The rust is worse than you think - I promise. I just carried my '76 230 to the Benz graveyard three weeks ago due to a fatal case of rust. When I bought the car (W115 chassis), the rust didn't look too bad. A little on the rear fender and underneath the body was two little holes where the tires sling water up. The undercoating was original and very intact. When I got home with the car I pulled the rear seat to get the seat belts out and found more rust. The rust finally reared its ugly head when my entire rear suspension dropped down on the driver's side. Rust had eaten the mount up to the point that it no longer had anything to attach to! Fortunately, the suspension dropped when I was going 2mph across the parking lot at work, not when I was going 75mph down the expressway 10 minutes earlier. As I studied what happened, I found the area underneath the seat had fallen away with much metal entirely missing - it didn't look that bad when I got the car for sure. And the undercoating was completely intact. Treat the rust just like cancer - it can be fatal if not treated (in more ways than one - it could have killed me too).

Attached Images