My W123 saloon / sedan old accident repair (and a bit of rust repair) thread
 

G'day Folks,

Well it started with a wonky driver's seat (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=273449)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...pictureid=2136

Then I noticed the poor fitting wings / fenders (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=280613)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...2&d=1278494072

Then when taking off the doors to paint I found that the driver's side had new ones...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1306182952

You would have thought that the penny would have dropped by now... (and it almost had!)

Nasty discovery
 

I knew from messing about with the driver's seat that there had been some repair work to the floor as one side sits up higher than the other. The front seat height was adjusted by adding washers under the seat rails... but that fix was never really going to be a good long term one.

I discovered that it is much easier to remove the floor pan coating (a combination of tar and some sort of fibre) after several warm days so I decided to search for rust and clean up the bottom of the floor pan.

As usual I found more than expected - yes folks one of these days I'll learn not to take everything to bits!

Here's a picture along the length of the car (doors off)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313573482

It doesn't look too bad eh?

But inside you can now see more of what has been going on

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313573555

Here it is evident that a repair piece has been welded on top of the old floor (hence the height problem with the driver's seat) and they have butchered the cross member in the bottom of this picture by making it not as wide as it should be... Note the weld in the bottom right hand corner of the picture...

The driver's side is banana shaped
 

I can now see that the driver's sill (some of you say rocker - I don't know why!) has been seriously bashed and the repair hasn't been done too responsibly...

Putting a plumb line along the length shows how much it is bowed:-

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313574054

This is the best measurement I can show with a camera in one hand... it is more like a 2cm discrepancy...

You can see how the sides of the car are kind of pulled in at the rear here:-

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313574182

It isn't quite straight but you can't see it with the sill covers on...

So what to do next?
 

...well I spoke with an accident repair specialist - someone who I've come across before - and he said at Dutch labour rates he'd be changing at least 5000 euros to fix it.

Hmmmmm

I didn't have to think long and hard about that option!

He was worth talking to though 'cos now I understand why the door rubbers were cut and knackered (so that the doors would fit); why the driver's door was slightly too high and ever so slightly slanted; and why the front wing was shoved up hard against the firewall...

I doubt if I can find a rust free chassis here so I'm now looking into doing the repair myself.

Looking at the parts drawings:-

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313574838

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313574878

This construction looks quite simple.

I have loads of experience riveting aircraft structures so for me resistance spot welding seems like a good approach to repair. (This is the reason for this thread - as I don't think anyone has been spot welding here just yet)

So that's all for now folks I've got to go and remove some more bits to get to the spot welds.

I'll update my progress and show some plans for supporting the structure before I drill out the old spot welds and cut out the floor.

EDIT:-

I forgot to say I had previously made loads of measurements of the "straightness" of the chassis =>

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=2539504&postcount=5

Everything seemed fine... so despite the aggressive repair it seems that the four corners of the car at the suspension points are all in the right places...

Some repair links made by others who have gone before

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=143078

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=106997&page=2

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=145705

(great replies from Greg!)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=83194

Mini update
 

I'm still getting the floor clear and I've got the blower motor / heater box out so I can get at the sound proofing on the bulkhead, and see how the floor pan is made.

The picture I posted above suggests that the floor pan comes in two parts - not so =>

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313586956

And I forgot to show another bit where the car has been cut and shut. This time on the rear bulkhead bit under the rear seat...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313587046

I've got the following parts on order

2 X end caps for the sills / rockers / longerons
2 X outer sills / rockers / longerons

1 X Internal cross member that sits under the front seat rails (this seems to be a dealer only bit)

These are expensive dealer sourced parts - I'm hoping that they will be worth the extra cash as they are visible...

1 X imitation floor made by Klokkerholm who seem to be the only manufacturer who do the whole floor (part number 5 in the first parts picture I posted above) instead of little front and back sections.

Adjustable axle stands
 

I'm going to need some adjustable axle stands so I can get the car as level as possible before I drill out the spot welds. I plan on getting something like this:-

http://www.caravanaxlestands.co.uk/i...primary-st.JPG

It uses a screw thread to allow for height adjustment

http://www.caravanaxlestands.co.uk/products_1.html

Anyone out there with a better idea?

There is no way I'm taking the spot welds out with the car on wheels.

The motor is already out as is the transmission and from the pictures above you can see that the interior is out too. Doors are off, front and back windshields are also out. I'd like to cross brace those holes.

Anyone with any ideas? I was thinking turn buckles attached to mole grips...

I'll probably cross brace the sunroof hole too as the sunroof is also (you guessed it!) out.

I'm going to have to work out a way of holding up the central door pillar - I plan to attach something to the hinges - so that that doesn't sag and pull the roof out of shape. But I will also need some pretty good access to the sill area...


...any ideas?

Oh dear part number 5 isn't available any more...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313574878

Why w123 underseal is hated so much
 

Here's the result of cocooning your underside in rubber!

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313861223

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313861273

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313861309

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313861343

Update:-

I'm stripping off as much of the under seal junk as possible so I can drill out the spot welds and dismantle the structure.

The caravan type adjustable axle stands should be here on Monday - then I'll be taking off the differential and the rear subframe again - happy days!

Working out how it was made
 

I've been looking at the structure of how it has been put together.

I'm not entirely sure if the roof together with the middle door pillars were fitted together first, but the middle door pillar and the outer sill definitely were spot welded together first before the spot welds between the lower edge of the outer sill and the floor pan were fixed.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313929969

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313929969

The spot welds on the floor pan and outer sill joint were never treated to a coat of seal sealer. Which means that if the inside of the car gets wet then the floor pan not only rusts through in one place but the water travels along the whole joint as shown in this picture I posted previously

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313861273

I consider this to be a design fault!

A 30 year old car, 160,000 KM's, probably one of the wettest countries in Europe and some rust is a "design flaw"?:rolleyes:

C'mon over to the Detroit, Michigan area and see new cars rust in 2-3 years with 30,00 KM's on them.:D

I get what you mean. And in a way - yeah sure right... but that is comparing with the lowest common denominator...

How long has mankind been doing this sort of thing? Building any structure whether it is on wheels or not that is out in the elements involves water management - most of the rain goes one way - if you can't get that right then I say you need to go to the back of the line => 0/10 see me after school!

Ouch!:eek::D

Err sorry Mike I'm assuming that a Mercedes is a superior vehicle... well it is certainly emptying my wallet like a superior vehicle... so I guess it is one!

Hello subframe my old friend...
 

I see you're off the car again...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314194108

Today I got the subframe out (again).

This time I used Charmalu's method of simply lifting the rear end of the car high enough so that you don't need to use a spring compressor.

Works quite well on the back - don't try this on the front though.

I also used jt20's method of wheeling the subframe out from under the car.

This also works quite well. Look I didn't even remove the callipers or the anti-sway bar...

All good fun eh?

Cheap caravan axle stands - verdict? NOT GOOD
 

Whilst there has been some progress on the subframe removal front I have had a bit of a nervous time putting the car on those cheapo caravan axle stands.

I really don't like them - the whole car wobbles on them.

The problem is that they are designed in a real cost cutting crappy way. The cast aluminium (well the box says aluminium - probably monkey metal though) stand has a half arsed hexagonal shape in the top to hold a nut. This nut is attached to a bit of M20 (far too shiny) threaded bar with a spinning foot at the top. There is nothing to stop the bar from wobbling in the top of the poorly fitted stand.

I've bought some extra nuts to fit on the underside of the threaded bar to clamp the bugger in place.

I do not want to be the subject of one of whunter's man crushed under car threads...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314194907


So why am I using them?



Well I need to adjust the heights of the supports under the car before I remove the spot welds.

At the moment the body is so stiff that you can get it to dance about on three stands instead of four if you are not careful. I don't expect it to be that stiff when I remove the sills / longerons / rockers...

Ideally I'd like large bottle jacks with locking collars that stop the jack from collapsing... but I can't em here for love nor money...

Only had time to mess about with the camera today...
 

...but I got a nice shot here...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314299488

All good fun eh?

Stripping out the inside
 

Dash had gone some time ago but I wanted to get all of the sound proofing out so I can

1) See the rust
2) Not catch it on fire when welding

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314468669

Here's a little seen view too

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314468731

And of course 'cos I'm welding I took out the whole wiring loom...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314468808

...I don't want to play the now where did I weld through that wire? game...

Replacement left hand floor panel turned up yesterday
 

The Klokkerholm reproduction floor panel came in some chap's car yesterday.

I'm not sure I can use this one - it looks like someone had shortened it to use it as a cover rather than a replacement. It seems to be a few cm too short.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314469042

I'm not too fussed by the inboard bit that is poorly made - I'm more worried about the length of it. It should butt up nicely to this step cross member that I've been trying to source. I want to spot weld it in place I don't want to patch a new panel to make it reach the joint on the cross member.

I've asked them to exchange it for another one that hasn't been cut for a weld over job. We'll see what happens...

Klokkerholm update and "real" MB parts update
 

I asked the supplier to replace the floor panel that seemed to have been cut by someone else and they say I'll get a new panel by the end of next week - so far so good!

I've just got back from the dealer and got the front left hand cross member that goes under the driver's seat (front seat bolts) and two gucci little panels that go over the rockers / sills / longerons.

Needless to say the MB parts were more expensive than the large klokkerholm bit. Ho hum...

Gold plated floor pieces - some real bling bling...
 

...well it must be gold plated looking at the receipt... I'm not sure why they sprayed all that expensive gold black though...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314789894

Fruit of the devil!
 

I've decided that the original Mercedes rubberised undercoat is the fruit of the devil - I had previously gone through the front of the car patching stuff up a little bit like JamesDean is doing in this thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=304380

I could have sworn I'd got a rust free front end last year when I did the work...

...needless to say I found some more.




Teddy got chucked out the cot - blow torch got dusted off and I went all Pulp Fiction

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction#Dialogue

" I'm gonna call a couple of hard, pipe-hitting niggas to go to work on the homies here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch "

Please note:-

Don't do this to a car that still has sound insulation on the other side of the bit of metal you are burning off - it will melt and it will catch on fire.

So remember the fire triangle?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e_triangle.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_triangle

Here's a repeat of the picture showing what the wheel arch looked like before teddy got chucked out of the cot =>

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314299488

And after the blow torch treatment...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314875868

...and after a quick going over with the wire brush and angle grinder...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314875893

Last year I spent hours and hours doing a much smaller area on this part of the car with just the angle grinder and the wire brush attachment.

It does get the job done eventually but the rubberised coating tends to ball up and get stuck - you kind of end up pushing the coating off of the car when you are using just an angle grinder and wire brush attachment.

Last year I wasn't planning on stripping everything out - I thought I'd get away with doing a smaller amount of work. How naive!

Now that the wiring has gone, and the sound proofing is gone, and the suspension is gone, and all the other bits have gone the blow torch approach makes the most sense to me.

I guess you could get a similar but much slower effect from an electric hot air gun - but then again I guess you'd still have to be super careful that you didn't melt something on the other side of the metalwork.

Blow torch method does have disadvatages...
 

Whilst this blow torch method is the quickest way I've found so far for removing this pesky undercoating it does make one heck of a mess of the any seam sealant...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314877350

This didn't come as a surprise to me - but I thought I'd better warn you all just in case.

Comparison of the sills...
 

This thread is in danger of becoming a blog - rather than a thread. So here's something that should hopefully promote some discussion (just in case taking a blow torch to a car doesn't do it)...

Take a look at the picture below.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1314877577
This is a split view from the front of the car (looking towards the back)

[This side] The passenger's side of the car doesn't have any accident damage - the driver's side does [This side]

The sill has been whacked a bit out of shape.

I've got a plan to fix it.

But what would you do?

You know, you are crazier than I was when I was young. I thought I was crazy when I had my '73 450 SLC apart. It looks like you dissassembled the whole car!

Yes, I've always found that the torch is the the best way to get rid of the undercoating.

Put some POR on those spots, and use my roofing tar technique to fill in the holes. After driving around a little you wont even see those patches.

This should be a great car once you are done.

Crazy and young? Crazy may be - I'm not so young any more. For the average life span of a man in Europe I'm way more than half dead!

I've always wanted to do something like this and the way things have panned out at the moment now is the time to do it.

I'm planning to replace as many of the larger parts of the car with whole body parts. I want to resistance / spot weld them in place as my welding skills are still quite young...

I've got a little arc welder that goes down to 25 amps which is meant to be good enough to weld sheet metal. I've been practising laying down beads on 0.7mm plate and some of them look half decent. When I've got them to a standard that I'm happy with I'll post some pictures. I'm planning to patch small holes with this arc welder but I'm not prepared to use it on the serious parts of the structure - that's just not sensible.

Do not forget to treat around the welds. When welding, you will break the integrity of the ecoat on the new parts. You will need to renew the area around the welds. I've never used POR before, but I cannot see why it would not coat over spot welds (someone correct me if I am wrong). Then reundercoat. You should have great repairs at that point.

Thanks I was thinking along the lines of POR-15 as it is easy to get hold of. But before I do that I'm considering some "new" rust treatment stuff from Switzerland (I think it is Switzerland... I'll check) that apparently can treat between spot welded plates. Must be capillary action.

The plan was to coat with POR-15 after rust removal / treatment and then apply a good seal sealer (probably Eastwoods) and then start priming and painting as before.

I have dreams of a beautiful clear coat undercoat...


...I might get there - we'll see.

Original parts with costs (good for date of the post)
 

I've just a quote from the dealer for some more body panels.

Some of the prices are hideous - but others are really quite surprising.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315414062

Item number 32 inner wheel arch inner side

A 123 637 02 75 right hand side 193 Euros plus tax
A 123 637 01 75 left hand side 194 Euros plus tax

Item number 35 inner wheel arch outer side

A 123 637 02 76 right hand side 73 Euros plus tax
A 123 637 01 76 left hand side 73 Euros plus tax

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315414062

Item 11 Front cross member

A 123 622 02 04 right hand side => UNOBTAINIUM
A 123 622 01 04 left hand side 39 Euros plus tax

{This one is surprising it isn't too complicated to make yourself but as 1mm thick mild steel plate costs in excess of 70 Euros a square meter here - well it is hardly worth the effort}

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315414062

Item 8 inner front wheel arch bit that also makes up the spring pocket / drain

A 123 630 16 10 right hand side => UNOBTAINIUM
A 123 630 15 10 left hand side => UNOBTAINIUM

Item 14 inner front wheel arch part between number 8 above and the sill / rocker / longeron

A 123 637 02 81 right hand side 57 Euros plus tax
A 123 637 01 81 left hand side 57 Euros plus tax

{Quite expensive but not really stupid in my opinion}

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315414016

These two parts make up the chassis rails that run above the rear wheels / sub frame etc

Item 68 translated from German as "pipe"

A 123 611 04 21 right hand side - still available but current day price isn't known - most recent known price about 400 Euros plus tax

A 123 611 03 21 left hand side - still available but current day price isn't known - most recent known price about 400 Euros plus tax

Item 65 side member

A 123 610 02 10 right hand side - still available but current day price isn't known - most recent known price about 750 Euros plus tax

A 123 610 01 10 right hand side - still available but current day price isn't known - most recent known price about 750 Euros plus tax

Klokkerholm alternatives for above
 

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315414062

Item 32 inner wheel arch inner section => Klokkerholm only make the front part so it isn't the whole piece

Klokkerholm part numbers

3525543 left hand side (front bit) 50.34 Euros including tax
3525544 right hand side (front bit) 50.34 Euros including tax

Item 35 inner wheel arch outer section (given repair panel status - so might not fit!)

Klokkerholm part numbers

3525551 left hand side 35.34 Euros including tax
3525552 right hand side 35.34 Euros including tax

Another alternative van Wezel body parts
 

These people seem to be doing more of the repair panel stuff - rather than klokkerholm who seem to make more of an attempt at actually copying the original Mercedes bits...

...at these prices I might give a few bits a go.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315418604

and this was the bottom of the screen...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315418620

I forgot to say - I have been reliably informed that the stuff from van Wezel is only 0.5mm thick. Not thick enough to replace as whole panels in my opinion - probably OK to cut to bits and use as patches if you like that sort of thing!

Proper orignal parts arrived
 

Now this is a proper job!

This part caused quite a stir at the dealer this morning - I quote =>

"I've been here 11 years and I've never seen an old sticker like that"

(Even more evidence that the dealer gets his bits from Germany and not second hand stuff on ebay!)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315994320

I also got two side bits highlighted here

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315414062

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1315994329

It is all coming together nicely (well I say coming together - I mean specifically that I'm making nice piles of new parts before I start drilling out spot welds on the chassis)

If it were really an old part it would say "Made in W. Germany."

Army, you're making me drool. You get parts which haven't been shipped across the ocean and covered in a pound of cosmoline or whatever the German equivalent is.

If you want some let me know!

Indeed - I didn't think of that.

Parts or cosmoline?:rolleyes:

It has taken ages but I might have found part #5!
 

I'm trying to get hold of part number 5 in this picture:-

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1313574878

It is unobtainium at the dealer as mentioned previously so I've been trying to persuade people to let me have a good second hand one.

Not as easy as you might think. (Well who wants a pile of discarded sheet metal on their driveway anyway? Scrap dealer doesn't mind that's who)

I think I've found someone who will let me come and cut one out. If this comes off - and it doesn't turn out to be rusted junk I'll take some photographs of the carnage. It will be tackled in the following way:-

Windscreens out

Sub frame / trailing arms / differential rear wheels off

Doors off

Cut off roof

Slice through middle of floor pan (if rusted out)

Otherwise cut at bulkhead...

...if I get away with this it will be fun!

John took the words right out of my mind while looking through this thread and thinking about all the other stuff you've done to this car. I sure hate to see all your receipts and time you spent on this car. Perhaps maybe a bit of 480 Manganese Brown paint chips was inhaled and worked it's way into your brain.:eek::D
Wish I could send you a perfect rust free straight body from my local wrecking yard to save you from more of your own punishment!

Anyways love your posts, very informative and entertaining:D ! Keep chugging right along, it would be great to see this car completed! Thanks!





.

Thanks for the kind thoughts - I understand how most people would feel about it. I understand completely as my wife is one of them! The thing is though - I've always wanted to do this sort of thing. When I'm done with this one I plan to move onto another. I'm considering a W108, W111 may be a SL though they seem a bit on the small side... I do fancy 1950s American tin...

An old Mercedes is ideal for this sort of experience - the spares support is fantastic.

There are a few companies over here who import cars from the dry US states so in principle I could pay about the same amount of money get a rot free shell and take the easy way out. But I don't consider that to be sporting fun...

...the hunt goes on!

Look what I found...
 

Not great news. Some Dutch dick head or perhaps some Swiss dick head filled up a structural part with filler...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316284220

I got a hole this big after 60 seconds of light pressure with an angle grinder and wire brush attachment

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316284221

Holy crap - this sort of botch job really ought to result in castration or public flogging...

...oh well the hunt for rust and more surprises continues.

I'm going to try Eastwood's undergone.

http://www.vwtrendsweb.com/tech/0107vwt_eastwood_undergone_torture_test/index.html

Undergone test
 

I was hoping this Eastwoods undergone stuff would help.

It does in a way but it isn't really a match for MB W123 rubberised undercoating...

It helped me a little bit as someone had coated the underside of the car with a tar based undercoating on top of the original - so at least that came off really quickly.

Here's the undergone going on (just like oven cleaner)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316530445

A cleaned up wheel well - but most of the work was done by fire

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316530481

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316530540

At best it makes the rubberised MB W123 coating clean!

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316530568

Please note post undergone treatment was "ye olde angle grindere and wire brushe attachmente"...

I think I might try that bathroom silicone remover and see if that helps (before returning to the Pulp Fiction blow torch method).

Continuing with the rear wheel arches
 

I've done a bit of investigative work trying to find out how the car was put together. Unfortunately it seems as though the last bit added to the car (during construction) was the roof. The roof and rear pillars sit on top of the rear wings / fenders...

This makes it difficult to remove the spot welded rear wings to fix up the structure inside.

The parts catalog makes it look so simple (here's that picture again!)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...t-20-copy-.jpg

But in reality the joint inside the wheel arch looks like this

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316627385

This is the joint between parts 32 and 35 shown in the first picture in this post. The steel is bent inwards towards the cabin and the boot / trunk.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316627474

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316627486

(second picture shows how it is higher up - use open tie wrap as a reference point)

On the front of the wheel arch (towards the front of the car) the joints are slightly more complicated. The inner wheel arch half (part 33) is fixed to the inside of the "door jam" here =>

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1316627677

The joint for the outer half of the inner wheel arch is hidden in a closed cavity behind this point. You can only reach it by removing the whole outer wing section...


...hmmmmm...


QUESTION:-

Do I remove the outer wing section and see?

Fed up!
 

I'm fed up chasing across the country for bits of sheet metal work on all of these "rust free - only one owner" cars in scrap heaps...

...the last joker I visited was at the other end of this piddly insignificant little country. He has a field full of rot with small trees growing through the remains of the cars. I sent emails with the images shown above depicting exactly what I'm looking for. I rang him up before visiting to make sure he knew what I wanted and when I got there I found that every car on his little bit of heaven was open to the elements. Every car was dripping wet and crumbling. Judging by the height of the trees growing through the metal most things must have been there for longer than 5 years - I guess closer to ten. All of his 1200+ vehicles (number stated on his website) were so rotten I don't think you could even crush them and recycle the metal. What a waste of time / space / energy / oxygen etc etc etc

The EU is famous for being strict about these sorts of dangers to the environment but some how this kipper has dropped under their radar.

I saw the undercoating quote. There is no sub for the blow torch with that stuff.

On parts: you may want email Bill for some of the 123 parts you can't find rust free. He has a lot of contacts in Southern Cal. junk yards that may have the parts you cannot get new.

Update
 

Yet again finding parts is the problem.

I've just been in contact with the klokkerholm supplier here in Holland and he says that the klokkerholm floor pan part can not be bought without the irritating cut out bits at the end of the panel.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...t-probleem.jpg

This makes it very difficult to spot weld it in positioned as planned.

The supplier was very helpful. He compared the klokkerholm panel with an original part and said that whilst the original part doesn't have the bits that have been cut out it still kind of wavers inwards (see above in the picture) so that too would have to be seam welded in place rather than spot welded.

The original version of this bit of metal currently costs 550 euros
The klokkerholm part costs 120 euros

Neither fit as I would like them to...


I wonder if klokkerholm actually make the parts or if someone in India is doing it...

The lethargic search continues
 

...now looking at replacement outer panels just in case I can't remove the originals without some serious damage...

You can see how the panels are made in these pictures. They might be of use to others.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317716302

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317716302

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317716302

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317716302

Some work rather than research and messing about has been done!
 

Blow torch and then angle grinder and wire brush attachment has been extensively used on left hand rear wheel arch - 95% of the metal is good. I'm surprised.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317808691

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317808691

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1317808730

These pictures (top to bottom is actually aft to front) show the folded and spot welded joint between the inner wheel well and the outer well.

The outer well on the left hand side of the car has already been "repaired".