New W123 Owner – Rust…

[31records]

Hello All

I have a just purchased a W123 with quite a lot of rust. Advisories from the last MOT include i) corrosion under rad and ii) O/S/F under arch near roll bar mount corrosion.

Photos below (from mildly distressing to just horrible levels of rust):

…Front Right

…Rear Left

…Front Left

The MOT is up in October so with that in mind I have a few questions:

1) Two advisories above – is this bad news and a lot of work to sort out?

2) Could photographed rust be treated? Or are these panels too far gone?

3) Should I be thinking about checking other bodywork prior to next MOT?

I am not sure to what extent rust can fail an MOT so comments and advice would be much appreciated… I don’t own a garage, so car will be open to elements this winter!

The car is several shades of green so colour-matching not essential at this stage…

Thanks In Advance.

Owen

 

[nick mercedes]

The MOT is up in October so with that in mind I have a few questions:

1) Two advisories above – is this bad news and a lot of work to sort out?

2) Could photographed rust be treated? Or are these panels too far gone?

3) Should I be thinking about checking other bodywork prior to next MOT?

Get someone who knows what they are doing to have a look at the car, W123s can hide rust, and it may be an unecomomical repair, that said if it does turn out to be just the rust you list, it won't cost big money to get it through the MOT.

Consider paying Andys auto barn a personal & polite service repairing bodywork for a variety of top marque motorcars. a visit.

 

[Smiley]

Sorry but from the pics that does look quite bad. On the last pic it looks like it has been repaired before and the rust has come back through. You need an estimate from someone who knows w123s - or someone else will start the work and then discover other problems that could lead to £££££ - and if you had known that to start with then you may never have started the repairs.

 

[312 Sprinter]

Many MOT stations will do a pre MOT for you, go to see the local tame one, bung them a few quid and get it up on a lift to have a look. They'll soon tell you how big the rust issue is MOT wise.

Getting it repaired is a whole different ball game. MOT welding is a very low bar, it is perfectly acceptable to just weld a plate straight over rust to get a pass.

It won't last and in the medium to long term exacerbates the problem. The only proper way to sort it out is to cut the rust out, weld in new metal and then rust proof. It is time consuming, requires skill and a certain mind set and isn't cheap to do well.

It can cost more to remove bodgy welding than to do it in the first place BTW.

 

[219]

Duplicate post

 

[219]

I'm sorry to say that car does look quite bad .

I would not bother to repair the front wings as replacements can be bolted on easily . As already stated above , do check the car over thoroughly for structural rust in areas like the sills , jacking points , cross members , door pillars , doors themselves , inner wings , floorpan , boot floor etc before starting to spend money on repairs - I presume it runs well and the interior is good ?

A lot depends on your plans for the car - if it is to be fully restored and kept long term then genuine MB wings (not cheap) are the only option . If you just want a nice runabout and only intend to keep the car as long as it is reasonably trouble free then you can get 'pattern' wings for £20 or £30 apiece ( Eurocarparts used to do them for something like £21 , and I think Hadrian panels still do them ) you may need to do a little bit of work to get pattern wings to line up properly , unlike genuine ones which tend to fit straight on without problems . There is also the possibilty of secondhand genuine wings ( try some of the breakers like Dave Collins , Rob Parker , Mercman , Boss Parts or Mark Cosovich or even look on eBay for people breaking W123's ) .

The rear quarter panels have to be welded on , and new panels would be available from the same places as above , again if you can find a W123 being broken ( possibly following accident damage ) with the bits you need in rust free condition , you can always cut out what you need and have it welded in .

Since you might have a lot of welding to do , it might be cheaper buying a MIG welder and learning to weld yourself . If you have to work outdoors , a 'no-gas' MIG , like the Clarke MIG160EN which I bought for this purpose is an option . Lots of colleges run courses for people who have never welded before and there are websites like the one below which have lots of useful information for beginners . You would not be long paying someone else to do welding for you before you exceed the couple of hundred it would cost to buy your own welder ( and may well still find a lot of welding needing done ) .

MIG Welding - The DIY Guide

 

[jaymanek]

I have a fantastic shell that I could sell you for not a lot of money... you would have to transfer everything over...

As someone whos been there a few times, that level of rust is going to be a massive job... there will be a lot more that you can see, economically, its never going to be worth it.

 

[219]

I have a fantastic shell that I could sell you for not a lot of money... you would have to transfer everything over...

That sounds , to me , like a VERY good option

 

[jaymanek]

If I had this shell when i was doing my W123, thats definately what I would have done... the whole thing would have been done in a couple of weekends!

I was going to weigh the shell of this car in but as ive taken it apart ive realised that its pretty much immaculate... like the day it left the factory!

So if "31records" doesnt want it, it will be on ebay for around what id get weighing it in.

 

[219]

Jay , if '31 records' does not want it , you could try '312 Sprinter' as he has a low mileage 280E with a rusty shell .

 

[219]

Reported as spam

 

[Llewelyn]

The surface rust looks much like what I'm working on at the moment on a 280CE, except that you have a rear door

Check around the bottom of the rear wheel arch - this is the bit that's exercising my attention on mine; there are 3 layers of metal which combine into a seam there, corrosion on the inner ones requires dropping subframe for access...

Photos of the work on mine here although it's a coupe, I imagine the under-floor stuff is much the same. I've now moved on to the OS rear, which isn't quite so bad, and I have much the same looking bit on the front as you do

 

[31records]

Thanks all for the comments and advice!

Pontoneer – car does indeed run well… engine is sub-80,000 miles and has interior to match. So I do reckon it is worth doing something and pattern wings or second-hand wings sound like a good option. You’re right – now might be a nice time to learn how to weld as nick mercedes, Smiley, and 312 Sprinter all commented on the high cost!

Jaymanek – thanks for the offer on W123 shell. I will hang on for now and wait until I get the car on a lift to ascertain what needs doing on the stuff that I cannot see… I should add this is my first Mercedes (so heart is leading over head at the moment). I did spot your 190E Cosworth in the gallery – and a dogleg! That is one beautiful car…

Llewelyn – reassuring to find someone on a similar project! Useful photos – thanks.

Plan to have a good look at the rust over this weekend so we’ll see what happens…

Thanks

Owen