A tale of 2x C124 Coupes. Rust repairs!

[JOEPRO]

@JOEPRO

Post https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...-c124-coupes-rust-repairs.129226/post-2250858

Were they dipped or hot zinc sprayed?

Those suspension parts were blasted and then hot dip galvanised

 

[JOEPRO]

Fully welded up and completed this one tonight. I check for pinholes in welds with a torch - 100% sealed. Once stonechipped the repair is undetectable which is what I aim for.

 

[JOEPRO]

Front left next

 

[JOEPRO]

Headlamp bulbs are easy to access on this one



All fixable I've done it before. Hopefully the metal shrinker stretcher on order will make compound curves easier to form with the 1.2mm galv material I use. Normally I form them with several pieces which takes longer.

 

[owas]

I've always done them in several peices too but there are panels available

Inner fender repair sheet (for Mercedes W124)

Another typical rust spot on the W124 are the front inner fenders. In particular, the right side (passenger side) under the wiper water reservoir is often affected by…

www.trabhan.com

 

[charlysays]

all 90s Benzes rust like Lancia's.

A few of them do, the worst years seem to be 1999-2003 although I have heard that rotten subframes on 2015 Mercs are an issue. My 1997 W202 got to 24 years old and 200,000 miles without needing a welder which is pretty good I think but it had some rust on every panel by then. Such a shame Merc couldn't have taken a leaf out of the PSA groups cars, those cars were incredibly corrosion resistant. From my observations their etch coat was incredibly zinc rich and tough and the top coat on the shell was also much tougher than Merc.
Chip a merc and theres a hole there in a few years, chip a PSA group car and it looks the same a few years later!

 

[JOEPRO]

I've always done them in several peices too but there are panels available

Inner fender repair sheet (for Mercedes W124)

Another typical rust spot on the W124 are the front inner fenders. In particular, the right side (passenger side) under the wiper water reservoir is often affected by…

www.trabhan.com

I have ordered the new bumper brackets from Trabhan but didn't order the headlamp sheetmetal parts. Seems too wasteful to cut a small section I need out of those new panels. I also have 3x entire w124 spare rust free front ends cut from my parts cars in the past but I don't want to cut them up either!

I'll make the repair areas from 1.2mm galv metal like on my w140 -





Before full seam welding-



After - new bracket and a screw cut down and welded on for the arch liners.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Doing a great job there...the intricate repairs are tricky but I used to find them quite satisfying.

I really must find the time to get back down the garage again...it's been a few years I think!

 

[JOEPRO]

Front left jack point repair completed this afternoon





The front edge of the cill here usually rots out. This car is actually in decent shape there but since the front wings require replacement anyway I'm going to take them off including arch liners and get a good look at the front ends of the cills both sides and make any repair sections.

 

[JOEPRO]

I am looking at what to treat the underbody with on this car. I normally used an epoxy primer, POR15 and followed by black waxoyl shutz.

I am looking at this epoxy which is expensive but claims to offer great protection. I could use my blast pot to remove the areas which have surface rust then brush and mini gloss roller 2x coats of the black epoxy on.



All C124s look like this- they mustn't have had enough paint underneath above the rear subframe

 

[Morris]

You're doing a great job there but what awful factory finishing for a premium brand.

 

[JOEPRO]

You're doing a great job there but what awful factory finishing for a premium brand.

Thank you for the comments!

I would agree and disagree on this. The car is 31 years old and came from Isle of Man.

I think alot of other cars would have completely melted into the sea in those conditions

I always seem to pick em-.I never buy cars from sensible places regarding condition but then where would the fun be in that.

Had I sourced a C124 from Ireland for example where they do not use road salt in certain counties it would be virtually rust free.

This car was around £400 / £450 IIRC. Yes I'll have a good couple of hundred hours work into it but I will have a completely rust free and restored car to my standards at the end of it for not very much £ at all. So for me as a MB collector it's worth it.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Underside looks very much like the Nissans I work on...1992 vintage.

I've not had much luck with por15 but my prep is less than ideal as I only have a knot wire wheel in a grinder.

Given the poor prep I usually use a 1 pack epoxy rust converter followed by light abrasion (pad) and then epoxy 2 pack.

I think if you can blast it clean then just 2 pack epoxy is going to be fine.

 

[Morris]

@JOEPRO I hadn't realised that it was that old so fair comment.

 

[JOEPRO]

I kept going and just finished the last jacking point. So all 4x are repaired and now to move to other areas.

 

[JOEPRO]

I am looking at what to treat the underbody with on this car. I normally used an epoxy primer, POR15 and followed by black waxoyl shutz.

I am looking at this epoxy which is expensive but claims to offer great protection. I could use my blast pot to remove the areas which have surface rust then brush and mini gloss roller 2x coats of the black epoxy on.

View attachment 489530

All C124s look like this- they mustn't have had enough paint underneath above the rear subframe

View attachment 489531

View attachment 489532

I went ahead and ordered the classic epoxy primer kit above. £108 delivered on their website directly not eBay.

Will be nice to start painting in the wheel wells and other repaired areas. Always feel like good progress when paint starts going on.

 

[JOEPRO]

I removed the headlamps and such today to get access and see how bad below the headlamps is. (Common w124 weak point)

It's bad. But I have fixed worse.







This is one of thr 3x spare front ends I have



Not cutting it up but it will serve as a good template for making the new panels out of galv material and for locating the bumper brackets.

 

[JOEPRO]

Some CAD design today after carefully cutting back to where I plan to weld. Next up to plasma cut the repair patch from 1mm galv sheetmetal.

 

[Turbo]

Are you doing this in your tent garage? How is the project going to fit the car lift in the other garage?

 

[JOEPRO]

Are you doing this in your tent garage? How is the project going to fit the car lift in the other garage?

This car is in my front single masonry garage where the car lift will go eventually. Need to finish what I started on this car first so it can move out of the garage