W123 hood / bonnet spring pocket refurbishment - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Stretch · #1 10-06-2010, 02:49 PM

G'day folks,

Here are some pictures of a refurbishment I'm in the middle of doing on my W123 (1981 300D). I've seen lots of threads on this but not so many with pictures.

I think that I'm lucky - the rust worm hasn't managed to make its way through any of the metal yet - as it is one of these dodgy areas where it would be a nightmare to fix.

To gain access I've removed the bonnet / hood and the hinge assembly. I've also removed the front wings (for another reason) - but this helps a bit as you don't have the lip of the wing tipping over into the spring pocket area.

I spent quite a bit of time pulling out the old sealant on the body panel joints and then grinding out the rust with a little hobby grinding tool (Proxxon - in my opinion much better than a Dremmel!)

{Apologies for the orange tint in the photographs - it is due to a big orange party tent that I'm using to keep the car dry}

Stretch · #2 10-06-2010, 02:55 PM

After a lot of de-greasing and a bit of Metal Ready I painted the whole pocket with several coats of POR15

I'm gonna give it a coat of the POR15 tie coat primer and then I want to seal the joints with something that will be water proof but something that will ultimately be quite easy to remove. I don't truly believe in the type of "coat it with underseal and forget about it" repair. Has anyone got any ideas?

Mike D · #3 10-06-2010, 03:02 PM

What joints are you referring to? Do you mean the seams where the parts meet or the actual overlap joints? Either way, 3M makes a good seam sealer which I use. Swing by your local automotive paint supply place. They'll have a wide selection of products.

Stretch · #4 10-06-2010, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike D

What joints are you referring to? Do you mean the seams where the parts meet or the actual overlap joints? Either way, 3M makes a good seam sealer which I use. Swing by your local automotive paint supply place. They'll have a wide selection of products.

Yeah I was trying to describe the overlap joints - thanks for the 3M tip - I'll see if I can find it (for a reasonable price) here.

I'm surprised that they designed it [the spring pocket] that way - looking at it now (with the benefit of hindsight) it looks like a disaster waiting to happen - I count 3 seams within a 6 inch square area... and it is essentially a gutter...

Stretch · #5 11-06-2010, 04:17 AM

I've been encouraged to provide a bit more information regarding gaining access to the spring pocket area.

The steps were:-

1) Removal of the bonnet / hood
2) Removal of the front bumper
3) Removal of the headlights and front indicators
4) Removal of the front wings (US word is fender right?)
5) Removal of the bonnet / hood hinge inside the pocket area

Depending on your desire to strip your car this far or not or the damage you find, you may decide to "just" remove the bonnet / hood and the hinge assembly (or part of it)...

mikeyfev1 · #6 11-20-2010, 09:45 PM

So after inspecting this area closely on my '85 300D, I want to ask some questions:

Is this area supposed to drain inward towards the engine and just sit on the inner fender? That's what my driver side does, The passenger side drains to a similar location under the battery tray (which is rusted out and the water just falls to the ground). It seems to me that this area should have a hole so it can drain too.
On my car, some of the water that drains at the corner of the windshield on the passenger side goes *into* the interior of the car, appearing in the passenger footwell in the outboard front corner. Is this because the water drains to the under the battery tray area and has rusted a path into the interior? Where do I repair this problem? Do I seal-up the under battery tray area? That won't close-up wherever the water is getting into the interior.

Thanks for the photos Army. I guess I should take some and insert drawings to illustrate how the water should flow.

Stretch · #7 11-21-2010, 01:45 PM

The water is meant to drain from the windshield / windscreen area at the gap where the front pillar fenders / wings meet. It flows over or near to a bracket that holds the spring for the hood / bonnet hinges. This is a problem as it is a ***** to repair - even with the fenders / wings off.

I took a lot of time protecting that area as I do not fancy having to fix that!

The water then flows in a sort of gutter that is formed by a seam that joins the bulkhead section and the inner fenders / wings. I think this is also a problem area as any water that gets through the sealant (30 year old sealant!) sits in this joint. Not good.

I also took a lot of time trying to clean that bit out too. I used that hobby drill / grinder machine shown in the photographs above for that.

At the point where the spring pocket widens - where it sort of bends round with the bulk head - there should be a hole where the water falls onto the ledge below. This ledge is a sort of plate that appears to be a flat bit inside the wheel arch - and it is the bit where there are two rubber grommets: One grommet is for the front brake block wear indicators, and the other grommet is for the brake line / pipe going to the front caliper.

This ledge has joins almost all around it. Mine had rusted ever so slightly at the seam running up to the upper level bit (if you see what I mean?). So I spent a lot of time cleaning that bit up too.

This lower ledge bit (with the brake line and the wear sensor grommets) has another hole that allows the water to fall down the rear side of the front wheel arch. This should be covered by a plastic screen that blocks off the wheel arch from the rearward part of the front fender / wing.

On my 1981 W123 both sides are more or less a mirror image. So if your side under the battery tray is gone - you can copy the other side if it is still intact.

Oh yes Mike.

For leaks in your front wheel wells - inside your car - examine the rubber on your windshield / windscreen. Also check out your sun roof drains if you have a sun roof fitted that is. And also have a quick look at the condition of the wheel arch. There are certain bolts running through that bit of steel from the inside to the outside - such as the bolts for the angle bracket for the foot brake and some of the carpeted trim bits too.

Stretch · #8 11-21-2010, 01:56 PM

Here are some pictures of the plastic inner wheel arch guard bit

Stretch · #9 11-27-2010, 04:24 AM

Here's a picture of the left hand side spring pocket and the water route

Stretch · #10 11-29-2010, 01:42 PM

I found this on a Dutch site - a Dutch version of ebay...

It is a complete front end part of the engine bay. The vendor says it is part number 1236202861 but I guess if you ask at the dealer for that bit it will be out of stock - so perhaps his asking price of 250 euros plus shipping isn't so bad if it is a must have!

whunter · #11 11-30-2010, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Army

I found this on a Dutch site - a Dutch version of ebay...

It is a complete front end part of the engine bay. The vendor says it is part number 1236202861 but I guess if you ask at the dealer for that bit it will be out of stock - so perhaps his asking price of 250 euros plus shipping isn't so bad if it is a must have!

part # 123-620-28-61
$ 1,330.00
NLA

Alastair · #12 12-04-2010, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Army

Here are some pictures of the plastic inner wheel arch guard bit

Interesting thread....

Worth noting the later cars, (82/3 on?) had a full length plastic inner wheel-arch protector, that stretches from the rear bottom forwards and up over wheel and down right to the horizontal panel section parallel with the chassis rail in front of the wheel....
--The rear section also goes much lower and has a lip that follows the curved shape of the sill section to floorpan.

These later plastic parts are much better than the earlier parts at stopping most of the heavy spray penetrating the wheel-arch areas...

they can be retrofitted and will prevent the inner wheel-arch top section and front-wing above the indicator rusting, and protect the ends of the sills...

Stretch · #13 12-04-2010, 02:53 PM

Nice one Alastair - sounds good. Have you got a photo or a link? (I'll search for one in the mean time anyway - now I know it exists)

Alastair · #14 12-04-2010, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Army

Nice one Alastair - sounds good. Have you got a photo or a link? (I'll search for one in the mean time anyway - now I know it exists)

Sorry, I havent a picture of them--Not a great picture taker!

From what I gather they were fitted around 80/81 as a better rustproofing measure, --surprised your 81 car hasn't got them actually. I know my '80 parts car didn't but I had a '80 car that did....

Both my '85 wagons have them, and I kept the ones from the '80 saloon car when it was eventually scrapped, thinking I could maybe fit them to my W114--when (IF!) I ever get to that one...