Wing repair

[dwa]

There is a small rust hole on the wing of an old Merc that I have bought, about the size of a half crown (showing my age there). The rest of the wing is perfect and I would prefer not to go to the extent of replacing the whole wing. I personally think it's repairable but would appreciate some advice as to whether it is possible and suggestions as to the best method. If I put up a picture would someone be kind enough to offer their opinion?
Many thanks .

 

[hotrodder]

Yeah post a pic. Bear in mind rust likely to be worse than it appears to be i.e. might end up having to make a patch a fair bit larger than a half crown.

 

[the snooper]

could also be rotting from the underside through to the top
rust never rotts through in perfect neatly edged cirles

 

[Chickenjohn]

Yes, agreed, unbolt the wing and see how bad the rust is on the rear. You will be much better off repairing the wing off the car anyway. And when the wing is off, please do post some pics front and rear side of the wing.

 

[dwa]

Here it is then. It was while I was cleaning the rust off behind that the damage became obvious. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to cut off the entire corner of the wing (as small as possible of course) and replace it with a section from another wing provided that I can find a good donor wing. I would prefer not to take the wing off if possible, I don't really want to disturb it.
Thanks for your help.
Dave

 

[sprayerDrew]

it definately needs repairing from behind else it will just come through again!
Drew
MidlandPaintWerks

 

[Chickenjohn]

Yes, take the wing off!! The repair section you will have to make up to repair that is quite tricky having several folds and possibly needing some shrinking to get the curver. Not really possible to do a proper job with the wing still on! Plus if you keep the wing on it looks like you will be welding quite close to plastic trim as well.

 

[GeorgeB]

There is a small rust hole on the wing of an old Merc that I have bought, about the size of a half crown (showing my age there). The rest of the wing is perfect and I would prefer not to go to the extent of replacing the whole wing. I personally think it's repairable but would appreciate some advice as to whether it is possible and suggestions as to the best method. If I put up a picture would someone be kind enough to offer their opinion?

If the rest of the wing is in good condition, I'd use fibreglass to plug that hole. It's not structural and I wouldn't even think of getting out a welder. You risk damaging far more of the surrounding paintwork with all the heat. If the fibreglass is applied and painted properly, the repair should last longer than the rest of the car. If you can access the rear of the hole, do the repair in situ rather than disrupt anything by taking off the wing.

 

[hotrodder]

Ahh a w124. They all go there as mud (nearside wing on mine needs doing too) collects on the flange where the wing meets the bumper and rots it from the inside out. By the time corrosion has broken through to the surface the entire corner will be be pretty rotten. Cutting a panel from a donor wing would be perfect if you can find that isn't rusty, problem is that many of the cars that get scrapped have already gone here

Please don't get out the fibreglass. A HUGE bodge that won't even come close to outlasting an otherwise clean w124. The only place for that sort of work is keeping a cheap runaround on the road for a few years

At the very least the bumpers going to have come off to gain access to the return flange then the area of rot to be removed can be assessed and templated in order to make the repair panel which is likely to be a lot larger than outside appearences would suggest. Not sure but IIRC genuine wings from mercedes aren't that bad price wise, certainly worth a call even if it ends up with you laughing down the phone at the stealers all depends on how you value your time versus metal working skills and how clean the rest of the car is...

 

[dwa]

Cheers all for the replies. Don't fancy the fibreglass method to be honest, I would always know that it was there. I think the best plan is to get the bumper off and clean a bit more of the area and see what it looks like then. Actually there is fairly good access behind the wing and I have buffed it all up with a wire brush in the drill and the rust doesn't extend much beyond what you can see in the photo. Can't help feeling that there is nothing to lose in giving it a go, if it turns out alright well it's a result. If I'm not happy with it then I can replace the wing anyway.

 

[BChild]

Cheers all for the replies. Don't fancy the fibreglass method to be honest, I would always know that it was there. I think the best plan is to get the bumper off and clean a bit more of the area and see what it looks like then. Actually there is fairly good access behind the wing and I have buffed it all up with a wire brush in the drill and the rust doesn't extend much beyond what you can see in the photo. Can't help feeling that there is nothing to lose in giving it a go, if it turns out alright well it's a result. If I'm not happy with it then I can replace the wing anyway.

I did a similar repair on the better halfs Polo

Repair shown here - not brilliant but I was happy with it

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8028&page=6

Finished and painted pic is here

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8028&page=7

 

[hotrodder]

As you say nothing to lose with regards to a bolt on panel. Cup brushes make short work of loose paint and flaky rust but won't get all the surface corrosion out of pitted surfaces. Several commercial products available all based around phosphoric acid to deal with that though

Regardless of what electrics are disconnected/left connected/those surge protector things make sure to fit the welders work return clamp to the wing itself and that the connection area is back to clean shiney metal

 

[dwa]

That looks perfectly ok to me. I would be really happy with that, it's a good repair that should last a long time. I think I will start getting some practice in at work first on some thin metal. The only thing I would query is whether by putting a patch on the back you are making a bit of a trap for future mud, salt etc.

 

[BChild]

That looks perfectly ok to me. I would be really happy with that, it's a good repair that should last a long time. I think I will start getting some practice in at work first on some thin metal. The only thing I would query is whether by putting a patch on the back you are making a bit of a trap for future mud, salt etc.

I thought about that at the time so prepared teh back once completed - any dirt mud salt has got to get past a plastic wheel arch liner (ok it did before cos thats why the hole rotted out in just that place) but now it's got a get through a big splodge of seam sealer topped of with a large helping of underseal now..

 

[Chickenjohn]

That looks perfectly ok to me. I would be really happy with that, it's a good repair that should last a long time. I think I will start getting some practice in at work first on some thin metal. The only thing I would query is whether by putting a patch on the back you are making a bit of a trap for future mud, salt etc.

Don't put a patch on the back, as you say, it will trap mud. A butt welded repair, sealed on both sides is the permanent way to go here. The only way to make a decent repair here is remove the wing and make a card template of the corner of the wing, fold this up in 1mm mild steel, then carefully and accurately cut the corner of the wing off, grind smooth, fill and paint the front side, seam seal and paint the rear side.

Removal of the wing ensures that you remove all rust from the back side and paint and seam seal the repair properly. Then when the wing is back on the car, waxoyl the area to prevent future rust.