280CE Restoration -W114

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Iceviolet said:
The trouble is that due the car being the 280CE and having the M110 engine, there are no cross braces back to the bulkhead like in the other models. Therefore the inner wings on the 280E are made from thicker steel I am led to believe, so the pattern wings that are readily available are not suitable.
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I wouldn't be concerned about the above, it's the least of your problems and should be relatively easy to overcome.

As you need sills see if saloon ones would do, modified to suit. That might give you more options.

Don't throw in the towel just yet would be my advice. As Bellow suggested start welding and see how you get on.
 
John Jones Jr said:
Here you go, a bit of inspiration. 168 patches and counting :D

Scrapyard Dodger 24v Carlton GSi G624XME | Retro Rides
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Definitely inspiring! Not throwing the towel in yet! I had another couple hours in the garage today, finished stripping the engine bay and removed the insulation on the bulkhead, expecting it to be horrendous!! However I was quite happy, better than expected. Look like a few easy patches will sort it. I had a bit of a clean and the passenger side is not bad at all.

I am hoping to get everything stripped out and begin cleaning up by the end of the week. Then I want to try a few of the easier looking patched first!
I have a funny feeling that this thread will also turn into a weldathon!



 
I paid a visit to my local MB dealer in Leeds today for some brake discs and pads for my CLS. Very pleased with the service and to my surprise the discs and pads, with 10% discount were actually cheaper than non OEM parts from euro car parts!

I also asked about getting parts for the 280CE. A lot of parts are now obsolete, such as the inner wing which I need. There is a website Mercedes-Benz Classic Ersatzteile which will tell you if the parts are available or not.

I did manage to get a drivers side sill though. The left side is obsolete but the right side showing 64 in stock in Germany. Whos buying all the left side coupe sills?
At £201.96 inc VAT for the right sill, I don't think that is unreasonable considering it is being delivered for free, pattern coupe sills just don't seem to exist and it is genuine OEM part.
So that's the first part bought! The first of many!
 
I have been pleasantly surprised by MB parts availability and generally prices, but sometimes the price isn't just a few quid more - in the case of the rear subframe bushes they were £100 a pair more than Meyle ones off Ebay, so shop with caution!
 
MB prices seem to be almost at random, and sometimes they change almost weekly. Apparently they constantly review them according to supply and demand.

Brakes and service stuff is very often cheaper than you can get anywhere else. But yeah some stuff is properly shocking.
 
WOW! It has been a year since the last post on this thread! Time does fly, I have had a very busy year with a new child, new job and home improvements! So as a result very little time in my garage and little has been done with the car since the last posts. :fail

Well its a new year and I have finally stopped procrastinating and made a decision to just get on with it and use it as welding practice, get it roadworthy and drive the thing! I am not going for concourse, I just want to drive it!
The next project I will select more carefully!! Lesson learnt!

So I have made a start on the very corroded chassis rail:

Cut out the rot:

Create metalwork using high tech bending equipment:

Plug welded through original spot weld holes:

Cut new piece out and fettle to correct shape:


Thats as far as I got as my welding mask was giving me some issues so I have a new one now, hopefully get it welded in this weekend! Hopefully my welding skills will improve throughout the project!
 
Good to see the project return to life Sam!
 
What an effort, I abandoned my restoration after finding rust in the box section between the rear sub frame and the back seat bottom on the first 280CE I bought here in the US. I need to get going on my other one.
 
Iceviolet said:
So I have made a start on the very corroded chassis rail:

Cut out the rot:

Create metalwork using high tech bending equipment:

Plug welded through original spot weld holes:

Cut new piece out and fettle to correct shape:
Click to expand...

You're on a roll. Don't stop now! :thumb:
 
Charles, the latest pictures of your restoration has given me a bit of motivation, what a lovely looking car you have now. The colour is perfect and the chrome works very well with the grey!

I think the chassis parts are probably going to be the easiest as the sheet is 2mm thick. I did buy a decent welder which should be capable of doing the 1mm stuff with ease, or so I am told!
Here's the set up, I made a little trolley to keep it all tidy on:
 
Hello,

did you just drill out the inner wing to get it removed from the rail and are you going to fix it or replace it? Was the car still on its wheels with the subframe in place ?

I face a very similar dilemma on the 107 SL I am working on.

Regards
Bernt
 
The inner wing is in a very poor state and I plan on replacing it if I can source one. Yes I drilled/ground the spot welds holding the inner wing on and removed it.
The front subframe is removed to provide the access required. I measured the distance between the mounting holes on the subframe and then drilled two holes at this distance in a piece of box section and bolted this to the chassis mounting points to ensure that the chassis remained straight.
 
Chassis rail is now fairly solid, requires a good grind back and coating with electrox by bilthamber, has anyone used this?

I am getting to grips with the voltage and wire feed now on my welder.

Next job is to tackle the bulkhead!
 
That's a really excellent bead and run!
I think you've cracked the settings...
 
You guys are so talented! Honestly brilliant work on this forum... and here I am can't even change my own brakes LOL
 
:( :( :( :( Its a sad day for the 280CE!
I have decided to abandon the restoration... I have had a real good poke around over the last couple nights and re-assessed the car, it is by far too big of a project for me, the rot is just too extensive. Having a newborn and a 2 year old at the moment also does not allow me much time in the garage anymore. I think I will try and break the car and sell the parts I can, then look into an easier project in a few years.
I will just have to make do with my CLS 500 for now.
 
Sorry to hear, but I think that is the wisest thing to do. Declining to do battle against insuperable odds makes for a good general!
 
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