w123 Floor Rust repair - Page 19 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

martureo · #**271** 12-20-2023, 08:56 PM

What's funny about this bit is that I didn't expect to have to do it and I'd previously located the sheet metal replacement part for this rocker end cap for a friend.

I wasn't waiting for the part, so I shaped my own. I decided on a smaller than original plug here which is why the hole is smaller than it was.

While I was there and the wheel removed, I cleaned up the rear of the arch and got it ready for paint/undercoating.

martureo · #**272** 12-20-2023, 08:58 PM

I thought I was nearly done with any decent sized patches, but I didn't like the wrinkle in the rubberized undercoating in this one spot.

So I guess I'll replace the bushings while I'm here.

vwnate1 · #**273** 12-20-2023, 09:28 PM

Excellent .

unkl300d · #**274** 12-21-2023, 04:20 PM

Domino effect !

Consider yourself a Mercedes builder !

martureo · #**275** 01-05-2024, 10:52 PM

Here's the 12th day of Christmas present. More progress

This rust kept getting uglier the further I looked into it. Just like normal.

Now a bit going back in.

martureo · #**276** 01-05-2024, 10:56 PM

New patch.

A nice coat of Chassis Black and its ready to get rubberized undercoating and internal frame wax.

martureo · #**277** 01-05-2024, 10:59 PM

Almost there. Cancer is almost gone, I can feel it.

This is above the rear bumper passenger side mount.

And from inside with really bright sun outside.

Cut it out.

And weld new back in.

martureo · #**278** 01-05-2024, 11:02 PM

Continued.

I finally got to put rubberized paint all over the driver's side rear wheel well and the trunk floor, but didn't get any pictures of it yet. Its supposed to snow 8" tomorrow, so I think I'll find some other thing to do.

Maybe I'll finally get around to wrapping the new vinyl on the B pillars, or address the non-working antenna motor.

vwnate1 · #**279** 01-06-2024, 09:03 AM

I wish I had your skills .

Have I yet asked what you use to so cleanly remove the original sport welds ? .

TIA,

unkl300d · #**280** 01-06-2024, 03:00 PM

Great dedication !!

At this juncture, can you remind us how your engine is doing? Mileage, rebuilt? etc.. How about trans? Gotta hope the bones are good for all the body work you are doing!

Also what is " internal frame wax" ?

martureo · #**281** 01-20-2024, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

I wish I had your skills .

Have I yet asked what you use to so cleanly remove the original sport welds ? .

TIA,

I wish I had a spot/pinch weld drill, but I'm too cheap to buy one.

Depending on the access I have to the parts I'll use a drill [and back fill what material is lost with weld], a die grinder with a burr or a grinder with a disc or flap wheel.

And as for the skill, I've got very little. But I've got patience and some amount of internal "that's good enough" to keep me from obsessing over how I'm never going to get it perfect enough. Thanks for the support though. I'm posting here partially to help others see what is possible, but also to keep me going. My inner critic is pretty nasty sometimes.

martureo · #**282** 01-20-2024, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unkl300d

Great dedication !!

At this juncture, can you remind us how your engine is doing? Mileage, rebuilt? etc.. How about trans? Gotta hope the bones are good for all the body work you are doing!

Also what is " internal frame wax" ?

I bought the car at 129,167, but the records on it were pretty sparse. I've got a mileage reading for 128k then ten years later a reading for 127k before I got it at 129k. So either the first digit of the odometer stripped out and it went another 100k or someone turned it back a bit. Either way I'm not sure.

I zeroed out the odometer when it stopped working at 147k and its got 143,994 since then. So nearly 300k. The engine has never left me stranded and I've been able to start it on one glow down to 13°F without a problem. I started it about a month ago just to make sure everything was fine and it was. But just in case I've got a factory rebuilt engine from an SD with 10k on it sitting in my garage.

The transmission was rebuilt about a decade ago, but I've got no issues with that either.

I might do a trans service, a diff fluid change and take a look at the half shaft boots once I'm done with the bodywork, but that's to come.

Internal frame wax is a substance that's sprayed in the internal cavities of the body, like the rocker channels, to prevent corrosion on the inside of the panels. All those body plugs you see on your car are there so that they can spray something inside the panels and seal them up. Mercedes used something like wax when they built them. I'm using this stuff.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-internal-frame-coating-14oz-aerosol.html

Its definitely nasty stuff and gets in every little crevice, but that's kinda the point. I want to make sure that everything I'm doing gets protected from the inside as well as the outside.

unkl300d · #**283** 01-20-2024, 02:39 PM

I might do a trans service, a diff fluid change and take a look at the half shaft boots once I'm done with the bodywork, but that's to come.

The differential oil change is often overlooked !

Mine went a long time since the last change but I had it done last year.

The slight periodic knock in the rear end stopped. yay

Nice to have new oil in there !!!

Thanks!

martureo · #**284** 03-16-2024, 09:35 PM

Back at it. I finally had time where no one in the house was sick, we were in town, I didn't have to work any overtime, it wasn't raining or snowing and I didn't have another priority (mostly because we hit a deer last week and I can't work on the van as its still in the shop).

I started on the trunk seal which has been worrying me since I started in this area. I really didn't want to have the rust in the trunk come back because of a leaky seal.

Here's the two areas I was (rightly) concerned about. Passenger's side rearmost edge and hinge corner.

After removing the old gasket I found just few more issues.

Pass rear corner.

Pass hinge corner

martureo · #**285** 03-16-2024, 09:39 PM

Driver's rear corner.

Driver's side midway

Pass rear fixed

Pass hinge corner fixed