Colleagues,

Bought my friend's 82 300 Turbo. The good news is, he replaced the engine 70,000 miles ago with an OEM 617 and the compressions are like brand new. The bad news is, I pulled out the interior this week and saw this on the driver's side floorpan (pictures attached). I'm new to the make and model, so I would appreciate your help.

Couple of comments/questions.

1. The pan is rusted right beneath the left rear driver's seat bolt entry on both sides, but the stiffness and integrity of that little bracket is remarkable. I couldn't get it to flex even 1mm, and I think all that it's attached to is the floorpan and a bit of the side of the rocker panel.

2. I think the picture shows it all. All the rust, I mean. The black trim around the rust spot is where I pulled back the asphalt coating to find good metal. It stops in the rear about 5" in front of the rear suspension bolt, and in the front where you see it.

3. There is rust up and underneath the side of the rocker panel (see where the side is eating it's way up to the seat-belt bolt) but I can't figure out how to get in there to check things out. What's the secret?

This car is great, and runs like a top. Transmission was overhauled 30,000 miles ago. So I figure if I can fix this, it's good to go for another 250,000 miles at least. Which will probably outlive me, since I only drive about 5,000 miles per year.

The advice I get ranges from

A. You're doomed. It's pointless to continue (Merc dealer).

B. Get in there pronto and cut and weld a new floorpan.

C. Wire-wheel it to bare metal, top and bottom, and JB-Weld some 90-degree brackets or sheet metal. Then rust proof it. Then you're good to go for another 10 years.

D. What's the problem? Oh, that. Throw a little carpet on it.

I'm somewhere between B and C, above, but I'd like your opinions.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

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