I just pulled the carpets and felt around. I was slightly surprised, not all that many spots felt soft. There were a couple, but the majority of it seems stable. Of course I didn't take the seats out, so there may be more under them, but not too bad... I think... And again, I don't have much experience with this yet, is there any way to deal with those soft spots, other than replacing the whole panel?

Pull the seats, use heat to remove the coating from the metal then post a picture and the opinions will roll in.

Good luck!

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You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need.

Feeling around from the inside doesn't work for the floor. You need to get underneath the car with a screwdriver or pick and poke at the floor and frame sections. (Yes you can do what Walkenvol suggests, pull the seats and take off the sound deadening coating, you will have to eventually to work on the floor properly, but this will give you an immediate snapshot of how bad things are.)

On the inside, however, you can pull the carpet and the plastic trim in the outer corner of the driver's footwell. I will be surprised if there isn't a large hole there, as it is a notorious rust trap on every old Mercedes. (If there isn't any hole, it may have been repaired in the past.)

These cars also have a common issue with the windshield seal leaking down onto the floor, when the seal dries out and cracks/shrinks with age. That makes rust issues in the driver's footwell worse AND if enough water gets in it can also run back to the rear footwell and result in a rusty floor in the area of the base of the rear seat.

Bear in mind that any area of rust-thru or soft metal has to be cut back at least two inches from its outer perimeter, in order to ensure you are patching to good metal.

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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 took a quick glance under, from what I can see, the only spots that looked bad were the outside front corners. Soon I'm going to have the previously mentioned uncle take a look at it to see what he thinks, as he will actually know what to look for... But given my observations of the front outside corners, how easy/difficult of a fix is that, and how necessary is that, in terms of safety?

Where is the car? Could a member come over and take a look at it? Many of us are used to looking for rust on these vehicles and would know right away which "hot spots" to zero in on.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

I've been doing some looking around online, I saw the ************** video that discusses Miracle Paint, have any of you had any experience using that? How well does it really work? Also, would the two rust spots I described (Front corners) be considered structural rust or something that I would be able to use Miracle Paint on? If any of you have experience with a different product or technique to deal with the rust I'd appreciate hearing it.

From my own experience with these cars you have to take out the seats, pull up all the carpet or floormats and sound insulation if you are doing a first time rust hunt. It is truly amazing how much of the actual floor can be gone and you wouldn't be able to tell because of the rubber floor coatings. Grab a big screwdriver and go all stabby stabby with it. If the floor gives or flexes at all it's likely that it's completely rotted at and around thjat stab point

As an update, I had my Uncle check it out. He's pretty sure that most of the rust is not structural and won't affect safety, and parts that are a bigger deal should be relatively easy to fix. So I think I'm gonna go ahead on the project and get it up to safe driving condition. And hey, if I decide that I want to dump a bunch of money into it, I may go for a full restoration, but for now, I'm going for a safe ride. Thank you all for your suggestions and help!

Cool! Any rust you see now will be much worse in a few years. Since the car is white, you should pick up some white miracle paint and cover it up now before it gets worse. The car looks good in the pictures, good luck getting it back on the road

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

I'm glad you're going to proceed. Look at BodhiBenz's thread on these forums about rust repair for inspiration. There are those who think 123's are not worth doing rust repair on. I disagree. Unless its terminal structural rust I think it is worth it, assuming the rest of the vehicle is decent. There are not in fact a lot of them around and they will only decrease in numbers as time marches on.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

I am glad to see it too! In all reality there isn't many early non turbo w123s floating around...so it is good that you are going to sink the money into an early model.... I would advise, you start keeping an eye on eBay for an aluminum bodied servo for the climate control....they run 500$ but if you start looking now, you may find a used one cheap...

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I am not shocked at all by looking at your pictures. I renovated a 300SEL which was in much worse condition and is a beautiful driver today. It will take quite some of your time and in the end you'll have a good welder and learned how to weld (I have a MIG with gas for welding thin sheet metal), have learned how to prepare sheet metal with hammers etc and you will have learned how to use miracle paint in combination with fiber glass..and used 2000 pairs of vinyl gloves. You'd be astonished what you can do with patience and resilience. Don't let yourself be frustrated or discouraged.
You can do it and learn a lot. But it will take time and some investment.
If the engine is healthy it is probably worth a try. I also don't thing the damage is too 'structural'...whatever this means. Let's say I'd think rust is probably not at the primary structural parts. But if it is you can correct this also. I was replacing entire cross members.
Just smile and ask yourself if you want to start or not.

Martin

If you do end up removing one or both of the front seats, you should read this thread before you and your uncle go half mad trying to figure out the bolts (happens to most everyone first time around).

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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

The early W123 models definitely get the short end of the stick most of the time. A 300D without a turbo carries a stigma that 240D cars don't. Granted, I put a turbo motor in mine, but that was mostly due to the later motors being more plentiful.

You can skimp on a lot of things with these cars and still net decent results, but the climate control is one place I would never recommend cheaping out. Those servos are the devil incarnate. I spent more money and time on used servos over the years for my '77 than I would have if I had just bucked up the cash for the Unwired Tools digital upgrade to begin with. Now that I have one, I am convinced that there is zero reason to ever consider spending a penny on an original servo setup, aluminum bodied, or not. Those servos are just complete rubbish.

Humour: Granted, my climate control won't work after an EMP zaps it during WW3, but at that point, I think I will have bigger things to worry about... Like the giant mutant cockroaches that want to car-jack me.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

One problem with the unwired kit....is that it doesn't operate the fresh air flap....that is the only negative I have heard from it.

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