Titivating my Mercedes 124
Discussion
The body shop sent me some photos by text message today (this is seriously challenging my IT literacy). It looks like they have patched the hole in the offside front inner wing. Most 124s will have rot here; my last one did; and my SL has a bit as well. I'm guessing that on the engine bay side it is a shelf for dirt and moisture and on the underside it gets covered in wash from the road.
This first picture is looking down from the front of the car; the headlight is out and the bumper off (obviously). The hole is the the thing you can see the tyre through. You should not be able to see the tyre. Forgive me if I am stating the obvious.
Right, this next image is taken from within the engine bay, looking toward the offside front inside corner. The perfectly round hole is the air inlet for the engine: this is why late-model and turbo-diesels have vents in the offside front wing. The rather craggy hole beneath it is the one that ought not be there.
Now we are on the outside, adjacent to the offside front wheel, looking toward the car. The rusty lump is the offside front bumper bracket. It could be an awful lot worse than that!
Finally, the patch. Again, this is looking down from above the engine compartment. It looks a mess. They always do, that is nothing to worry about. This will all get sprayed with the Bilt Hamber Electrox zinc primer I dropped off yesterday. The underside will get either Dynac S50 or UB, I haven't decide which yet. I am reluctant to trap any corrosion under the UB.
This first picture is looking down from the front of the car; the headlight is out and the bumper off (obviously). The hole is the the thing you can see the tyre through. You should not be able to see the tyre. Forgive me if I am stating the obvious.
Right, this next image is taken from within the engine bay, looking toward the offside front inside corner. The perfectly round hole is the air inlet for the engine: this is why late-model and turbo-diesels have vents in the offside front wing. The rather craggy hole beneath it is the one that ought not be there.
Now we are on the outside, adjacent to the offside front wheel, looking toward the car. The rusty lump is the offside front bumper bracket. It could be an awful lot worse than that!
Finally, the patch. Again, this is looking down from above the engine compartment. It looks a mess. They always do, that is nothing to worry about. This will all get sprayed with the Bilt Hamber Electrox zinc primer I dropped off yesterday. The underside will get either Dynac S50 or UB, I haven't decide which yet. I am reluctant to trap any corrosion under the UB.
A few more updates from today.
The inner wing patches are done and the new front wings are loosely mounted. The front wings and nearside doors will be lined up this afternoon. The front wings have been treated with the Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 which my man prefers to the UB. He is very anti-underseal. He reckons the Dynax-S50 is lovely stuff and was very impressed with it. The windscreen aperture has been done and primed with the Bilt Hamber Electrox but I forgot to take pictures. The car will be in primer tonight.
Here is the offside inner wing patch, completed and primed with the Electrox primer:
And here is the nearside, too.
That is the good news. The bad news is that the jacking points are worse than feared. Patching and repair is required. This will be done either tomorrow or Friday. They will be primed with Electrox then painted body colour. The sills will then be coated with Dynax-S50 inside and out. Here are the holes.
This is the offside rear, by far the worst:
The nearside rear is a little better:
Nearside front:
And finally the offside front:
The news about the jacking points is the only bad news so far on the whole job and, absent cock up, I can't see there being any more. Progress seems very rapid since Monday afternoon. There was very little on the body that needed doing before it goes in the paint booth.
More news tomorrow, hopefully.
The inner wing patches are done and the new front wings are loosely mounted. The front wings and nearside doors will be lined up this afternoon. The front wings have been treated with the Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 which my man prefers to the UB. He is very anti-underseal. He reckons the Dynax-S50 is lovely stuff and was very impressed with it. The windscreen aperture has been done and primed with the Bilt Hamber Electrox but I forgot to take pictures. The car will be in primer tonight.
Here is the offside inner wing patch, completed and primed with the Electrox primer:
And here is the nearside, too.
That is the good news. The bad news is that the jacking points are worse than feared. Patching and repair is required. This will be done either tomorrow or Friday. They will be primed with Electrox then painted body colour. The sills will then be coated with Dynax-S50 inside and out. Here are the holes.
This is the offside rear, by far the worst:
The nearside rear is a little better:
Nearside front:
And finally the offside front:
The news about the jacking points is the only bad news so far on the whole job and, absent cock up, I can't see there being any more. Progress seems very rapid since Monday afternoon. There was very little on the body that needed doing before it goes in the paint booth.
More news tomorrow, hopefully.
Thanks OP for a fantastic thread. This car will be amazing when finished. The level of detail is superb. At the end of the work you will have a vehicle that will last many more years and it will be enjoyed for many miles. I like them so much I recently bought another one with 391,000 miles on it for daily use :-), so I now own two. 1 diesel and 1 petrol. Definitely get the roof box sprayed/wrapped the same colour as the panels it will look great.All the best and hats off to you for giving her a second wind.I can't wait to see the finished article.
220te said:
Thanks OP for a fantastic thread. This car will be amazing when finished. The level of detail is superb. At the end of the work you will have a vehicle that will last many more years and it will be enjoyed for many miles. I like them so much I recently bought another one with 391,000 miles on it for daily use :-), so I now own two. 1 diesel and 1 petrol. Definitely get the roof box sprayed/wrapped the same colour as the panels it will look great.All the best and hats off to you for giving her a second wind.I can't wait to see the finished article.
Thanks for this. I think I saw the 391,000mile car advertised on Ebay. I love a car with high miles: it must have so many journeys to tell of. If it's a diesel and if it hasn't had the vacuum pump changed, I recommend you look into changing it.Anyway, my man sent me some updates just now by text message: it looks like any bare metal has been primed with Electrox.
I'll pop over at lunchtime to see if there is any further progress.
Looks a quality welding job there. It will be a lovely car when it is finished. It is probably my favourite colour for an estate too.
Make sure the painter prepares it properly down the sides. My own car shimmers slightly with movement at an angle of 10 degrees, particularly from a low height. Though it is most obvious when I'm on my hands and knees looking at it, it still really annoys me! I'm sure it would annoy you too - and also that your man will block it properly! But I thought I'd point it out anyway, since it is so avoidable!
Make sure the painter prepares it properly down the sides. My own car shimmers slightly with movement at an angle of 10 degrees, particularly from a low height. Though it is most obvious when I'm on my hands and knees looking at it, it still really annoys me! I'm sure it would annoy you too - and also that your man will block it properly! But I thought I'd point it out anyway, since it is so avoidable!
That thing isn't going to rust in a hurry if it's being coated with Bilt Hamber stuff just about everywhere.
How long do you think parts will continue to be readily available for these cars? I remember when I had the E21 BMW (sold in 2011) which was a 1982 MOST parts were still available but some bits weren't and I remember thinking that in another 5-10 years time it would probably start getting difficult to do a "rolling restoration"
How long do you think parts will continue to be readily available for these cars? I remember when I had the E21 BMW (sold in 2011) which was a 1982 MOST parts were still available but some bits weren't and I remember thinking that in another 5-10 years time it would probably start getting difficult to do a "rolling restoration"
I popped in at lunchtime and, while there had not been much progress, it has been rubbed down everywhere. That said, I think much of the shimmer is due to the use of "off the gun" finishes. We'll see. I am not paying a fortune for this job and so far I feel like I am getting good value. We agreed an extra £500 to cover the jacking points and inner wings so I am up to £2,500, of which £1,500 is paid.
As for parts availability, who knows. There was an article about this in the Merc Club Gazette recently. Apparently Merc have decided to stop making new parts for all 124s other than the 124.036 (the 500 E/E500) from 20years after the end of production (1995 for saloons, 1996 for estates and coupés and 1997 for cabriolets). But really this only affects trim, some of which already is NLA. Most everything else, especially consumables, is available on the high quality aftermarket and will be for a long, long time yet. And then you've got the dismantlers: they made over two million 124s and many of the parts were used in other models as well. I don't see owners of 123s or even /8s struggling for parts so I am sure all will be well for the 124.
As for parts availability, who knows. There was an article about this in the Merc Club Gazette recently. Apparently Merc have decided to stop making new parts for all 124s other than the 124.036 (the 500 E/E500) from 20years after the end of production (1995 for saloons, 1996 for estates and coupés and 1997 for cabriolets). But really this only affects trim, some of which already is NLA. Most everything else, especially consumables, is available on the high quality aftermarket and will be for a long, long time yet. And then you've got the dismantlers: they made over two million 124s and many of the parts were used in other models as well. I don't see owners of 123s or even /8s struggling for parts so I am sure all will be well for the 124.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff