is it worth it or what? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 02-05-2003, 09:58 PM

this lady is selling a 79 td wagon for 900.00
so cheap she says, because of a rust spot in the floor caused by leaky sun roof...my welder friend can fix the floor..i can probably fix the roof..everything else is great and it's only got 170,000 on it!! sounds great to me ..this lady also has 2 fairly new sel's and been maintaining the car very well (like only a good mercedes owner can) i'm gonna take it to her mechanic that's worked on it for 12 years........any thoughts?
thanks
patrick
oh, i recently aquired a 71 280sel, so add that to the 73 sel

mikemover · #2 02-05-2003, 11:31 PM

If you're sure you can properly fix the rust, it might be worth it...The leak is probably NOT from the sunroof...It's more likely to be the windshield seal. If there's rust in one area, it's likely there's rust elsewhere, so look it over VERY carefully!

Mike

NC240D76 · #3 02-06-2003, 07:57 AM

The car should be worth that if it is not ragged and rusted out. We have had good luck fiberglassing old floor boards.
Grind all the rust out, add new metal at this point if needed and you have something to weld to and rough up the entire surface and ospho it and make sure the ospho dries, wipe it down and then let it dry some more. If you still have holes, cover them with duct tape or metal tape (from the outside is better) and fiberglass. It is better to use several layers of glass cloth because this is what gives you strength, pouring extra resin will not add strength.
Make sure you get a bubble roller to roll the air out and saturate the cloth one layer at a time, I would also run the glass up the sides so any water will be sitting on figerglass and not running off it and sitting on metal.
I also have these little stainless steel boat parts (I'm not sure what they are) that I put in for the drain but you can use pvc pipe and glass it in place when you glass everything else.
I have a friend who doesn't like to put in drains, he says he gets a little wind noise, the glass will not rust anyway and it tells him if he has something leaking. (Of course I don't think he can hear the wind over his V-8's anyway)

#4 02-06-2003, 10:03 AM

The leak is most likely not from the sunroof OR the windshield seal.

There are four drains under the hood that must be kept clear. There is one underneath the hood hinge on each side, one under the master cylinder and the last one underneat the battery. Also sometimes there will be rust under the battery tray that will also leak. When any of these areas leak, the water ends up in the rear footwells.

I dealt with these leaks for years, searching the sunroof for drains, the windshield seals, etc. Once I found this site, a fellow from Sweden pointed out these drains, and my rear floorboards on my 123 cars have been dry ever since.

Good luck,