These cars can be pretty rough under the paint and this brave effort is no different 190SL Restoration

This 6.3 had been patched in the past but unfortunately a drain hole was left out .The tail lights were not installed properly and water leaked in, rusting out the previous repair .

Holes appeared in the side of the rear quarter. 

After the bumper was removed the paint was ground off and lots of body filler was revealed ,which in turn covered more rust. 

The bottom of the 1/4 Box was unpicked and yet more rust and dodgy repairs uncovered. this is inside the box looking up from underneath. 

The box bottom and the section from the chassis rail were removed to get rid of all the rust.

The Support bracket has been repaired in the past but had rusted out again ,then repaired again

Compared to the new pArt there is a lot of difference …….

New panels were made up to replace the damaged parts. At this point the outer skin hasn’t been removed .

A new section has been welded in to replace the rusted section

Followed by a couple of coats of etch primer then seam sealer.

The bare steel floor has been fully repaired and etch primed .

After the joints in the panels were Seam Sealed with Mercedes specified Teroson seamsealer ,the underbody was fully sealed with body colour PVC bodyshutz. 

next steps are too begin final body prep for paint.

The Right rear section ,when paint was stripped off revealed more damage .The yellowish parts on the panel are bronze from the previous attempt at repair .

The ruler indicates hte depth of the dent 

Right rear edge of the boot lid is 10 mm too high,indicating hidden damage.

left rear edge of boot lid fits closer and factory correct.

The bootlid sits high along this edge too, because the fender edge has not been straightened properly in the past and will have to be lifted up.

The Difference in the panels 

The new rear Box for the panel has been fitted and welded into place .

New outer skin is being welded into place .

At the ‘C’ Pillar further damage from a past accident has been revealed so this will need to be straightende out ,Once the rear window was removed, further rust has been revealed because the rubber seal had not been fitted properly and moisture had leaked in .

Rist in the base of theC pillar .

Inside the C pillar section at the parcel shelf it has rusted quite badly .

Rear panel is badly dented and bad repairs in the past were hidden under a layer of cheap body filler .

Yellow lines out line some of the Dents which  have to be  repaired before the  Side panel can be fitted to the car..

With some of the dents removed . the extent of the distortion is revealed by the piece of wood .The arrows indicate where the panel is leaning back, where it should be leaning the other way.

This is the fuel pump cover which was dented and rusty after 50 years under the car, being bashed by rocks and bad driving..Now straightened out and repainted in the correct Satin Black.

Often Parts for a resto are a little hard to come by and a Mercedes W112 long wheel base  is no exception. So when this poor car was revealed to me last week it was decided to grab it for parts. it’s car #1120152206292 and was built in 1965 >Off the road since 1988 because of problem with the brakes the car was left in the open and went down hill over 30 years. 

Lots of Rust,Lots of loose parts ,some parts are not going to be useable like those perforated bumpers. 

Rear wheel arches are rotten and there wasn’t much to lift on underneath,wheel is a toyota hilux .To move the car i had to swap them out and fit a set of inflated mercedes rims.

Nothing salvageable inside the car it’s pretty damned unhealthy in there . 

Termites had eaten the wood off the dash and doors…This was a highly optioned car when new,with central locking ,factory air and luggage.

Engine department is complete with everything in place .

Because of the air suspension ,the car was sitting very low .Blocks of wood were jammed in between the lower control arm and the cross member to hold the front up and beteen the diff and floor at the rear.

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Once the lower part of the right  rear quarter was remove rust in the wheel house was discovered ..

The rust removed and repaired in this place .

Rust in these places is unfortunately very common ,as the boot lid hinge pocket has a drain which dumps into the base of the rear roof reinforcement. in Australian built cars such as this they rust because it was bare steel .In the above pic the rust in the base has been repaired with new steel.

At this point I  checked the condition of the remainder of the panel and even though I spent several hours attempting to straighten it,it was obvious that it looked OK from a distance but is damaged beyond repair .

The only option was to remove the damaged remnants and repair further rust on the wheel house .The bulge in the panel is a result of tension /pressure caused when the car has been hit in the rear at some time in the past.  The rear panel will probably have to be replaced too as it appears to have also been roughly repaired .

the Roof support beam can be seen here and where it is welded to the wheel house it has rusted and been repaired.

The Lower part,on the wheel house opening was also replaced as water collects there, dirt builds up and this had caused more rust .It was beginning to come though the fender skin . The wheel house was also damaged in the accident and had to be bought back into shape

So ,with that i had to make a complete new skin to replace the rusted and dented parts.

The task of reassembly is proceeding at a slow pace as parts arrive from suppliers.

The dash is original and the radio ,a becker Grand prix ,has life but the speakers are worn out.

The original Upholstery has been cleaned and is quite good condition , the carpet unfortunately has been eaten by some sort of insect. The originals will be used to make patterns for the replacement 

Door Cards are in good condition considering they are 52 years old.

Some of the side bright trim is show signs of it’s age and will need to be restored.