What if you had an extra w116 300SD kicking around that you bought with another parts car, but were probably going to pull the engine and tranny anyway and get rid of the body after stripping it clean of useable parts?

Would you maybe go temporarily insane and consider chopping the roof to make it a roofless convertible? I mean, if you were going to junk the body anyway???

Would it work?

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Should work, provided it doesn't rain
Body flex would be considerable....

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99 E300 TD -- sold
01 540i 6 spd

Weld the doors. There has been discussion on it in here for 123. 116 might look real nice if done right.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

There was one person in Cali that did just that. Made caps for the cut off top parts. Strengthened the floor pans a little. Sold it on E-bay for about $2800 or so.

Regards

Run-em

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1983 300SD - SPARKY THE DIESEL
2004 Audi TT 3.2 Quattro Roadster
1999 SLK - aka - LIL RED
1956 Chevy Nomad - aka - REAL MAD
1940 Ford dbl dr. Deluxe - aka - ORANGE U GLAD
1998 Kawasaki Nomad bike --

You would need to create and install some type of a rollbar to put in there to maintain body integrity. That is why VW Cabriolet's had them! German cars, ALL of them use a honeycomb roof pillar structure and when this is missing, body integrity drops considerably. In some states, you would not even be able to take this onto the highway without a structurable integrity inspection, Arizona being one of them!

Yep, that's crazy.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Pretension the body by jacking it up a bit in the middle and then weld all the doors closed.

If you are going to go coverless, doorless won't hurt!

Okay, going to answer all so far here.....

I said that to my wife. She suggested creating some type of rag top like a jeep has....even if it was only to keep the rain out, and drive on sunny days.

If you had a link for that on here, that would be great. Interested in what he did to the floor pans for sure.

So, any suggestions on said rollbar? I mean, if you're welding anyway, why not get creative and make it look good.

Yep, insane I think I said.

Not a bad idea.....welds on both seams of the doors should help to keep the integrity.


So yeah, a crazy idea. But what else are you going to do with a dead 116 anyway? Both of these parts cars are rusty, so I might just cut one just to see what it would look like. If I do, I would definately post pics.

If I didn't, it would just get hauled to the junker anyway. So maybe a life as a Bondo-ed convertible with welded doors might be better than pop-can-2008-car afterlife....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

If it's going to the junkyard anyways, you might as well have fun with it first! If it doesn't work, you haven't lost anything but time.

Jeremy Clarkson tried it, and here's what happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_XbFePiuRM

hahaha

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

But he didn't weld anything....did he?

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

I can see why Jeremy Clarkson didn't have the heart to do that to a Benz!

Concept pictures....I suck at editing, but you get the idea....

Before:



After:

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

I still think it would be really cool to do that, but you would have to have a roolbar/stabiliser in there at least where the original centre door posts were just to prevent body roll. A setup like the 4 door Jeep Wrangler roll cage would work out fine and the soft top could be removed easily if planned right!

How about a bar right across the beam between the two doors, right below the profile line of the top of the body? It would sit above the rear passenger's knees....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI