Hi,
My beautiful 300CD recently took a tap to the front. Im so sad.

Im looking at replacing:

front core radiator support
radiator
engine driven fan and fan clutch
oil cooler
water pump

head light bucket assemblies (got already from yard)
grille (got already from yard)

not replacing the condenser (never had ac)
not replacing hood or hinges

im looking at the "mercedes source" page for "Repairing Early Diesel Front End Damage"
but am not sure exactly how to get the radiator core support off a scrap car - as this seems to be the first step..

does anyone have experience doing this?
i brought it to my shop and they are estimating upward of 1,000 just for a new radiator core support and labor. if I get a radiator core support from the pick-n-pull can I just hack saw it off? I have no experience with welding.

whats my best bet?
any advice would help.
thank you!

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I'm pretty sure it's welded in place on a 123. When you get the new part, it will be obvious where to cut. No experience welding? Guess what?

Before you go too much further, it would be a good idea to pull the bumper and inspect the crossmember...the heavy part of the chassis that's under the radiator. If the crossmember is damaged or displaced, you'll have a much more complicated job.

Meh... I've straightened worse than that with a tree, a ratchet strap and a rubber mallet.

Get everything off the core and start attaching the strap, then tap with the mallet to get the metal where you want it to go

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

....when you stated "I brought it to my shop"....we're you referring to a body shop you took the car to or your mechanic?

Damage.

A bodyshop will tell you $1000 because, with the money they get paid on insurance jobs these days, they don't brush their teeth for less.

Look in the yellow pages under welders and find someone who is mobile and will do auto jobs. For them that is a yawn.

__________________


Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

The bumper of the car that did this unspeakable act squarely hit just drivers-side-off-center on the grille. This is really good advise but im going to leave this alone as well as as the hood and hood hinges. If Im going to fix this baby and keep it as my one-and-only I really should just getting it running and make it look pretty again.

what im wondering about going the salvage route is: just about everything. where do you cut the salvage core support? is it cheaper to buy a new one? and get the other non-welded parts salvaged?


Having done this successfully a couple years ago with a pickup truck and some ropes on a different car im not ruling it out.
I'm also now considering a shop with a frame rack as this may be better than sawing at the pick n pull though I may get roped into liabilities and cost at a shop using their frame rack...
any advise?

referring to my Mercedes mechanic and the body shop next door. These guys are very good. The problem is that there is really no time for tinkering. They do it the expensive way.



thank you. any input and advise is good here. ill post the progress.

I had a W123 with similar damage years ago.

We needed to replace the core support, and I had a parts car.
I bought a new one from the dealer, so it must have pretty reasonable....

Jim

__________________
14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

Looking at the pics I'd guess that the core support could easily be straightened. You'll need to pull the radiator because tweeking the core support could damage the rad in the process. Rent a portapower (or buy one at HF) and push it back. Remember, little of that shows and it doesn't have to be perfect to do it's job properly.

If the collider (isn't that the person who hit you in a collision?) is paying - well, turn it over to the body shop and let them handle it! Few body shops fix anything anymore as it's simply cheaper for them to replace panels - and they're not buying the parts. That doesn't mean it's better to replace.

Having a frame shop pull the front back in shape is a great idea, too, and well worth the expense.

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I've been doing body work for about 50 years though not generally as a profession. I've done a TON of it and have earned extra money by putting repairable totals back together with good success. I have some formal training in the field. So I do have some idea of what I'm saying. Take a look at my build thread and you can see the last few pages are the body work on my OM617/S-10 project.

Dan

At minimum the hood striker on the hood is going to be bent and needs replaced / straightened. Have a close look at the hood to cowl gap to determine hood and hinge alignment.

Regardless of what you replace, the core support needs pulled back into at least rough shape as this pulls other metal you are not replacing back into shape. Making some pull plates / drilling a few holes / temp welding a pull plate to the core so pulling devices can be attached is sometimes needed.

After pulling the core, it might be back into enough shape for use. Changing a core is a larger job and should be avoided if possible as it is going to be a fender off operation on most cars.

As with painting, "welding" is 90% prep so a generic fab shop won't be interested in doing this job.

Salvage yard cores are generally cut off 6" or so rearward from the core unless otherwise specified. In your case check the area on the good car for rust then specify where the replacement should be cut to include this area.

If you get another core support you will need to plan how you are going to drill the spot welds out. If possible drill out the spot welds from the side you are not keeping on the donor car. ( This is using a spot weld cutter that looks like a small hole saw, the goal is to cut through only one thickness of metal )

On the good car you can then drill from directions that keep the new spot welds hidden.

If you get to the stage of stripping out the parts attached to the bent metal take some pictures of the damage and we'll have a better idea - if you show it to someone else who will be doing the job they will have a better idea too.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

[IMG][/IMG]

I had my 84 300D thrown on a frame straightener. It was free, as it was my uncles buddy and he owed him. It worked awesomely! He had me give him a headlight/corner/bumper/fender/hood ahead of time so that once it was off the rack he could trial fit everything.

Didn't even have a corner light gap afterwords.

__________________
1981 300TD 4 speed manual
Euro bumpers, zender valance and skirts, H&R springs, billy HD's, leveled sls, real AMG Pentas 16x8 et11, vdo boost/egt gauges intergrated into ash tray, eurolights, led 3rd brake light

Wanted to get back on here and finish this story.

I ended up spending about $350 for all the parts I needed at the Pick N Pull. I bought a strap, attached the frame to a pole and ratcheted it into place, put in a new oil cooler, engine driven fan, fan clutch, radiator, etc..., and bumped the hood back with a mallet.

The grille sits about a 1/8" higher than the hood now (rather than flush). The headlights also don't line up perfect but you cant tell, and also its no longer 100% original perfectly restored car. I dont mind, I get a lot of miles out of it and its just as stylish to the naked eye.

Thanks

Sorry to hear this. Always sad to see good cars get hurt.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)

this is an easy fixer.

get the 4-wheel alignment checked. If it's to spec, you're in good shape. If not, then you're going to eat tires until it gets fixed.

BTW, the labor of setup is step because it's slow and complicated followed by the removal of the front fenders & bumper if the radiator support needs to be replaced.

To get a used radiator support, first find a car that has one that isn't rusty and remove its fenders front bumper and radiator. Then whip out a sawzall (battery operated ones work well) or grinder with cut-off wheels. And slice off the nose, leaving a few inches of metal going back toward the body.

-CTH

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