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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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 started under the screen.   I have seen much much worse in other W126’s.   This will need attending to before it spreads further and becomes an even bigger problem.

Some of the other W126 rust areas include around the boot and spare tyre well, underneath the car, behind the wheels, bottom of front fenders etc.

The other potential issue is the timing chain.   This is something of a design flaw.   As plastic guides age, they become brittle.   Unlike in the M100, the chain tensioner works on oil pressure which means on startup the chain is untensioned.   As the chain stretches, it flops around on startup, breaking one of the now brittle guides.  Part of the guide gets caught in the chain causing pistons to hit valves and the chain to penetrates the cam covers.   Timing chain failure has been the cause of many W116 & M117 equipped cars being scrapped over the years.

As the guides age they discolour.   As can be seen in the picture this guide has started to discolour although it has not completely gone.    It is obviously in worse shape than when I checked the condition of the guides in my 450SLC.

To check the chain the air cleaner assembly must be removed.   This was a good opportunity to change the filter.   When compared to the new one it was clearly in need of change.

As this is the high compression 560, it has a twin snorkel air cleaner.

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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 car.

There was also some rust behind both front wheels that needed attending to.   Road debris puts small holes in the underseal allowing water/mud flicked up by the wheels to start rust.   Again, a very common W107 rust spot.

The bootlid also had to be prepared.   The design of the W107 boot lid is rather poor in my view.   There is a metal fold on the inside of the lid.   Water gets in here and rusts the lid from the inside.   Mine was rusting on both sides.

There were also a couple of small areas where the trim attached to the car.  These can get quite bad on the W107, as well as on the W116 and W123.    What is not shown on these pictures is the sills and jacking points, which only needed minor work in my case.   Also around the rear windscreen that I did about ten years ago.    Rust in this area causes the rear screen to delaminate.

From there the trim could be removed and the car prepared for paint

Next week there is still move preparation to do, and then the paint starts to go on.

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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 the front jacking points – dirt gets inside and they stay wet
• the bottom edge of the boot lid – water gets into a lip here
• the front chassis rails – water pools on top in the engine bay
• bottom of the rear window – water gets in under the seal, the metal starts rusting and the window starts delaminating.   The delamination is generally seen before the rust.   It is important to use sealer when replacing these windows.

10 years later, the rust is back in the bottom of the boot lid, and in the drivers side front chassis rail.   in addition, there is also rust:

• behind the front wheels – there is a lip here were dirt can accumulate and cause rust
• passengers side boot floor – leaking boot seal or tail light seal
• where the side trim attaches to the car – water gets in the holes in the body

The rust is not bad yet, and very easily repairable at this point.   leaving it too long and it becomes problematic to fix.   I have also decided to do a full repsray at the same time.   The paint on the front of the car is faded and cracked in places, and the boot lid needs to be repainted.  The doors are also very faded. The rear part of the car is better because of the rust repairs 10 years ago, but the car is currently many shades of blue.    A full respray is expensive but it should rejuvenate the car for many years to come.

If you are looking to buy a 107, this is as list of the 450SLC rust points.   The SLs are pretty similar but they also add the soft top compartment.

The post 450SLC Rust appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

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

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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 rust from the inside out.

A repair like this should cost a few hundred dollars to put right if you’re not looking for a showroom job.

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