I am certainly hoping to prove you wrong. Have some good people looking into it now. I'll report back.

__________________
85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

I'm sure that you can prove me wrong, all it would take is money :-)
But you need to weigh out the cost of a replacement with a good shell vs the cost of repair.

That's of course if your not sentimentally attached. If you are then money will become less important. I have a 73 W114 280CE that's a total rust bucket. I'm quite sure I can find a nice 250C or 280C for much less then it would cost to repair the rust but you can guess which way I'm going to go.

__________________
With best regards

Al

That looks awful familiar....but just a bit worse than mine. Nice car, great color.

I'm going to say that the oil and antifreeze are due to lines getting severed or the radiator/cooler getting pinched.

I don't believe you have any frame involvement, as it looks like the damage is above the frame line...it really is hard to tell with the hood closed.

Just based upon what I can see and it looking similar to what happened to mine, I'm going to say you've got about $1200 - $1500 in parts from the pick and pull, plus your labor. (Radiator, Oil cooler / lines, hood, grille, headlight assembly with new door, fender, bumper, possibly some hidden damage).

I believe the car will shine again!

__________________
1998 W202 C230 - The money pit of late.
1984 W126 300SD (356,800 miles) Gone to the wrenchapart
1984 W123 300D Gone to the wrenchapart
1972 W108 280SE 3.5 (sold but not forgotten)
1986 Buick Grand National 3.8l Turbo (86k miles)
1966 Glassic Model 'A' Replica http://www.glassicannex.org

http://banners.wunderground.com/weat...Round_Rock.gif

YES!! Thanks for the encouragement, Fuzzball. I am still gathering info and waiting for an estimate. I can do the mechanical stuff myself but do not have the expertise or equipment to do the body work.

__________________
85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

Just to get back on the road I beat the inner fender well into shape myself...now my fender and hood line are about an inch off, but all things considered, the tool is back on the road.

I'm sure you are going to want to put it back to the condition that it once was...that will take a body shop applying heat to the inner fender well. Really it shouldn't be really expensive to do that if you find a good indie.

Here is my example...: Found some of my crumple zones...

I actually drove my car home...worst part was that the tire rubbed on bumps...it's back on the road with about 6 hours of work, but it's not as pretty as it once was. My daughter wants to make it perfect as she wants my car...I'll have to replace it first, but then it's all hers.

__________________
1998 W202 C230 - The money pit of late.
1984 W126 300SD (356,800 miles) Gone to the wrenchapart
1984 W123 300D Gone to the wrenchapart
1972 W108 280SE 3.5 (sold but not forgotten)
1986 Buick Grand National 3.8l Turbo (86k miles)
1966 Glassic Model 'A' Replica http://www.glassicannex.org

http://banners.wunderground.com/weat...Round_Rock.gif

Updates?

Just wondering how it turned out.

whiskeydan,

i think it's at a body shop on coit rd -on the right- just as you get off 75 going north bound. or, there's one that looks just like it with the same wrinkles. it really doesn't look that bad from the rd.