560SEC Major Checks

My two biggest concerns buying this 560SEC was the potential for rust being a UK car, and the condition of the timing chain. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked underneath the 560SEC and found that it was not a rusty car.

The other common W126 rust area is under the rear windscreen. This is also an issue in Australian delivered cars as it’s caused by rain. Rain gets under the rear window seal causing rust. The first evidence is that the rear windscreen starts delaminating at the corners.

As can be seen from the pictures, the rust has […]

November 18th, 2018 | Tags: , , | Category: Mercedes | 3 comments

450SLC Repaint part 1

My 450SLC has now spent a week at the panel beaters having rust removed and being prepared for paint.

The starting point was the chassis rail on the drivers side. This is as very common W107 rust spot.

This was welded and then painted.

From there, work moved to the boot where both sides were rusting and there was some rust starting in the spare tyre well. Again this is a very common W107 rust spot. Even Australian delivered cars that have been garaged can develop rust here.

This section was probably the worst on the […]

May 7th, 2016 | Tags: , , | Category: Mercedes | 2 comments

450SLC Rust

The big Achilles heel in the R/C107 chassis is its propensity to rust. They are pretty much bullet proof mechanically, but the rust proofing from the factory was poor and there are a lot of areas where they can and do rust, even in climates such as Australia that are not prone to it. Once the rust gets to a point, the cars are pretty much scrap.

My car is pretty rust free – but I had some rust cut out about 10 years ago. There were four places and they are all common rust points in these cars

near […]

April 22nd, 2016 | Tags: , , | Category: Mercedes | One comment

280CE no longer a colander

Not a perfect match, but a good repair for $300 cash.

August 13th, 2014 | Tags: , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment

Small rust hole causes the CE to fail its blue slip

After replacing the water pump and test driving the 280CE, it was time to get it registered.

Unfortunately it failed due to a small rust hole in the body work. This is not structural, but NSW is very strict in this regard. There was also a minor leak from the power steering and minor leak from the rear muffler. All will need to be addressed.

W123 Mercedes rust here when leaves and other debris are left to sit around the bonnet hinges – they break up and fall through and you end up with wet mud that lets this […]

August 7th, 2014 | Tags: , , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment