Rusty Wheel Arches

[Juls]

The bodywork of my silver 2000 SLK 230 is in pretty good shape, but unfortunately there's a bit of rust under the 4 wheel arches. It's creeping round the corner onto the front face in places.

I spoke to a few people who've advised me to have it done right and I'd need it ground down, rust removed, primed and resprayed and the 4 wings should be done. Another guy advised the doors should be resprayed too to match it all in. and then someone else said NO- don't do that or it'll affect it's resale value as they'll be clearly resprayed and a buyer will assume it's been damage repaired!

I've looked online for wheel arch trims thinking I could have the front edge inch resprayed back to the vertical lip and put on the trims to hide the join.

So what should I do? Any advice / suggestions?

 

[Buffers]

So many cars have paint work done on them. You could always photograph 'before and after' work to prove it was not a damage repair and if its done well you will be OK. I don't think it will affect the resale price. Most buyers would be pleased the rust had been tackled to a good standard. I am not a lover of arch trims (what lurks underneath!!). Better a proper repair at a recommended body shop.

Buffers

 

[Sonny Burnett]

The bodywork of my silver 2000 SLK 230 is in pretty good shape, but unfortunately there's a bit of rust under the 4 wheel arches. It's creeping round the corner onto the front face in places.

I spoke to a few people who've advised me to have it done right and I'd need it ground down, rust removed, primed and resprayed and the 4 wings should be done. Another guy advised the doors should be resprayed too to match it all in. and then someone else said NO- don't do that or it'll affect it's resale value as they'll be clearly resprayed and a buyer will assume it's been damage repaired!

I've looked online for wheel arch trims thinking I could have the front edge inch resprayed back to the vertical lip and put on the trims to hide the join.

So what should I do? Any advice / suggestions?

ok having been through this on 2 cars moving on to rust freeing my 3rd. all i can say is, you need the rears cut out, the front arches replaced, completly painted and treated but also the boot and hood will not match as it is 11 years old paint on there so the whole car does need to be blown in.

it really is that simple and any good body shop will make it so it dont look as if its had work carried out.
budget 1200-1600 depending on part prices..

im not just talking out my back door i completly rid my 210 and 202 of rust.. and im lookign at the 203 which to be honest is nothing compared to the 202s state.

 

[cazyp]

I'd disagree in that a good old school paint shop will be able to match your 11 year old paint. Don't go for flash when you visit a paint shop, go for a good experienced chap. I'd avoid any paint shop that tells you the doors need blowing in to match arch repairs, these paint shops are using paint code mixes rather than mixing to your 11 year old true colour.

You will need all rust cut out. The full arches should be taken back to bare metal. Depending on amount of front wing rust it maybe cheaper to replace the wings.

 

[Sonny Burnett]

I'd disagree in that a good old school paint shop will be able to match your 11 year old paint. Don't go for flash when you visit a paint shop, go for a good experienced chap. I'd avoid any paint shop that tells you the doors need blowing in to match arch repairs...

You will need all rust cut out. The full arches should be taken back to bare metal. Depending on amount of front wing rust it maybe cheaper to replace the wings.

i use a old school paint shop with profesional coachworkers who are renound for building and painting mercedes..

have you not ever took the badges of the back of a 10 year old car and seen the colour difference.??

 

[cazyp]

i use a old school paint shop with profesional coachworkers who are renound for building and painting mercedes..

have you not ever took the badges of the back of a 10 year old car and seen the colour difference.??

Yes. My father owned a paint shop that mainly done Rolls Royce/Bently repairs including new damaged in transit repairs. I worked with him from my teens.
What i'm talking about here though is not grabing pre mixed paint to code but mixing a colour to match the current colour of the paintwork for his SLK. It can be done without machines/codes if you have enough years experiance mixing colours.
There should be no need to blow over a 10 year old car for simple arch repairs.
However I imagine the 'art' of mixing matched colours is dying fast and paint codes are relied on hence the need to blow over various other panels for a match and increased charge..

 

[Sonny Burnett]

Yes. My father owned a paint shop that mainly done Rolls Royce/Bently repairs including new damaged in transit repairs. I worked with him from my teens.
What i'm talking about here though is not grabing pre mixed paint to code but mixing a colour to match the current colour of the paintwork for his SLK. It can be done without machines/codes if you have enough years experiance mixing colours.
There should be no need to blow over a 10 year old car for simple arch repairs.
However I imagine the 'art' of mixing matched colours is dying fast and paint codes are relied on hence the need to blow over various other panels for a match and increased charge..

to be honest with you id rather have the car blown in, my silver 210 looks like a brand new car sat next to my 11 year old 208 in the exact same paint...
so id say get it blown in who wants decade old dull paint when it can look new

 

[Will]

I have to say that I would be inclined to paint down both sides.

Silver is a very difficult colour to match, and often sticks out noticably if you only paint isolated panels. Aside from exact shade, any fading, metallic particles in the paint, swirling, chips, the level of paint (as in 'orange peel') etc can cause you to notice which panels have been painted.

If you're painting the front wings and back quarters, it's very little extra work to do the doors and would be unlikely to add a massive amount to the final bill.

Otherwise it will likely annoy you, every time you glance at the car side-on and can see where it's been painted, and where hasn't...

The value of an 11 year old SLK would surely be based upon the condition, rather than if it's had 'any paintwork', which 90% of them will have by now

So long as it's done properly, it would surely be worth more than an average one with rusty arches.

 

[Rob77]

Ian Walker's (124Works') bodyman replaced the front wings on both my cars as well as doing some localised repairs (eg rear bumper on the S124, stone chips, etc).

Didn't blow in anything in and except for a bit round the tailgate lock on the S124 I can't see any change in colour.

Maybe somebody with the eyes of an eagle could spot a difference but if so I've not yet met him and/or he hasn't pointed anything out.

Anyway, IMHO, unless the car is some rare collector's piece, the main thing is to get rid of the rust and make the car sound. The costs have to be weighed against the value of the car at some point.

 

[Will]

Ian Walker's (124Works') bodyman replaced the front wings on both my cars as well as doing some localised repairs (eg rear bumper on the S124, stone chips, etc).

Didn't blow in anything in and except for a bit round the tailgate lock on the S124 I can't see any change in colour.

Maybe somebody with the eyes of an eagle could spot a difference but if so I've not yet met him and/or he hasn't pointed anything out.

Anyway, IMHO, unless the car is some rare collector's piece, the main thing is to get rid of the rust and make the car sound. The costs have to be weighed against the value of the car at some point.

What colour are the cars you had done?

Any pics (side on)?

A quick walk around a typical car park, or a browse on eBay/autotrader etc usually shows up a number of 90s/00s 744 silver MBs with either rusty bodywork or panels that you can see have been painted.

I do agree with the cost implications, but as an SLK door is small (and pillarless) it really shouldn't add a lot to the overall bill. Better to spend a couple of hundred extra to ensure a perfect paint finish/match rather than having already spent several hundred £££s on just the four arches and being disappointed with the results

All IMHO of course

Will

 

[Sonny Burnett]

i had mine fuly resprayed and it was a few hundred more for a fresh lick of paint, which stands out cleaner and better looking than my 00 CLK 744

 

[Rob77]

What colour are the cars you had done?

Any pics (side on)?

My W201 is Pearl Grey metallic and the S124 is Malachite Green metallic.

Sorry, I don't have any pics of them at all. Which is a bit daft considering I like the cars and I also like taking photos.

One day, I'll take some and then find out how to post them up here

 

[GSD]

It comes down to personal preference and how much you have to spend.

You may be able to get away with just treating and spraying the inner areas of the arch without touching the rest of the wing if the rust isn’t too bad. If you do need to get the complete wings done, bear in mind that silver is definitely a hard colour to match so there will be a noticeable difference in the colour match.

I had this exact problem after treating a few panels on my W210 last year so I ended up getting a full respray but it does come down to personal preference and whether or not the colour match bothers you

 

[Rob77]

You may be able to get away with just treating and spraying the inner areas of the arch without touching the rest of the wing if the rust isn’t too bad. If you do need to get the complete wings done, bear in mind that silver is definitely a hard colour to match so there will be a noticeable difference in the colour match.

Just to be clear, I did get my replacement wings fully painted. Mercedes wings seem to be a weak point and they are not that expensive. I wouldn't suggest trying to repair the existing ones unless as a quick and cheap temporary fix.

 

[Sonny Burnett]

It comes down to personal preference and how much you have to spend.

You may be able to get away with just treating and spraying the inner areas of the arch without touching the rest of the wing if the rust isn’t too bad. If you do need to get the complete wings done, bear in mind that silver is definitely a hard colour to match so there will be a noticeable difference in the colour match.

I had this exact problem after treating a few panels on my W210 last year so I ended up getting a full respray but it does come down to personal preference and whether or not the colour match bothers you

do you have any pics of your 210 mate?.. im a big fan of them i have spent a lot of time and money on mine trying to get it perfect.

 

[Juls]

thanks guys... that's useful... The rust is as yet not even noticeable but I want to get it tackled before it becomes noticeable although I'd rather keep the costs down, I do want it done right...

 

[GSD]

do you have any pics of your 210 mate?.. im a big fan of them i have spent a lot of time and money on mine trying to get it perfect.

I have tried to put some up here: http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/members-gallery/109136-w210-amg-kit.html

Hopefully it works

 

[Sonny Burnett]

I have tried to put some up here: http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/members-gallery/109136-w210-amg-kit.html

Hopefully it works

lloks brilliant whats your front suspension setup.. here are mine the fronts a bit to high click HERE

funny we bot have AMG body kitted 240s i dont have the reare bumper as of yet tho it was between that and some 3 piece rims lol

 

[GSD]

Thanks yours looks good too the AMG kit really does change the look of a 210

Only slightly it still sits nicely what is your suspension set up? Im running weitec springs with bilstein shocks.

Lol it is the only engine I can get insured on at my age would love to have an actual e55 though

The rear bumper will be hard to find where did you get the rest of your kit from?? The wheels look good how wide are the rears??

 

[shorty]

@Juls
If your looking for some one who could repaire the rust on your wheels arches I can know of some painters round the Dundalk area who are very good . They used to paint Limos and hearses in where I work so there level of paint finish is fantastic .

If your interested drop me a pm and Il foward there contact info .