Hi folks,

Recently I decided I d take all the plastic trim/covers out of the trunk to check for rust and do some sound proof/clean up. Needless to say, this led me on a hunt for any and all rust issues I have.

I found the following.

I will post more photos if I m not too overwhelmed by anger or frustration

Attached Thumbnails

   

Yowza. Best of luck. I've seen and fixed worse, though. Hang in there.

Had the same experience about 15 years ago, bought a Grand Wagoneer from the heart of the rust belt, a Detroit suburb, and stopping the rust would have meant all new floor pans (overall, car was nice but wasn't worth the repair) so, the option of slowing the rust was the only option. Back in the day, I used Eastwood rust prod's and they did the job. Around here, in salty Iowa, fluid film spray helped keep the rest of the underbody from quickly turning to crackly, powdery steel.

Judging from the creative license plate floor pan fix, maybe the car spent time in VA?

Is that a license plate serving duty as a floor pan?

Deplore, yes. Yes thats a Virginia license plate serving as part of the floor.

I have a vacuum leak from one of the door locks.. - wait, let me preface this. While unscrewing the 12 self taping screws that were used to "seal" the hole in the floor, I found one had punctured through one of the vacuum lines. Possibly the one to the rear passenger side door. Alas.

the guy I bought the car from told me some BS lie about it being from an old lady's estate sale etc. The redneckery in all the repairs is quite evident.

I took that plate off, did a little welding, miracle paint + fibre glass, sanding and then sound dampening. It doesnt look super clean from the outside but the inside looks nice. Mostly because the black miracle paint is covered by the carpet.

I understand these cars have become rugged public vehicles around the world as taxis etc but I really wish folks would stop treating them badly just because they are old.

At this point, I have rebuilt the entire front end, drive shaft support bearing/bushings etc. New injectors from Greazzer and general maintenance. I think I will drive it till something major goes wrong with the engine and just replace it with a Mercedes gasser, preferrably a v6 or v8. Something utterly stupid. Because why not - someone else thought using a license plate to plug a hole in the floor was cool.

How did that happen, that you are in CA and wind up with a VA vehicle? It is usually the other way around.

My 190D was just like that. I didn't know better and I bought a car that had been bondoed up. I didn't realize it until I discovered my car didn't have jack holes. The driver seat had to be ripped out when I replaced it so the new seat has a bracket to hold it in place. I stopped driving it when I discovered some serious rust on the frame rail. Not a good feeling when you can take the side of the frame rail and bend it with your fingers. Surprisingly, the car still was incredibly stiff but I've seen that on many old rusted to hell Merecedes, pretty amazing to me. The engine was needing to have the lifters replaced and the glow plug relay had gone bad so those were other parts of determining to stop driving it. I'm still planning on swapping the engine and interior over to another W201 body I have but I haven't had the time to do so.

I ended up buying a 190E Sportline. Fun. I completely rebuilt the suspension, problem now is that it runs like crap because of several issues in the CIS system, and after spending lots of time trying to remedy that, I decided to buy a 3.0 M103 to replace the 2.6 and I am converting it to Megasquirt III. Trying to get the CIS running well enough until the megasquirt project is done but trying to not spend any money on it. I'm also hoping to convert it to manual because that would be so much more fun though expensive.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

A small consolation, but at least the repair will partly pay for itself...

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Given that the start of rust ,if left untreated ,grows to this stage within 5 yrs ,another 5 yrs youll be washing the inside of the car during rain storms.Ive found that if you just simple glue the edges of the rust with a urthane type glue {note ,not pretty} this will stop the spread of the rust to that location. No air to let the process proceed in oxidation.This is not the fix ,just a quick patch ,to fix it right it has to be cut out ,new metal ,weld ,chalk ,paint ,seal.

Believe me, it could be worse.

http://www.coolcatcorp.com/190Restoration/Mercedes44.jpg

WOW! Mxfrank, I thought the scabby stuff below the vacuum lines was some kind of sound proofing - but no! its the street!

I ve been using miracle paint on spots that can be managed. The rest I ve had to weld, then fibreglass + miracle paint (which actually hardens to nearly steel-like) and then sound dampening (the stuff that doesnt retain water).

At this point, I ve exceeded the price I paid for the car in parts and labor - including the work I did myself. So, whatever. Any and all repairs I do now are just little projects I indulge in on the weekends while consuming copious amounts of beer.

The rust hunt led me to the door seals. They are rotten and let water in, hence the hole in the floor. The channel for the seal at the bottom of the doors has half rotten away so I m thinking of ways to fix that. I get some photos during the day and post ASAP. Any suggestions would be genuinely appreciated.

I m seriously considering getting a W126 gasser that has working a/c. I love my W123 but sometimes I want things....to work and not be broken/rotten/loose/rattling

I had that same sentiment, except that it had to be a diesel 126. Of course.


But it DID have working A/C when I acquired it, so that counts, right?

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2007 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins Turbo Diesel 4x4
1994 GMC S-15 pickup 4.3 5MT
1985 300 SD
1978 300 CD
1962 220-S Fintail - awaiting restoration

Cars move better west to east, though the western sun takes it toll on the polymers - dash, trim, grill, paint.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

...prepare that car for Sainthood. It is certainly most holy?

My '79 240D has nearly identical rust in the trunk like yours.
Apparently the mechanics don't know that when you are sealing an area that can collect moisture the sealant must be "faired", smoothed out to provide an even gradient in all directions so the moisture will be directed toward the drain as soon as possible. The artistes who welded in the round drain stub welded it in above the level of the area it was supposed to drain. Naturally the water collected, and if the plastic liner was in place, it had a lot of time to remain and destroy the steel.
I will be welding in a body panel in the same spot in my car, but when the seam sealer goes in, it will be spread smoothly for drainage.
Although at times these cars look as if they were mauled by cougars, they seem to be worth the effort!

Cheers!

snapped_bolt

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'81 240D For now, a good place to borrow new parts
'80 300TD Probably will be put back into service!
'79 240D BACK IN SERVICE SINCE 09/16; limited use, oil leak. Guide pin r/sealed/replaced. Still a leak. Front crank seal....