Mercedes 129 titivation
Discussion
Here we go. This isn't as bad as I feared. The Man says the back panel can be saved. After grinding out as much corrosion as possible, he'll treat with Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80, then etch prime, then Electrox zinc primer then paint. It may be that it comes back but it's a small discreet area that can be treated locally every now and again.
velocefica said:
From 1999 - 2005 Mercedes must have spat the paint on their cars, it is so thin. So not surprising so many have rust spots that would put a ships hull to shame.
Didn't they go water-based with paint in ~1995 as well which means that later W124s can also rust more than earlier ones?On the slightly later cars, I remember opening a door on a ~1999 W210 E55...and watching the boot flex. I know the W210 was a low point but seeing penetrating rust, in the middle of panels on a low mile car that had spent most of its life in southern Spain was...alarming.
Anyway, back on topic, I shall be watching with interest. I have always liked R129s but never got around to buying one. Yet...
In fairness, that rust isn't Mercedes rust: it's down to poor paintwork five years ago. The jacking points and underside were perfect last time I looked. There's a bit of rot under the washer bottle otherwise I'm not expecting any surprises. The hardtop is a bit frilly but, again, that's poor work in the past, not Mercedes.
Looking forward to seeing the end results. I hope you're happy with the work this time and can do another 245,000 happy miles in it.
It is nice to see older cars getting this treatment. I partly regret not doing this work to my old M5, but that is life.
Keep us updated!
I much prefer 308's, 328's, 348's, F355's and F40's. Haven driven a 360 and a Gallardo (on an experience day, as I wanted to drive something with some standing I guess) I wasnt disappointed to get back into my then 14 year old M5.
It is nice to see older cars getting this treatment. I partly regret not doing this work to my old M5, but that is life.
Keep us updated!
S10GTA said:
Another quality thread. Thank you.
Am I the only one who gets much more excited seeing threads like this than supercar/rep mobile threads?
Nope, I don't bother looking at many supercar posts. I do not really like supercars, I think they're just a bit to show offy, and often owned by the "look at me" type. Not saying all are, but a lot are.Am I the only one who gets much more excited seeing threads like this than supercar/rep mobile threads?
I much prefer 308's, 328's, 348's, F355's and F40's. Haven driven a 360 and a Gallardo (on an experience day, as I wanted to drive something with some standing I guess) I wasnt disappointed to get back into my then 14 year old M5.
Same area from behind:
This will be treated with Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 this evening and left overnight. The Man says the rot will come back but it is better than replacing the panel. I agree with him. Given the location, a repair here every three years or so is not going to be the end of the world. He seems pretty chipper about it: "if this is the worst of it, you have nothing to worry about".
Edited by r129sl on Tuesday 16th June 16:39
There's the cost of the part, as Harry says, plus the difficulty of getting it right. It is the whole rear end, with visible joins above and below the tail lamp clusters. Tricky to get the factory look and a big risk of corrosion in the tail lamp apertures.
Given that this is not a prominent spot, I'm happy with the repair being undertaken. Hopefully, with correct anti-corrosion treatments, it'll be years before it needs doing again and even then the cost will be minimal if caught early.
Given that this is not a prominent spot, I'm happy with the repair being undertaken. Hopefully, with correct anti-corrosion treatments, it'll be years before it needs doing again and even then the cost will be minimal if caught early.
Exhaust pipe dilemma. Late cars like mine have a visible exhaust pipe exit, unnecessarily adorned with a little trim. Another punctuation mark in the story of declining Mercedes-Benz quality, like the abandonment of the manually adjusted driver's side mirror. Anyway, my car came with a a dark grey one, DB-129 Galinit Grey, I suspect. The very last 129s came with a polished exhaust trim. Why? Goodness knows. This is a car without a single scintilla of chrome on it, three-pointed star and model designation aside. Why put it on the exhaust? Why show the exhaust anyway? Why not conceal it behind the bumper like they always did? Because the market likes a big exhaust pipe. For a long time now, only the polished trim has been available new. Over the last decade or so, I've bought three painted trims, snapping them up whenever I've seen them, but I haven't seen one for five years or more now. And they go bad pretty quickly.
So, would you fit the polished one you see here, brand new, only tonight freed from languishing in its protective stockinette in my garage-cum-rubbish-dump for years?
No, me neither. Tomorrow's work displacement activity will see me take the polished one and the old corroded one lying alongside it to Betta Blast of Shiremoor. I'm going to get them to shot blast both and then apply whatever is the best anti-corrosion, heat resistant coating they have got. Xylan or something space age like that. In dark grey. 9129 if they've got it; some other very dark grey if not.
I have also decided to refurb the front seats. Many years ago I bought a bureau in the town of Hawes. Unable to wait and unwilling to pay, I transported it back home in the back seat of the SL. Upturned and wedged in, roof down, we got home just fine, but it tore the leather (vinyl more likely) on the back of the seats. I found some replacement panels on German Ebay this week. They arrived in two working days and are in superb condition. So I have added them to the heap of stuff in the garage.
The front seats are a bit scruffy. A bottle of alloy wheel cleaner leaked onto the passenger seat base once and dissolved the surface coating. I did my best to repair it but it wasn't good enough. The driver's seat has 245,000miles' wear. No tears or holes but scruffy. Tomorrow, after I have been to the shot blasters and shown my face at my office, I am going to go to the bodyshop and remove the seat cushions, base and backrest, then take them to the Furniture Clinic at Burnopfield. Hopefully they will be able to refresh them in time for mid-July.
So, would you fit the polished one you see here, brand new, only tonight freed from languishing in its protective stockinette in my garage-cum-rubbish-dump for years?
No, me neither. Tomorrow's work displacement activity will see me take the polished one and the old corroded one lying alongside it to Betta Blast of Shiremoor. I'm going to get them to shot blast both and then apply whatever is the best anti-corrosion, heat resistant coating they have got. Xylan or something space age like that. In dark grey. 9129 if they've got it; some other very dark grey if not.
I have also decided to refurb the front seats. Many years ago I bought a bureau in the town of Hawes. Unable to wait and unwilling to pay, I transported it back home in the back seat of the SL. Upturned and wedged in, roof down, we got home just fine, but it tore the leather (vinyl more likely) on the back of the seats. I found some replacement panels on German Ebay this week. They arrived in two working days and are in superb condition. So I have added them to the heap of stuff in the garage.
The front seats are a bit scruffy. A bottle of alloy wheel cleaner leaked onto the passenger seat base once and dissolved the surface coating. I did my best to repair it but it wasn't good enough. The driver's seat has 245,000miles' wear. No tears or holes but scruffy. Tomorrow, after I have been to the shot blasters and shown my face at my office, I am going to go to the bodyshop and remove the seat cushions, base and backrest, then take them to the Furniture Clinic at Burnopfield. Hopefully they will be able to refresh them in time for mid-July.
Edited by r129sl on Thursday 18th June 22:28
I went this morning after dropping the lad at school. Nice people. www.bettablast.co.uk
Anyway, I went for shot blasting followed by "heat resistant black" powder coat at £36 for two trims! Xylan would be £200 and wouldn't be any better according to the man. The black is in fact dark grey semi-gloss, almost a perfect match. Ready early next week. Can't fault that.
Anyway, I went for shot blasting followed by "heat resistant black" powder coat at £36 for two trims! Xylan would be £200 and wouldn't be any better according to the man. The black is in fact dark grey semi-gloss, almost a perfect match. Ready early next week. Can't fault that.
A bit more action today. I went round to the bodyshop and removed the seat cushions. A very, very easy job. Here are pictures of the interior with the cushions removed, of the driver's side bolster and the passenger base (the latter being the worst). I took them to the Furniture Clinic at Burnopfield where they will turn them round in two weeks for £275 plus VAT. I'm looking forward to getting them back. When they're out of the car, it is easy to see just how utterly minging they are. There's not much damage, just a lot of ugly filth.
In the meantime, the Man was busy stripping the trim. There is very little corrosion, none on the structure. The jacking points and sills are mint. The dark stuff surrounding the jack holes is Dynax S50 I sprayed on there a while back. But as you can see, even the sill ends are in good shape, and these must come in for a lot of trouble. When the body was painted the first time, they put cavity wax on all of the clip holes. This seems to have worked and there is no corrosion behind the Saccos.
In the meantime, the Man was busy stripping the trim. There is very little corrosion, none on the structure. The jacking points and sills are mint. The dark stuff surrounding the jack holes is Dynax S50 I sprayed on there a while back. But as you can see, even the sill ends are in good shape, and these must come in for a lot of trouble. When the body was painted the first time, they put cavity wax on all of the clip holes. This seems to have worked and there is no corrosion behind the Saccos.
There has been quite a lot of progress today. The body is completely stripped and the plastic parts have been stripped down into their component pieces (for instance, the wing mirrors are comprised of three pieces which often are simply painted as one). More significantly, the body has been rubbed down and any corrosion has been stripped away as much as possible. There is very little damage of note and it is all looking quite promising. What should be reassuring for anyone thinking of doing this at home is how high a standard the car seems to have been built to by Mercedes-Benz. This is a 16 year old car that has lived outside plenty and has covered nearly quarter of a million miles, yet the body and chassis remain very solid indeed.
Grille surround and bonnet where the worst of the stone chipping was to be found:
Random shot of n/s/f wing:
n/s/r wheel arch where some of the worst corrosion was found. There is pitting here, which will be treated, but the car needs to go up not he ramp with the wheels off for a good look here:
Driver's door trailing edge, again, another area identified as suffering a bit:
Grille surround and bonnet where the worst of the stone chipping was to be found:
Random shot of n/s/f wing:
n/s/r wheel arch where some of the worst corrosion was found. There is pitting here, which will be treated, but the car needs to go up not he ramp with the wheels off for a good look here:
Driver's door trailing edge, again, another area identified as suffering a bit:
From my experience of a W140, 220 and 201 and from how most of a mate's 124s are looking it appears that yours is a good 'un! It's quite apparent it's been well looked after.
Said mate has recently bought an earlier 500SL, since I had a shot I've been keeping an eye on the classifieds!
Looking forward to seeing how this comes out.
Said mate has recently bought an earlier 500SL, since I had a shot I've been keeping an eye on the classifieds!
Looking forward to seeing how this comes out
.An update from the Man below showing how he has removed all corrosion from the driver's side door handle area and also past overspray/failure to mask the hole.
Merck come in for a lot of flak for corrosion. Some of this is fair. The familiar problems which beset 1996 to 2004 cars were down to micro-organisms in the body phosphating tanks. That's the definitive explanation. And it points to slackness at Mercedes-Benz body plants (tanks were drained and cleaned weekly when it should be daily). As for rusty Mercs more generally, I think it has to be recalled that old cars from other makers do not exist in significant numbers. I see 201s, 202s, 124s and 210s every single day and often more than one. But where the Audi 80s and 100s (notwithstanding the full galvanisation), the BMW E30s, E34s, E36s and even E39s, all of which were sold in greater numbers than their Merc equivalents? They died long ago.
Merck come in for a lot of flak for corrosion. Some of this is fair. The familiar problems which beset 1996 to 2004 cars were down to micro-organisms in the body phosphating tanks. That's the definitive explanation. And it points to slackness at Mercedes-Benz body plants (tanks were drained and cleaned weekly when it should be daily). As for rusty Mercs more generally, I think it has to be recalled that old cars from other makers do not exist in significant numbers. I see 201s, 202s, 124s and 210s every single day and often more than one. But where the Audi 80s and 100s (notwithstanding the full galvanisation), the BMW E30s, E34s, E36s and even E39s, all of which were sold in greater numbers than their Merc equivalents? They died long ago.
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