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Additional Rust Find (any rear-battery equipped 107)
Another ugly surprise I found while looking over my car with a can of SEM POR-15 equivalent (with a known shelf life) was the battery compartment, which I found by accident while changing a taillight bulb.
What happened was that the trunk seal channel had rusted (known when I bought the car), and the trunk seal had failed. The battery compartment was a "low spot", and all the water wound up under the plastic battery box. I had fixed the channel and gasket when I bought the car, but never saw any rustuntil now. Although this area has two drains (one for the battery box, really a drain/vent), and a regular water drain, these drains have a rim where I don't think they will really drain small, continuous amounts of water. The rust was old and dry, but after removing the (very heavy) battery and moving the box out of the way (a PITA to remove the cables) and removing the rubber drains, I wire-brushed, vacuumed, POR-15d, and undercoated the area and I'm confident that that's the end of the problem.
While you are in there, consider the condition of the battery box and its straps. The box and straps have a safety purpose, and it would not be a good idea to have a really large generator of explosive gases and source of electrical arcing bouncing around in your trunk in an accident. The straps tend to get bent and weakened by flexing; the battery box itself can crack, either in an accident (even a minor one like my 560 was in before I bought the car) or from age.
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