It's slowly coming together - Page 14 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Stretch · #**196** 12-11-2013, 01:06 AM

I wouldn't beat yourself up about not reacting to the salting - if it was the effect of the two year salt bonanza (some one got rich - should be able to trace that one back!) there'd be a whole lot more rust on the suspension parts than hidden away at the back of the wings. I think the rust in those hidden corners is from an many years of "just being"

KAdams4458 · #**197** 12-11-2013, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stretch

I wouldn't beat yourself up about not reacting to the salting - if it was the effect of the two year salt bonanza (some one got rich - should be able to trace that one back!) there'd be a whole lot more rust on the suspension parts than hidden away at the back of the wings. I think the rust in those hidden corners is from an many years of "just being"

That's the dumb part. I painted the suspension bits when I had them out back in 2007. Did I fix the rust on the body? Nope.

I did actually try out a few rust busting products on the driver door sill back then. I can say that they do slow down rust significantly, but they will never stop it. The rust started poking through the miracle paints at the end of last winter. The clear winner in the battle of the miracle rust products was a rust conversion product made by Corroless. It definitely did the best job of controlling rust.

Hey, remember ealier this year you posted about how one could remove the small panel covering the side of the hood hinge pockets to deal with rust in there? Well, guess what I get to do. The rust is mostly under the cracking seam sealer at the bottom of the pockets, but there's just no way to get all of it without cutting out that panel. Fun times!

Stretch · #**198** 12-11-2013, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KAdams4458

That's the dumb part. I painted the suspension bits when I had them out back in 2007. Did I fix the rust on the body? Nope.

I did actually try out a few rust busting products on the driver door sill back then. I can say that they do slow down rust significantly, but they will never stop it. The rust started poking through the miracle paints at the end of last winter. The clear winner in the battle of the miracle rust products was a rust conversion product made by Corroless. It definitely did the best job of controlling rust.

Hey, remember ealier this year you posted about how one could remove the small panel covering the side of the hood hinge pockets to deal with rust in there? Well, guess what I get to do. The rust is mostly under the cracking seam sealer at the bottom of the pockets, but there's just no way to get all of it without cutting out that panel. Fun times!

Well again - look at what happens to my cars when I think "oh I could do that bit as well"...

...there are benefits to having an operational vehicle rather than one that is stripped to component parts.

Take loads of pictures of the repair work - I think you'll find it good fun once you've gotten over the disappointment.

KAdams4458 · #**199** 12-11-2013, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stretch

Well again - look at what happens to my cars when I think "oh I could do that bit as well"...

...there are benefits to having an operational vehicle rather than one that is stripped to component parts.

Take loads of pictures of the repair work - I think you'll find it good fun once you've gotten over the disappointment.

Too late, my friend. I've taken it to bits! LOL!

This is totally fun, by the way. I do admit that welding and painting are my favourite parts. Removing rust... Not as much, but I do get satisfaction from a job well done.

I'll just leave these here.

Look at all the hidden rust! The bottom edge of the plate I removed is very thick and sturdy, despite the rust. The panel it was resistance welded to is very thin to begin with, and the rust has thinned it too much to be cleaned up. Looks like I will be patching that spot, eh? Thank goodness for the Arizona parts car in the driveway.

Stretch · #**200** 12-11-2013, 01:22 PM

Oh well done - I'm not surprised to see the rust underneath. Stupid design - only an effing nutter would make a gutter by spot welding a Y shape and just lining the bottom of the V part of the Y with seam sealant. I've considered laying a bead of weld along the bottom of the V - but I'm not sure I can do it well enough yet...

...that rust certainly wasn't due to road salt.

KAdams4458 · #**201** 12-11-2013, 08:19 PM

Nah, that rust was just from failed seam seal and time. Of course, I'll weld-through primer the part before tacking it back in place. MB left it raw steel, and then sealed the joint with their cursed PVC undercoat/sealant. Once it lets go, there is nothing protecting the raw steel.

Modern day 2K urethane seam sealers are fantastic compared to what they used to have when our cars were new, and most of them can be applied over epoxy primer for added protection. They grip with serious tenacity, and stay flexible forever. Just slap some heavy bodied seam sealer in your hinge pockets and smooth it out with a finger. The stuff will outlive both of us combined. Just make sure to use a two part product, the cheap 1K sealers are no better than what we had 30 years ago.

Wurth makes some excellent seam sealers that you should be able to get your hands on over there. I use mostly 3M sealers, as they are readily available at my local autobody supply shop, but I have used some Wurth sealers in the past, and actually like them a little better than what 3M offers.

KAdams4458 · #**202** 12-18-2013, 10:27 PM

I dropped by the salvage yard the other day, and found some unicorns!

First, 78-79 SD manifolds. No more EGR. Sweet!

Next I found a pristine driver side seat to replace mine that has a tear. Excellent! The same car also yielded a complete set of pristine seat belts that actually retract reliably, and aren't fraying at the edges. They don't even smell musty!

Those impossible to find unbroken plastic bits that screw on under the B-pillar trim? Got a pair of those, too, along with some nicer, but dirty B-pillar trim in the correct colour.

And to top it all off, I found back glass with a 100% functional defroster grid. I swear, that never happens around here. I've looked for years and have only found ones the traces have corroded off of.

A friend shot a test panel with 404 Milan Brown for me the other day, and it's a great match to the door jambs, so now I finally know exactly what my car is supposed to look like. Prior to this, I had only seen one W116 in person that was Milan Brown, and it was traveling the opposite direction on the highway one day, so it's not like I had a really good look at it. It's definitely flashy when the sun hits it.

Hopefully I will wrap up the driver side spring pocket repair tonight. In the meantime, enjoy an "artistically" tweaked photo of what consumes all of my free time at the moment, and of course obligatory pictures of "the goods."

cirrusman · #**203** 12-18-2013, 11:45 PM

How can you tell that the back glass works? I ask because mine is not corroded, but only the top 33% works, the test doesn't, but the glass and it's terminals look just fine...

KAdams4458 · #**204** 12-19-2013, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cirrusman

How can you tell that the back glass works? I ask because mine is not corroded, but only the top 33% works, the test doesn't, but the glass and it's terminals look just fine...

I had a big long reply written that detailed the process of testing defroster grids, and then my computer barfed.

It was a masterpiece, I tell you. I don't think I could ever do it justice with a re-write. That said...

Basically you need a multimeter and some foil to fold over the end of a test lead. Hook one lead to the positive power terminal, and use the other lead with the foil to trace down each individual grid line. If you get to a place where the resistance jumps significantly, or measures infinite resistance, you have found a bad spot.

I can tell you that it can still look like the lines are intact when they are not. You can actually razor blade them completely off, but the brown line in the glass will remain, even if the metal trace is completely gone. You have to look really closely. I like to toss a white sheet over the back of the car to inspect grids from the inside, as it makes it easier to see things. Sadly, with only one third of your grid working, it may be too far gone to repair.

charmalu · #**205** 12-19-2013, 10:02 PM

Seems like there is, or use to be a gold paint kit for repainting the grids.

I have seen these small heater blowers for the back window. guess one could be wired into the positive power source at the window, to keep it clear in the mean time.

Charlie

KAdams4458 · #**206** 12-20-2013, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charmalu

Seems like there is, or use to be a gold paint kit for repainting the grids.

I have seen these small heater blowers for the back window. guess one could be wired into the positive power source at the window, to keep it clear in the mean time.

Charlie

There are grid repair paints out there. I have some permatex stuff that I have used a few times. It works alright.

Ugh, those wimpy 12V hair dryers are terrible at defrosting. I had a friend in high school with a Dodge Omni years ago that ended up using four of them at once to clear the hatch glass, because one or two just wouldn't do it.

Colorado220 · #**207** 12-20-2013, 06:07 AM

Glad to see there is still forward progress!