Oh well - the link will not work and for some reason these forums will not let you post another photo after it is on another topic - why, I do not know)

Biodiesel300TD · #12 01-24-2006, 11:07 PM

I had problems with water getting into the tail lights on my wagon. I would take them off and 2 cups of water would drain out. I didn't want to fork over the $$ for a new gasket from the stealership. I ended up buying a little bit of closed cell foam that was about 1/4". Pulled the old gasket off the light assembly, traced it, cut is out and whola no more leaky. You might try this to stop the leaky light assembly.

Biodiesel300TD · #13 01-24-2006, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 86560SEL

You would think as expensive as these cars were when new, (over $40K-$50K in some cases) that they would have better seals. When I say this, I hear a lot of "well they are old - over 20 years old, you must expect it, etc, etc.", but I have recently had other cars of the same vintage (mid 80s American and Japenese makes) without interior/trunk leaks. My old 81' Toyota did have a trunk leak, because of the seal, but it had NO window or interior leaks.

I had a 79 Toyota pickup. They cab was dry as a bone in the rainest of times. Good ol' Toyotas. That truck was good to me, at 245K miles we parted ways.

Hatterasguy · #14 01-25-2006, 11:16 AM

I moved it because all the W123 experts are over here!

stayalert · #15 01-25-2006, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deanyel

I would clean it up, with a wire brush on a drill, then clean with solvent, then fill it with long strand catalyzed body filler, which has remarkable tensil strength, maybe $15 to $20 a quart. You could fill a hole ten times that size and it would hold. Then sand it down with a sanding disk on a drill, slap a coat of black paint on it, inside and out. Might take an hour. Keep water away from it and it will last for many years - easily the life of the car. Save the cutting torch/welding idea for when you have a Gullwing.

Thnaks for that, I will use part of what you said as a new mantra for working on my '85 300D. I tend to over think and over repair and well you know the story....Well...my new mantra will be to chant "this is not a gullwing" before during and after repairs....Thanks Again

I saw a gullwing at (inside) the musem of fine arts in Boston...pretty cool...