Obviously I wasn’t going to put the new window in with the rust around the aperture, so I had the car fixed.   This wasn’t a cheap exercise, but much better to do it now before the rust was too bad.     The car being finished coincided with the COVID19 lockdown in Sydney, so it has been sitting for the last couple of months.

This week, I was finally able to have the C107 rear windscreen installation completed.    The first step was putting the chrome surround into the window seal.

The windscreen installer used a lubricant to work the chrome into the seal. He then used tape to prevent the chrome popping out when the screen went into the car. At the same time he put some thin rope into a cavity in the seal. Then it was on to the harder part – the actual C107 rear windscreen installation.

I was surprised how much force was needed to get the screen in.   It was lined up against the aperture and then a combination of pressure while the thin rope was removed with fairly hard whacks the ball of the hand got the screen to slowly work its way into place.   I was a bit nervous during this part of the install as I heard the reputation that these screens have for being fragile.   I was very glad I wasn’t doing it!

This time, the installer used sealant so there is far less chance of the rust coming back.     On historic rego, the 450SLC does not get wet as often as it did on full rego either.

The new screen was finally in and looked great.   From there, it was a simple matter of reconnecting the electrical connection for the heated rear glass.    For some reason, a previous owner had cut a rough hole in the aperture for the electrical cable.  This is rather odd when there is a factory hole only a few CM away.   During the rust repair I had the rough hole removed.

I have not yet tested the electrical function, so I am not sure it still works.  It certainly didn’t on my old screen, so any function here would be a bonus.   Since the SLC had not been driven properly since may, but the time the screen was installed it was running on 6 cylinders.   A new tank of petrol, and a 20km drive sorted that out.

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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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After having that screen sitting in the garage for the last couple of years, I figured it was time to have it fitted.    I purchased a new seal, and had a screen fitter who was recommended to me come to do the job.

I had previously (in 2006), had rust removed from around the rear screen and a new seal fitted.   Based on that repair, and with the car garged during this time, I figured it would be a simple swap job on the 450SLC rear screen.   I was wrong.

Once the fitter removed the old screen I was greeted by rust in a few places around the rear window aperture.   Unfortunately, when the rear screen was fitted, they hadn’t used any sealer between the body and the seal.

The worst area is right in the middle, just to the right of the first aid kit box, but there are other smaller areas of rust around the 450SLC rear screen.  Obviously, at that point we had to stop.   It would have been really silly to fit the new screen back with this rust.    We left the screen out so I can arrange to repair the rust.   After that, we will get back to fitting it.   I’m hoping the rust can be fixed without disturbing the paint that is visible.

While I am at it, I can also move over the connection for the heated rear window as well.

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