S124 sill & door panels off

[mcbrucer]

Hello all,

I’m new to these forums and recently picked up a ’95 E220 wagon for a few quid. There are already quite a few bits of welding needing done (front wings - inner and outer, nearside rear quarter under the glass, tailgate under the glass) but I suspected there might be more to come so tonight, I stripped off the door panels and sill covers.

Nearside panels off

Front jacking point doesn’t look too bad

Rear jacking point, oh dear…

and it gets worse

Offside doest appear to be so bad

Front looks almost good!

Rear is a bit scabby

Its amazing how much crap these panels can hold - think it took me longer to sweep up the drive than to get some of the panels off!

This one appears to be full of compost

So, thats day 1 on the new motor done and now I just need to figure out if its worth saving or not - or rather, if I can afford it!

Cheers

 

[Scott_F]

The corrosion isn't actually that bad - it shouldn't cost a huge amount to rectify and if there is nothing else wrong with the car it would be well worth doing.

 

[hotrodder]

Front wings and tailgate are bolt on & cosmetic, not so much the front wings as they all rot there but with a bit of patience/luck might even come across a used tailgate in the right colour.
Rear side windows not a fun one but at least the sills/jacking points and front inner wings are hidden so only need to be solid. For the time being at least, can always get them painted properly later on when the front & rear wings are being done

What's gonna get poked next, subframe mounts & brake/fuel/SLS lines?

 

[mcbrucer]

Subframe mounts next - if the rain stops at all. Hadn't considered the brake/fuel lines would rot too - sounds like a big job. I'm thinking maybe the whole underside ought to be coated with some waxoil or somesuch if this thing is gonna stay on the road for a while longer.

 

[brucemillar]

As hotrodder says the rear side windows are worth inspecting. Water gets in behind the cosmetic frames and then pools at the bottom from corner, towards the rear doors. Usual signs are wet boot cubbys. If they are letting in water? It is worth getting the glass and seals out to have a really good look.

That's a very nice looking wagon you have there.

 

[hotrodder]

Subframe mounts next - if the rain stops at all. Hadn't considered the brake/fuel lines would rot too - sounds like a big job. I'm thinking maybe the whole underside ought to be coated with some waxoil or somesuch if this thing is gonna stay on the road for a while longer.

Depending how rotten/where the rot is brake and SLS hardlines can be a PITA as the rear subframe blocks access to some of them. Most of the factory underseal on mine was still sound when a mate and i dropped the subframe to replace all the hardlines (and spheres, front subframe mounts etc) with cunifer but while the subframe was out it seemed daft not to go nuts with some 3M body shutz/U-Pol gravitex etc after attacking it with wire brushes to get any loose bits of the origional stuff off

While you're under it have a good poke around the fuel tank, especially the filler neck were it meets the tank. This area gets shotblasted by crud from the rear wheel and is a common rot spot on estates. Jacking points and subframe mounts on mine are solid but the tank needed repairing so did that at the same time

 

[mercmush]

Good luck with your endeavours, I hope that it all goes well for you. It's always nice to see an old Merc getting some TLC.

 

[tjamesbo]

Almost identical to the Rust on my 93 220TE I got the jacking pont repair plates from germany and my welder did them Same at the rear arch and the inner front wing cost me about £230 including a couple of small floorpan holes
Inner wing refab was quite substantial
Its all repairable and not a fortune I cleaned and greased up the Rear Brake lines but will be looking at dropping the subframe this winter to renew them .
Where are you located ?
Boyd

 

[mcbrucer]

Thanks guys. I picked up this wagon for very little and while I do have some money to throw at it, the single quote I've had back so far from my local bodyshop is for more than I expected it to be (it's for cutting out all the rot in the inner & outer wings, rear cargo window & tailgate - welding in new metal and painting the sides - repairing crack in rear bumper and painting it).

So anyway, I may need to look into alternative plans to make this viable - like maybe just getting the welding done and not the paint. I could just ignore the tailgate for now as its not that bad and even then, as Hotrodder says above, it probably would be cheaper to replace it rather than have it repaired and painted.

I could also break it as I'm pretty sure the leather interior alone would go a long way towards paying for the car.

At the end of the day, I don't need the car to be mint - only usable as a comfortable (& hopefully reliable) daily runaround & weekend workhorse.

I guess I need to find a decent local(fish) welder and get some ideas of costs...

 

[brucemillar]

Where are you located?

 

[mcbrucer]

Kettering, Northants

 

[roman82]

I know polish garage in this area who will do nice job if u want.

 

[roman82]

Will sent u contacts late on

 

[Mike Walker]

Sorry if I missed it above but do check inside rear wings/boot floor too. Been there and replaced both sides.

 

[tjamesbo]

Mine is similar, going to be a weekender I dont think mine is worth a respray I am considering vinyl wrapping it myself or plastidip spraying it or DIY with my spraygun sides only sometime over the winter
Boyd

 

[mcbrucer]

inside the rear wings looks ok-ish - will need to check the boot floor out.

@tjamesbo I was also thinking about getting the welding done and skipping the paint altogether. I could then do it myself with the rustoleum / foam roller method. I used to run a vw camper and this was a very popular method with that crowd. Doesn't cost much but does need quite a bit of time...

 

[Parisien]

. I could then do it myself with the rustoleum / foam roller method. I used to run a vw camper and this was a very popular method with that crowd. Doesn't cost much but does need quite a bit of time...

Can you expand on the above?

Cheers

P

 

[mcbrucer]

Sure, these two videos will give you a flavour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qPJTTRWttQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXbIJ4M37lw

 

[mcbrucer]

I've decided to bite the bullet and have booked the car into my local bodyshop to have all the work done. Fingers crossed!