mj2k
Active Member
Thought I might as well create this as a separate thread since it seems to be turning into a project despite my original intentions...
I picked up this 1997 V6 e320 from cozy's dad initially just because I didn't want to see it broken for spares before someone had checked if it was worth rescuing it or not.
But it's quite a nice spec (factory fitted AMG wheels / bodykit, early 3.2 v6, heated seats), holds the road very nicely for such a huge lump, and IMO the saloon in Azurite Blue is a fine looking car. I had to replace the CPS before it could be driven, but it drove very nicely on the way home, though the performance was a bit patchy to begin with.
When I got it home the initial quick assessment was not so good - one front springhanger was looking ropey, I thought the wheelarches had completely rotted through at the rear, and both front arches needed replacing:
But I gave the angry rust patches on the rear wheelarches a bit of a poke with a screwdriver and it looks like it's just surface rust. And when I took the trim out of the boot to look at the condition of the wheelarches, rear quarter panels and the seemingly rusty rear crossmember I found no rust at all!
So next stop was hooking it up to diags to see if the initial issues with poor performance were anything serious, and it came back with a clean bill of health.
I then realized this was looking like a 'keeper'
First stage in keeping it roadworthy (and appeasing my other half who was not impressed with it's looks) was to buy some Eurocarparts Premium front wings, which were such a good fit they didn't need any fettling at all. I then set about creating the proper AMG wheelarch lip:
I did this by bending the lip in slightly increasing stages with an edge setting tool from Machinemart, followed by carefully finshing it off with a round-headed panel beating hammer.
Next came the primer - a standard cellulose high-build primer thinned 1:1 applied over 3 coats with a block rub down between.
Next came the water-based base coat, done in 3 coats. That took about 6 hours to do thanks to the extended drying time.
And finally came a '1 pack' lacquer - basically the same as what came in rattle cans but it went on a lot smoother.
And finally a good coat of smoothrite inside the wings (after primer) to try and keep the rust at bay. I'll be adding a coat of underseal too once it's thoroughly cured.
So then came time to change the front wings. This was a lot more hassle than expected since I needed to remove the sideskirts and bumper completely (presumably the pre-facelift AMG bodykit makes wing removal more tricky), but once I'd got it stripped down I found the front crossmember was in good condition:
I decided I might as well take the headlights out to check the condition of the metal underneath - once again quite good:
It'll need some work once I've taken out the wheelarch liners from underneath, but for the moment a quick coat of rust eater followed by blue smoothrite on the crossmember and under the headlights will keep it together for a while.
I then polished the headlights in 10 minutes using rubbing compound followed by t-cut followed by standard car polish, results were pretty good. I also took off the rubber surround to make sure I didn't damage that whilst polishing.
Once I'd got the sideskirts off (the early AMGs are held on with self-tappers rather than just pulling off) I had a good run along the sill with a hammer and screwdriver on the rust scabs - nothing serious, except for at the o/s/r where the wheelarch meets the sill. Bit of plating needed, but for a W210 this is remarkably good
The new wings went straight on, but getting the side bolts to line up with the bumper was a struggle, and refitting the sideskirts was the devil's own job. All of which meant I ran out of time so had to refit everything without welding my spring hangers, but the final results were worth all the hassle:
However, the car obviously took exception to me replacing the wings without welding the spring hangers, and within a couple of days the o/s/f spring snapped meaning the car was undriveable:
Off with the wings again, ordered some new springs, and started poking around the rust holes...
Drivers side springhanger, just looked like it needed a quick seam weld 'til I started poking:
And from above, wonder how long it'd have taken a strong, unbroken spring to punch through that?
And on the nearside firewall, I gave a tiny, slightly rough looking patch of paint a poke and found this underneath. Not a biggie, but goes to show you definitely can't trust W210 paintwork no matter how good it looks:
I picked up this 1997 V6 e320 from cozy's dad initially just because I didn't want to see it broken for spares before someone had checked if it was worth rescuing it or not.
But it's quite a nice spec (factory fitted AMG wheels / bodykit, early 3.2 v6, heated seats), holds the road very nicely for such a huge lump, and IMO the saloon in Azurite Blue is a fine looking car. I had to replace the CPS before it could be driven, but it drove very nicely on the way home, though the performance was a bit patchy to begin with.
When I got it home the initial quick assessment was not so good - one front springhanger was looking ropey, I thought the wheelarches had completely rotted through at the rear, and both front arches needed replacing:
But I gave the angry rust patches on the rear wheelarches a bit of a poke with a screwdriver and it looks like it's just surface rust. And when I took the trim out of the boot to look at the condition of the wheelarches, rear quarter panels and the seemingly rusty rear crossmember I found no rust at all!
So next stop was hooking it up to diags to see if the initial issues with poor performance were anything serious, and it came back with a clean bill of health.
I then realized this was looking like a 'keeper'
First stage in keeping it roadworthy (and appeasing my other half who was not impressed with it's looks) was to buy some Eurocarparts Premium front wings, which were such a good fit they didn't need any fettling at all. I then set about creating the proper AMG wheelarch lip:
I did this by bending the lip in slightly increasing stages with an edge setting tool from Machinemart, followed by carefully finshing it off with a round-headed panel beating hammer.
Next came the primer - a standard cellulose high-build primer thinned 1:1 applied over 3 coats with a block rub down between.
Next came the water-based base coat, done in 3 coats. That took about 6 hours to do thanks to the extended drying time.
And finally came a '1 pack' lacquer - basically the same as what came in rattle cans but it went on a lot smoother.
And finally a good coat of smoothrite inside the wings (after primer) to try and keep the rust at bay. I'll be adding a coat of underseal too once it's thoroughly cured.
So then came time to change the front wings. This was a lot more hassle than expected since I needed to remove the sideskirts and bumper completely (presumably the pre-facelift AMG bodykit makes wing removal more tricky), but once I'd got it stripped down I found the front crossmember was in good condition:
I decided I might as well take the headlights out to check the condition of the metal underneath - once again quite good:
It'll need some work once I've taken out the wheelarch liners from underneath, but for the moment a quick coat of rust eater followed by blue smoothrite on the crossmember and under the headlights will keep it together for a while.
I then polished the headlights in 10 minutes using rubbing compound followed by t-cut followed by standard car polish, results were pretty good. I also took off the rubber surround to make sure I didn't damage that whilst polishing.
Once I'd got the sideskirts off (the early AMGs are held on with self-tappers rather than just pulling off) I had a good run along the sill with a hammer and screwdriver on the rust scabs - nothing serious, except for at the o/s/r where the wheelarch meets the sill. Bit of plating needed, but for a W210 this is remarkably good
The new wings went straight on, but getting the side bolts to line up with the bumper was a struggle, and refitting the sideskirts was the devil's own job. All of which meant I ran out of time so had to refit everything without welding my spring hangers, but the final results were worth all the hassle:
However, the car obviously took exception to me replacing the wings without welding the spring hangers, and within a couple of days the o/s/f spring snapped meaning the car was undriveable:
Off with the wings again, ordered some new springs, and started poking around the rust holes...
Drivers side springhanger, just looked like it needed a quick seam weld 'til I started poking:
And from above, wonder how long it'd have taken a strong, unbroken spring to punch through that?
And on the nearside firewall, I gave a tiny, slightly rough looking patch of paint a poke and found this underneath. Not a biggie, but goes to show you definitely can't trust W210 paintwork no matter how good it looks:
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