yuk yuk!

Hey!
If I was to bite the bullet and fix this, even if just temprarily so that I might do a bit o sailboat towing,
Could I, in the short term, get away with cleaning it up (grinding it down), putting some rust stuff on (I have some good german stuff) and then pop rivetting some heavy gauge steel on using nice fat steel rivets??

If you have the time to grind off the rust I'd be doing that anyway - you don't know how bad it really is (or not!) until you get on in there...


As for pop rivets and new steel - here in most parts of Northern Europe that would be an illegal repair. That sort of work would not pass the annual safety test - if it is legal in your local then I don't see why not.

However, I guess in any country you have a moral and therefore arguably a legal responsibility to make a suitable repair so that you don't endanger the lives of others or yourself. I don't know much about the US of A but I get the impression that there is a lot of "where there is blame there is a claim" going on - it could be argued that a repair such as you suggest is not a suitable repair and that the accident you caused when the back end of your car disappeared into a cloud of dust and pop rivets was irresponsible... blah blah blah...

People often complain about the strict rules and regulations that we have to "endure" over here - but they are usually in place as a result of some bad s**t going down.

So after all that - all I'm really saying is make as good a repair as you can. But first see how much metal you have left under there.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Weeeell
upon further examination It looks the primary rust is where the lighter gauge cross member meets the frame rail on either side
The frame rails only show rust in this particular area and no where else along their length
The frame rails seem to be at least twice as thick as the cross member and it looks like they could be made out of two layers of steel, though I could be wrong

This though still annoying and doesn't seem as bad as initially thought
I know Army (with all due respect) thinks my rear end is likely to fall off
but are the frame rails the more crucial areas or should I be really worried about the cross member as well.The cross member only has rust right where it meets the frame rail
Where they meet however is pretty bad but it's localized

the rear crossbeam supports the antisway bar, and it's super solid. extremely well built, several layers of steel overlapped, and brazed together.
army wanted me to cut one out and ship to him, and I passed. waaaay too much work to get it free.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I wish I had a picture of it handy
But you're referring to the one that the back of the differential is attached to right?
Also the unit that the front inside end of the two frame rails attach to

Perhaps I'm being too optimistic...buying a new car is such a PITA..my fault and now I know what to look for
The weather is improving and I want to tow my sailboat
I'm looking at a 190D(hopefully I'll check it out tomorrow...but it's an auto that only shifts manually..hmmm
I think I need more money!!

Yeah dont get scared about rust repair. I had a Porsche 914 and it had the battery tray rot. I fabbed up some panels and MIG'd away. Just measure, measure and measure. I painted it with this silver paint stuff for boats --- I got some on my skin and it didnt come off for like three weeks, even after liberal applications of paint thinner, acetone and carb cleaner.

I'm not a rocket scientist, and I welded up new mounts for the seatbelt bolt, battery tray and rear passenger floor (you could reach out of the rear passenger floor and touch the ground.

__________________
Java Developer/Linux SysAdmin

Current:
*1984 300D ~200K,1989 MR2 250K, 2012 Ford Fusion 4.5K (fiance's car to replace the uber-unsafe cavalier)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Past: 1998 Chevy Cavalier ,2005 Saab 9-3 2.0T, 1996 Mazda Protege, 1974 Porsche 914 2.0, 1997 Land Rover Discovery 4.0L/5Speed, 1995 Jeep Wrangler

Yes, don't get scared. I underwent a large project on my green SD:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/body-repair-restoration/288453-300sd-rust-restoration-project.html

and a partial one on my other SD:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/body-repair-restoration/304380-300sd-rust-restoration-project-2-a.html

__________________
Cruise Control not working? Send me PM or email (jamesdean59@gmail.com). I might be able to help out.
Check here for compatibility, diagnostics, and availability!

(4/11/2020: Hi Everyone! I am still taking orders and replying to emails/PMs/etc, I appreciate your patience in these crazy times. Stay safe and healthy!)


82 300SD 145k
89 420SEL 210k
89 560SEL 118k
90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010
90 560SEL 154k
91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k
93 190E 3.0 235k
93 300E 195k

If you want some advice from someone who thought the same way... then learned the hard way:

Stick to one car. Fix it or get it fixed. If you absolutely have to get something else to drive in the meantime... then get an old Tercel or Sentra, some POS that will run until it rots. Once you get the Mercedes back in line, sell on the ricer.

If you buy another old Mercedes, even if things are copesetic in the short term, in a couple of months you may find you have two "sheds with tires" (as my mechanic friend says) in the driveway.

I have two sheds right now. The road to hell is paved with....

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

I just found this today on my rear Cross Memeber that the Differential Mount Mounts onto.
Apparently the source of the groaning noise when I backed up.
I am most likely going to try to fix it as getting another Car is a lot of hassle also.
Can't take any better pics untill a bunch of stuff is removed from under the Car.

I have had an ARC Welder since the 1970s but I am thinking on a Flux Core Welder as the material is not very thick and I am no fond of getting showered with hot Metal sparks.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Do yourself a favor and spend a couple of extra bucks and get a MIG. You'll be happy you did. Many tools are fine to skimp on quality and capability for the hobbyist, but a welder is something you want to make the investment in the best you can afford. Just my $0.02.

If it turns out you want to do flux core welding, with the MIG you can just switch the polarity, load up the flux core and have at it. I've done it a few times when I ran out of gas and was able to keep going (hated it though).

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

How big a sailboat are you towing? What kind of hitch do you have?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I was planning on making a close copy of the curt hitch available for this car
It requires removal of the bumper , hooks up there, and has supports that extend a short way back (maybe a foot)and bolt to the frame rails.
It uses a 1/4 receiver.
I had the metal and was about to do the $^$# O ring job on the self leveller when I noticed the rust
By the way those hydraulic line nuts do NOT want to come off and the support for the unit is bendy!! I put on liquid wrench, tapped them a bit etc. I think a 2X4 wedged in to keep it from beding over when I torque on the nuts to get them off

My sailboat is a 15' full keeler weighing 950 lbs. The trailer is a pretty heavy duty single axle unit
Together I think they might weighh 1500 lbs tops

My 300D (non turbo)...may it rest in peace, towed it no problem

The other idea I'm contemplating is bolting on metal
I just learned how to tig welder and my brother has a welder but i'm not sure about welding upside down in little places.

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Well
I was just checking out the problem area again
Ahhh time spent under a mercedes!
It looks like it's mostly the cross member right where it meets the frame rails
The sway bar attaches to the frame rail there and one of those points would require fixing for future peace of mind
There are some small round holes in the middle of the cross member and it doesn't seem like really thick metal
Certainly no more than a 1/16 thick and more like 3/64 or even a tad thinner. The frame rail is definitely a lot beefier
However for all I know it could be more substantial at the join

I did recently acquire some 1/16th inch thick steel from a 50s organ chassis, quite a bit of it actually.
I also managed to fit an entire 50s baldwin tube organ in the back of the wagon(most be about 200-250 lbs) and drove a long way with it..even on some nasty dirt roads ...didn't seem to have any adverse effects.