W116 Fender Removal Help

[thorsen]

I need some suggestions for removing the front fenders on my W116. All the bolts/screws are out, I put the wire wheel on my angle grinder and removed all the undercoating on the seam between the fender and the body in the wheel well. The fender will not come off because the mastic is between the fender and the body. I tried my heat gun, I tried carefully pulling, but I can't get the two to release. Any suggestions that won't bend my fender?

[cth350]

You got the bolts hiding behind the door and the screws at the bottom under the trim? Also the screw hiding inside the rubber buffer (presuming it has one still)?

Then all you need is some elbow grease. Flex the fender out from the body a bit and it should come free.

-CTH

[thorsen]

I got the 3 behind the door, the two screws at the bottom, and the rubber buffer. I can flex it out about 45 degrees but she's stuck.

Do you think I should flex it more?

[Wodnek]

I tried everything to save my drivers side fender on my 6.9 restoration. I tried running a utility knife up under the seam. Despite my best intentions, I destroyed the fender anyway.

I did find a pair of reproduction fenders for $125 shipped to my door.

[thorsen]

That's what I am afraid of. It doesn't look like there is any way to break the bond between the two without breaking the fender.

Where did you find the repro fenders for that price?

[Wodnek]

Originally Posted by thorsen

That's what I am afraid of. It doesn't look like there is any way to break the bond between the two without breaking the fender.

Where did you find the repro fenders for that price?

I just spent the last 30 minutes searching. The cheap sources of 116 sheet metal seem to be gone.

The only hit I found with them in stock was:
http://www.autobodypartsonline.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=1433
for $91.95

[Wodnek]

http://www.mercedes-auto-and-parts.com/bodyparts/450sel.html

here ya go. $53.47 a side.

[thorsen]

Perfect! Thank you!

[thorsen]

I got the driver's side off with the judicious application of heat, and I didn't even bend it.

[rs899]

I watched a guy at the junkyard pull an old W123 fender (same undercoat) using a propane torch. Of course, this was on a junker and it did catch fire a little. Probably best NOT to try this at home....without fire department standing by. Isn't that the procedure in the FSM, though?

[thorsen]

The FSM (at least for the W116) says to heat it up using some sort of heater. A propane torch would work well if you were in the junkyard and didn't care about the rest of the car. I think using a wire wheel to clean most of the mastic off and a heat gun to soften the rest is about as good as it's going to get.

[Bizarre]

i want to replace both front fenders on my 450se, and im wondering if i have to use some glue or something when im putting the new fenders on the car, or is screwing the fender on with the the original bolts enough?

[thorsen]

You can glue them on if you want to. There are plenty of mastics available for body panels. I chose not to in the event I needed to remove the fenders in the future, but I did coat the seam with sealer to prevent rust.

[WANT '71 280SEL]

Thorsen, did you remove the fenders to address rust or what? Because it's a w116 I'd assume it's rust related (particularly because you live in the CHI region).

Regards,

David

[thorsen]

The car was from California originally and had minimal rust. I removed the fenders because I was doing a restore and wanted to make sure the back of the fenders and the front sections of the rocker panels were adequately covered.

Here's a picture of the driver's side during the resto. You can see remnants of the glue still on the inner lip.
http://www.pokrefke.net/280se/During/IMG_0126.JPG