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  #181  
Old 05-31-2022, 01:24 PM
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"After several layers of thick primer I'm still left with pits and other visible imperfections. My hope though is that I can manage to overcome some of these bits by either sanding back or welding in more material (and grinding again). The layers of original primer and paint are pretty thick. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to replicate it, but hopefully I'll be able to blend it enough that no one will notice."- quote


Don't car restoration experts use bondo for such final blending steps?

Nice work!!

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD
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  #182  
Old 05-31-2022, 01:32 PM
vwnate1's Avatar
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Post Fine Finishing

Yes, a skim coat of filler is normal but no more than 1/8" .
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1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better
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  #183  
Old 05-31-2022, 02:50 PM
He/Him
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unkl300d View Post
"After several layers of thick primer I'm still left with pits and other visible imperfections. My hope though is that I can manage to overcome some of these bits by either sanding back or welding in more material (and grinding again). The layers of original primer and paint are pretty thick. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to replicate it, but hopefully I'll be able to blend it enough that no one will notice."- quote


Don't car restoration experts use bondo for such final blending steps?

Nice work!!
Yeah. I'll eventually get the car fully resprayed, but for now I'm going for good enough to get back on the road without adding another part to the project.
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Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #184  
Old 06-01-2022, 07:32 AM
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Spraying something like a can of rocker guard on an area like that. The level of buildup you use helps conceal the welds etc, It also will semi blend the repair with the existing undercoating.

I always put a skim of mar glass type body fillers on areas like that. As normal bondo will absorb moisture given a chance.

In a simple case if the protective coating gets chipped in service. As an example. Or backside voids exist as a chance of being a point for moisture to enter the unprotective bondo.

Again I use a mar glass type product as the first coat. It simply is waterproof but is much harder than bondo to work. You probably already know this. Stiil too important to chance someone may not.
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  #185  
Old 06-12-2022, 04:59 PM
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A few more days of work between the spring rain.

Finally finished in this area after finishing up a few small gaps in the repair panels, grinding everything down, shaping the pieces I left long then coating it with primer, and in some areas, Miracle Paint.





Next thing to do was mount the fender that I'd painted previously. Its got a new piece of trim (Uro), a new bumper edge trim piece (MB) and new hardware (mostly). I'm going to wait to do the inner fender until I've sprayed cavity wax in all the different plugs I've removed.

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Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #186  
Old 06-12-2022, 05:12 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
Posts: 13,236
The little things are a nice reminder that the light is at the end of the tunnel.

My old battery tray was too far gone. I'd considered using a w126 battery , cutting the "arm" from my rusty one and welding it together to create a lovely franken-tray. But with everything else going on, I didn't want to add one more little project.

A friend of mine nabbed me this one and I wire brushed all the rust off. I wiped it clean before coating it will several light coats of Miracle Paint and two top coats of Chassis Paint (to save the Miracle Paint from UV damage).

That battery tray will probably outlast the car. Its got shiny new hardware from the hardware store and even the battery brackets got the treatment.





Now on to fix the driver's side error I made over a year ago.
__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #187  
Old 06-12-2022, 08:48 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
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Only a bit of work done today. Its going to rain for the next two days and the yard was calling me.

So here's the driver's side that I repaired over 18 months ago.



And here's the passenger's side that I repaired last year (before I painted the outer panel).



See the problem? There's only a few plug welds (originally spot welds) holding the bottom of that hinge pocket outer panel to the inner fender. The rest of that area is supposed to be open to drain.

I welded it shut. Which has led to a pocket of water that only drains into the driver's footwell.

The red line is where I've closed off the drain and the green is the section that is left open.

__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #188  
Old 06-12-2022, 08:53 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
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Cutting out good metal and what you've repaired doesn't feel good.

I cut out the hinge pocket reinforcement panel to the point where I could assess what I needed to do.



And here's what's left. I didn't get much grinding done after I took this picture as it was getting to that hour where its impolite to do much noisy work.

It was a bit interesting to see the sediment that's built up in there as well as to pull the seam sealer out without much effort. That stuff was so dried up that it didn't have any bond to the body anymore.

__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #189  
Old 08-05-2022, 10:19 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
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It took entirely too long for this repair. Hot weather, lots of rain and lots of overtime kept me busy.

Patch going in.


I spent plenty of time after welding in this patch grinding back the surface, welding in new metal and grinding back again. I wanted a smooth surface for the water to run down.


Here's the first coat of Miracle Paint on the interior of the pocket. The two sections left unpainted are going to have material welded to them.

__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #190  
Old 08-05-2022, 10:23 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
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Old panel has a new tab where metal had been rusted away.



You can see the two holes at the bottom in the new tab, these will get plug welds.


Welded, ground and first coat of Miracle Paint on the exterior. I had to get this done quickly as it was going to rain in the next 4 hours and for following two days.
__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #191  
Old 08-06-2022, 02:22 PM
vwnate1's Avatar
Diesel Dandy
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Sunny So. Cal. !
Posts: 7,717
Thumbs up Good Works, Well Done

I like the way you're dong this job .
__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better
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  #192  
Old 08-13-2022, 07:43 PM
unkl300d's Avatar
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Location: San Francisco, Ca
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pari passu.


It is coming together nice !
__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD
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  #193  
Old 08-19-2022, 08:21 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
Posts: 13,236
The never ending adventure of rust.


Before putting the driver's fender back on I noticed an area that I'd been pretty hasty in painting over with POR-15. There was a noticeable hole about 1/4" in diameter near the bottom of the fender where the trim mounts. Well, I figured since I already had it off, I might as well fix that spot.


It's never just one spot.


So I ended up cutting out a triangle...





And then another chunk of metal turned out to be not made of metal either.





Yeah...


So after fixing that area, I figured since I was going to repaint that section, I might as well fix the paint on the front of the fender underneath the bumper.


After wire wheeling back the paint that I had hastily applied, I noticed a suspicious amount of rust around the corner seam of the fender.






Everyone knows what happens next.
__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #194  
Old 08-19-2022, 08:28 PM
He/Him
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: DC Metro/Maryland
Posts: 13,236
Yeah, I completely forgot that's what I'd painted over. What's the chance that the stud is going to shear just like the one on the passenger side?





So the stud sheared and this is what I've got left to deal with. Not pretty.





Wire wheeled back and the amount of metal seems very familiar. Its exactly where I had a bunch of rust on the passenger side.



__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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  #195  
Old 08-19-2022, 08:36 PM
He/Him
 
Join Date: May 2010
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Posts: 13,236
After freaking out a bit (because it took me over a month to find a new fender last time and it was a 7 hour drive each way to get it), I decided that I should take the same approach as I've taken each step of this project.


How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. We're going to do this in pieces and hope the fender doesn't fold in half at the corner.


This bit first.



Turns out the seam section that I cut was held by two pinch welds. I was able to separate the two layers of the fender with a putty knife and then grind down the two bits of pinch weld.




Make a patch.






But, I don't like that porous metal on the second layer, so hold off on welding the patch in.



Cut out the ugly metal, create a patch and weld it back in. Holes are for plug welds to the previous patch.



__________________
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]
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