Yeah, school and rain for me. I wish I had enough space in the garage to work.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

Weld penetration isn't so much about the wire thickness, it's more about the power setting on the welder. 025" wire is best for auto body stuff, you can weld thinner stuff with it without burning through. Using 035 requires more heat to melt it in properly, so burn through is more likely to be an issue. If you feel you aren't getting enough pentration either inch back the wire feed slightly or up the power a bit. Tack the edges of the repair section in every 2 inches or so to start with, then add short welds in between each tack, and repeat until you have it seam-welded. Doing small bits at a time reduces heat build up and distortion and burn through. If you have to bridge a burn through area, drop the power one notch, up the wire feed so that it barely melts in and flick the trigger rapidly to give small quick bursts of wire. When you have the hole filled with what looks like bird droppings, correct your power/feed setting for normal welding and go over what you just did to smooth it out.

Oh, and practice on some scrap stuff, and experiment with turning the wire feed knob slowly while welding(NOT the power knob, you'll hurt the welder)and you will also get to recognize the sound of a good weld being laid down. I clean my areas to be welded with a bit of paint thinner to degrease it. Just make sure it's dry and the thinner is capped and well away before hitting the welder. Have a fire extinguisher at your elbow when welding. Enjoy! Welding is great fun when you get the hang of it.

Oh, and your car is worth doing, I have saved far worse machines from the crusher Here in Northern Ontario, rust is quite severe. Guys from down south wouldn't look twice at stuff we consider do-able up here.

I usually make a cereal box cardboard template before ever cutting any metal. It's so much easier to rough it in cardboard, then fine tune it with a pair of scissors. Then just trace your pattern onto metal and it will fit first time, no grinding req'd.

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I choose to be happy, even when the Mercedes is being awkward, lol

I'm doing the cereal box cardboard technique, but I still end up needing to do some grinding, especially if the patch is shaped. With my car, I figure I know everything about it already and it's good to learn how to do this type of repair in this climate because I'd have to end up doing it on any car I own.

As for the welding, I'm hesitant to go back to the .025" because I let it unwind some and now it jams. Such a pain in the ass. NEVER LET THE WIRE SPOOL UNWIND. I fooled around a bit with the settings and .035" with setting C-4 (wire feed is dialed, but heat is notched) like bob said seems to work pretty well. I'm gonna try that hole filling technique, that's a good idea.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

More pics

Pic #1: passenger side front floor pan--no insulation

Pic #2: driver's side front floor pan--no insulation, for some reason, much more rust than passengers side

Pic #3: hole in DS tunnel

Pic #4: hole with seat support to be replaced

Pic #5: parking brake cable guide, repaired, to be replaced

Attached Thumbnails

         

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

Pic #6: prepped hole for patch

For the rust under the pedals, I'm thinking of taking off the rear section of the frame rail. As you can see in pic #7, the front section is spot welded to the front section right underneath the pedal cluster. Good idea?

Attached Thumbnails

   

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

Alright, finished the DS tunnel hole. I'm going to bolt the parking brake guide back on instead of welding it. I sprayed that rust treatment everything, just in case. I'm going to prime and paint it tomorrow. I have to get everything back together for college visits and I'm going to patch all the big holes with plastic sheeting and duct tape to keep the water out. I'll get back to work in May.

I also switched back to the .025" wire, I'm not sure how well I'm penetrating, but for some reason (maybe because I left the welder out in a little drizzle) the .035" wasn't working. I probably need to adjust my welding technique to get better penetration.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

If the wire has been damp or is old, it will get a little rusty and this will make the wire chatter as it passes through the liner on it's way to the welding tip. Chatter equals patchy welding. A little WD 40 applied directly to the wire spool often eases this condition a little.

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I choose to be happy, even when the Mercedes is being awkward, lol

Following your progress intently. Your driver side looks like my passenger side. The tunnel patch and seat bracket look great to me, but I've never touched a welder! Am likely going to pay someone to do it for me, but at least I have some idea of what things should look like thanks to your efforts in posting this thread.

I've currently got my interior stripped to the metal, save center console w/carpet next to knees, driver and rear seats. Quick aside - CAREFUL with the bare metal under the rear seat. I put mine back in just so I could put things back there without the screws that stick up puncturing stuff, such as a 2 liter of Coke that went geyser-like while I was making a turn...

Have gotten most of the passenger side rust scraped, chiseled, and wire-brushed down to hard metal edges everywhere, and hit it with some phosphoric acid based rust stopper for the time being. Have been unsure of how to approach the actual repairs though - fiberglass, epoxy, por-15, weld - ugh. After this thread welding it is, even though it's the most expensive and, in my inexperience with such things, seems like the most hassle.

The passenger side I understand on mine, it started in the hood hinge pocket. The driver side I have no real clue about - only the spot where the accelerator pedal hinge attaches rusted out. Haven't spent as much time on that side though, hope to know more once I get the knee-level carpeting out. Do I have to take the console out to get it loose? I worked a little at the passenger side with no luck and don't want to force it.

Thanks again for sharing your progress and I'm definitely cheering for you (college AND the car)!

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1984 300D Light Blue/Blue
2006 C280 Silver/Black

What it really comes down to is personal preference. Welding is going to last the longest and be the strongest. You've also got a welder and the associated skill left over. Only do this if you want to, though. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and money. Paying someone is financially inadvisable, you'd be better off getting a rust free car and swapping in a good drivetrain.

There's one screw and a clip on the center console that secures the carpet. You might be able to take it out without removing the center console, but it's good practice and it doesn't take that long, plus you get to see what's under it.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

I noticed earlier in this thread that you are not yet using gas with your mig welder?

If that is the case, gas will make all the difference in the world with your welds. Then things will click into place much quicker in your welding learning curve.

Hope this helps,

Rick_MD

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1973 220D 78k

Oh, I must have forgotten to mention, but I've temporarily secured a gas cylinder from a fellow forum member. It is a lot better with gas, but I am at his mercy, so I won't always have access.

New lesson learned today: bodywork, if not all automotive work, cannot be rushed. Trying to put everything back together today so I can drive (plastic and duck tape for the big holes). Getting very frustrated, I ended up blowing right through the rear hole on the center console using an impact driver. You do a crap job and can seriously f things up. This means, for me, no more work outside (weather) and I can't have any plans that include needing the car and I need to have time to work on it.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

Im working on almost the exact same problems with the same materials! although mine are unfortunately a little more widespread due to some botched body work initially done to repair it.

For some temporary stuff though until you get to it, id weld a piece of angle iron in under the seat belt bolt points on both sides. Mine is rusted the same way, and that sucker flexes like crazy when you lean forward. It would probably not work too well keeping you from going into the windshield in an accident.

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You are learning quickly young grasshoppah.


This is an incredible project. I have undertaken similar having grown up in Northern NYS. Mustangs, Jeeps, Datsuns, Porsches, VWs, and various pick ups. I have since learned to hold onto the rusty cars that have great mechanicals, and hold out for the clean body that may need mechanical work.

I just picked up a clean W126 for just under 2 grand. No rust, everything works.

I will be the last one to discourage as once you get this back together, you will have the satisfaction of filling all the holes in a brick of swiss cheese. Lesser men would back away. Best of luck.

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.

Here's a website that goes quite in depth into body repairs and welding. I found it gave me the confinence to tackle some nasty jobs on my W123...

It has some little videos and explainations for setting the mig up and advice on how to improve your technique....

Anyway here you go--

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

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http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...0TDnoplate.jpg

Alastair AKA H.C.II South Wales, U.K. based member

W123, 1985 300TD Wagon, 256K,
-Most recent M.B. purchase, Cost-a-plenty, Gulps BioDiesel extravagantly, and I love it like an old dog.

W114, 1975 280E Custard Yellow,
-Great above decks needs chassis welding--Really will do it this year....

Looks like a good site.

I'm gonna really need to make a big dent in this project this summer.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition