A couple of weeks ago I discovered rust around the rear windscreen in my 450SLC. At the time, I was having the 450SLC rear windscreen changed for a unit in better condition than mine. The rear screen seal was replaced back in 2006, but no sealant was used. Even though the car has been garaged the whole time, water had gotten stuck between the seal and the metal. While the cars were originally built without additional sealer, it is generally a good idea to use it. It stops the water getting stuck behind the seal like it did on my car.
I took the car in to All Classic Car restorations who do all my body work. They have now scraped back all the rust and it was even worse than it appeared. As well as the two major rust areas, rust was starting all around the lower part of the seal.
At some point, probably before I owned the car, a very rough hole was drilled for the heated rear window connection. You can see there is a factory hole on the inside of the cabin of the car. On my car, somebody had drilled a very rough hole for these wires. Since this area of the car has to be welded, it will be fixed along with the rust holes.
Its amazing how many hacks and shortcuts you find when you own these old cars that have been left from previous repairs. The two major holes are the ones that were already evident. There was a lot of smaller surface rust that would have turned into additional holes if left untreated.
This is a really common area for rust on these cars. The 450SLC rear windscreen traps water under the seal and then rust invariably forms. This then causes the rear window to delaminate. A delaminating rear window was the reason why I was changing mine out.
Next week the paint should go on and then I can have the good used rear screen fitted. With plenty of sealer of course.
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