replacing floors on a ponton - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jsmith · #1 12-31-2003, 07:29 PM

i have no experience whatsoever with a migwelder so i suppose this sort of work is best done by a bodyshop. what would it cost to do the floorpans, front and back? it would be straight labor since there is no painting involved right? i would take care of the finish / undercoat / POR afterward. should i learn to operate a migwelder? just curious because i saw a "project" 190 on ebay with rusted floors, but otherwise intact...

Tomguy · #2 12-31-2003, 07:37 PM

I find it kinda hard to believe "Just" the floorpans would be that badly rusted without any frame/body rust.
Ask for pictures of the frame and undercarriage, just to be sure!

68greezr · #3 01-01-2004, 10:11 AM

welding is easy,you can do it!get your welder and practice on some scrap until you can run a good bead.get the welders handbook it will help you with this.don't let this stop you and after your done you'll have a welder and will be able to use it as well.start off slow

good luck

jsmith · #4 01-01-2004, 11:04 AM

i guess this was more of a rhetorical question. i know that any restoration project of an older car will invariably require this sort of work. i have a 2 car garage so i could conceivably work indoors and i just discussed this with a mecahnic friend and he said pretty much the same thing. BTW, the car i found is still up on ebay if anyone else wants to look. i am still in the looking stage (and may stay there for some time). this is just interesting because it allegedly has almost all the pieces to complete the restoration.

project 190 sl on ebay

68greezr · #5 01-01-2004, 12:43 PM

hey you 'll find the right car soon enough,don't worry.imo,all the fun of working on older cars(or any car)is learning how to do new things.welding ,wiring,fabracating(hope i spelled that right?)well anyway you know what i mean.to many people get project cars "to work on"however the only thing thier work'n is thier wallets down at the local shop.shops are great for things you can't do,but you'd be surprised at just how capable you are,so go for it.it's kinda like all the harley guys ,they use to be bikers,ride everywhere do most of thier own work on the bikes,but now you see them on the back of some trailer pulled by a 100,000.00 motorhome on the way to some bike run,then about 50 miles from the run they unload 'em and "ride"on in on something they had to buy.

just my view,good luck again

Tomguy · #6 01-01-2004, 01:13 PM

I don't know if I trust that description - the seller pleads ignorance as to why "The amateur" stopped restoring it, guessing at the floor pans. I think it's more like he was taking it apart to part it out but discovered that he could get someone to buy it for a ****load more (and a lot less effort on his part). It's just a call of "How much do you really trust an eBay seller who doesnt really provide pictures of the worst area?"

#7 01-03-2004, 10:50 AM

The floor pans on 190 are similar to my 190sl. My car was stripped and in body shop in LA before I brought it into the UK. As the car was sometime left outside of the shop this resulted in floor pan with pitting and small rust holes although the body/frame was ok. I decided to change the floor pans rather than patch them up.

The floor pans are welded up from underneath and were originally spot welded. As I do not have a long arm spot welder I use a spot weld atachment on my mig welder. The pans are welded from below from one side and the spot penatrates right through. I attach photo before replacement.

Floors are best finished off paint or paint over shultz depending on how much protection you require or if you are looking for a show finish. Process I have in mind is, bead blast, metal prep, epoxy primer like DP90.

This primer is fundamentally a glue! It adheres tenaciously to the metal (and I might add, very well to surface rust that is not loose). Additionally, unlike most other primers it is extremely water resistant (some say water proof)

Seam seal all joints, fine body shultz especially in wheel wells, followed by another coat of DP90 primer and then final top coat. Factory finish was brownish/gray DB169 kinda like a primer colour.

When changing floor pans it may be worth changing the seat supports and do inspect the frame at that stage and repair/bead blast. It is a time consuming job possibly taking about 100 hours but depends on frame damage.

Gook Luck with you restoration, it may be worth you looking at technical pages from 190sl group at www.190slgroup.com

Parry