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So, I bought a R107 :)

ah, but I'm not a Scotsman
 
As i am doing loads of bodywork on the car anyway, i am considering removing the black rear spoiler on the car.

Should I keep it or ditch it? It is a genuine Merc 107 spoiler as fitted to the bigger engined models as standard.... and i think it was added as an option on mine when new (although this is debatable!) as the mounts are perfect (ie a new boot would of been used if it is retrofitted).

pic of car with it on:

rear_r.jpg


pic of car with it off:

r107_no_spoiler.jpg


opinions valued :)
 
my 10p - looks cleaner lines with it off (and you can't tell me that it helps with downforce :rolleyes: )
 
Personally I don't like them so I'd say get rid, however if I bought a car with an original one on, I'd keep it as its an authentic bit of the car and part of its story.

Similarly, I've got a mobile phone aerial on my rear screen at the top which has been disconnected. I've never thought to remove it as it somehow seems part of the car and its era... and it would require faffing about to clean the glass and tweak bits of the trim inside..


Ade
 
bad lights are probably more to do with 20 year old wiring than any defect in design, uprated bulbs will just try to pull more current through already old wires, If you cant make or pay for a new loom your better off using a spot light wiring kit to power the main beam and take the trigger for the relay from the original main beam feed, powering the relay direct from the battery (via a fuse as well of course) you'll be suprised at the differance, and if you bear in mind the difference in power of the lights afterwards you may feel much happier about paying out for new wiring, a new loom in an old car can cure lots of problems and greatly add to reliability and cold starting for example.
 
also, does anyone know how much a R107 hard top weighs? i'm considering putting a pully and making a hoist to remove/fit the hardtop on my garage roof but need to know the weight of the thing so i buy strong enough cables etc
 
Hi

OK, car is now SORN and the restoration begins!

REAR BUMPER AREA

I decided to start at the rear of the car as (i thought) the work needed was less there and it would ease me in slowly towards the more difficult repairs needed at the front.

BUT I WAS WRONG! LOL

i removed the rubber strip along the rear bumper, to reveal that both the rear side lower sections are totally rotton at their mounts. The main parts of them seem fine.

Plus the parts they are mounted to are actually totally rotted away with the driver's side not there at all and was just held on with the rubber strip i removed.

I'm talking about 56 in the pic below:

rear_bumper_parts.gif


part 20 is the part that i think is no longer there!

The good news is that the centre part (part 53) seems good with very minor rust to the mounting points that i should be able to clean up quite effectively.

I could probably bodge part 56 with some new metal to hold them on but at £49 each side i feel its probably worth replacing.

Part 20 which seems to be duel purpose; stiffening for the bumper and what part 53 bolts to. Unfortunalty at £81 per side i dont consider it to be worth replacing with a genuine part. I will be repairing with new steel of my own in the correct shape to form a bracket for about a tenner both sides. I guess this will leave the rear side wing more vunrable if hit (ie the bumper wont do a great deal) but its going to be beyond my budget in this area. If anyone forsees a big problem with this idea please let me know!

Genuine parts required to repair rear bumper:

A1078850325 £48.97 Rear bumper side trim L
A1078850425 £48.97 Rear bumper side trim R

The stiffening under the centre part of the bumper also seems to be rusted at the ends, but is OK in the main so i hope i can get away with keeping this with some treatment and maybe some new metal added.

Of course the new parts and the old parts i keep will be painted, waxoiled.

The good news is the bodywork behind all this seems pretty good with only minor surface rust on the drivers side that i will deal with as the bumper is off.

Unfortunatly the chrome also on the drivers side is damaged:

chrome_damage2.jpg


there doesnt seem to be any other choice here but to get the chrome professionally restored. This comes in at around £100 but i'm still getting quotes. The rest of the chrome seems good but i'll be taking it all off the car hopefully and treating it on its reverse in an attempt to stop or slow down any future damage. at £250 for a new part from Mercedes repairing this chrome is my only real option here.

I'll post more pics as I go regarding the rear bumper area repair before i move onto the other parts of the car.

My original plan was to removal all trim etc and tackle everything once the whole car is stripped of its bolt on parts, but i've decided due to the extent of work needed, i'm going to do it in stages so if i dont get it finished before the good weather starts (if it ever does!!) the car wont be unusable.

I'd be inetrested in any advice/comments anyone may have regarding what i plan to do.

thanks

Derek
 
Did the nuts 77 come off the ends of the rubbers OK? And the bolts holding the ends of 20 through to the boot?
 
Druk said:
Did the nuts 77 come off the ends of the rubbers OK?
Click to expand...

well, one side was already unclipped and is actually still on the car. the other side came off OK. it did spin like you said, but i prised the rubber off it and then used molegrips to hold the square bit as i undid the bolt. They look like they should just pop back in though????

the bolts came off the bumper OK, again with the side "bracket" parts held with molegrips to avoid it spinning.

I've not actually removed the bumper from the car yet though - just loosened all the bolts - i'm very concious of every part being rusty and also being super expensive.

part of me wonders if i'm better off just leaving all the chrome on and not fiddiling with the rusty metal underneath that is still holding up.... with the centre lower trim removed and the bumper removed i should be able to get a brush in there to brush on some rust remedy, but a lot of it probably is too far gone.

do you reckon my home-made bracket will be OK? It appears much of this area could be fixed by new metal rather than the genuine merc brackets etc

how bad was your rear bumper area?
 
Last edited:
One of mine was reasonable and I got it shot blasted and coated. The other was too far gone so I renewed.

SLpictures054.jpg
 
Druk said:
One of mine was reasonable and I got it shot blasted and coated. The other was too far gone so I renewed.
Click to expand...


the little square bracket bit that is there (where the bumper bolt goes onto from the side) is all that remains of mine!!

As someone has obviously bodged this area before, i suspect most of it has been removed/cut off rather than completely rotted away and fallen off.

seeing these makes me wonder if i should replace with a genuine part - looks much more robust than what i could fabricate myself, but i feel my DIY part would hold the trim on well.....
 
Last edited:
I think I would survey the whole car in detail before committing to spending a lot of money on it.:( I appreciate what you are saying about doing a bit at a time but might be an idea to concentrate on areas vital to passing the MOT first?? The most serious problem area is reputedly the heater plenum chamber which rusts thro to the front footwells.:eek: You can inspect it by unscrewing the heater blower plastic cover on the front bulkhead. The other vulnerable area are the sills near the jacking points, floors andn sometimes the chassis box sections in the engine bay. Maybe you have done this already and if so just ignore this.:o
 
grober said:
I think I would survey the whole car in detail before committing to spending a lot of money on it.:( I appreciate what you are saying about doing a bit at a time but might be an idea to concentrate on areas vital to passing the MOT first?? The most serious problem area is reputedly the heater plenum chamber which rusts thro to the front footwells.:eek: You can inspect it by unscrewing the heater blower plastic cover on the front bulkhead. The other vulnerable area are the sills near the jacking points, floors andn sometimes the chassis box sections in the engine bay. Maybe you have done this already and if so just ignore this.:o
Click to expand...

its just had an MOT just before i bought it so apart from the advisaries i'm aware of and going to tackle, it should be OK, atleast nothing too bad anyway.
 
SilverSaloon said:
its just had an MOT just before i bought it so apart from the advisaries i'm aware of and going to tackle, it should be OK, atleast nothing too bad anyway.
Click to expand...

Well that's good news .:bannana: I would deffo have a quick look at that plenum chamber at some point tho.;)
 
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