W202 Hidden Rust!

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
As some may know I have two W202's, a "P" reg. C230K Sport, and a "T" reg. C43/55 AMG.
I bought the C43 knowing it had some dreaded rust worm around the normal places namely all four wheel arches, and when it went in for a gearbox oil change at PCS in Horndean Ollie commented that there was some rust around the floor pan on the passenger side front and that the jack pad was missing that would need attention.
Well I did,nt give it much thought to be honest especially since it passed its MOT a few weeks later. Since the car when I bought it had just had a "B" Service at MB Southampton, and was running well, it was 2 years till Assyst told me that a "A" Service was due, so keen to maintain the MB full history It was duly booked in. Result no pick ups other than they said the MAF needed to be replaced, more importantly no mention of rust and the fact the car had passed another MOT, I was starting to think the rust was only superficial and would wire brush it off and treat it at some point.
First time I thought something might be amiss was when I would use the standard MB jack to change the front passenger side wheel, there would be a lot of creaking and cracking noises, and it would seem that the side skirt of the bodykit was bending as the bar of the jack was hitting it under the weight of the car.
I would then avoid using the MB jack, and use a trolley jack on this wheel.
Another 2 years went by and now a "B" Service was due and being told on the last service that MB would not stamp my book unless I had the "extras" done, even if I had showed that they were done by a VAT registered garage by means of a reciept, I decided to use an Independant that had not long opened very close to me called Pentangle, when I picked the car up he said I would need to get some welding done as the floor was holed through rust very close to the jacking point.
I was,nt very surprised to be honest at this point, so I actively decided to find someone to carry out the work.
After a recommendation from the other forum I decided to use Colin Baker Custom Metalwork.
http://www.pbcm.co.uk/index.html
Have a look at the web site and the pics of the work he has done in the past, I think like me you will find it impressive, he even gives you a disc of detailled photographs of the work done.

Here are some of them.
The Car on the ramps.

What could be seen under the car notice how the jack pad has been driven into the car by continued use of two post ramps. (Passenger side front).

Here are pics of the other three,
first front drivers side.

Then the rear,
Drivers side.

Passenger side.

And this was before we removed the side skirts!!!!!

More to follow.

 

[bigasotonuk]

Well heres what was found once the side skirts were removed,
Front Passenger side.

Halfway along the Passenger Sill.

And finally the rear.

What was found after a dig around.

Drivers side.

This side was only surface rust and cleaned up well and given a good thick coat of stonechip.

 

[bigasotonuk]

Some more pics on what was found.

 

[Benzworx]

Andy, you need to put on epoxy anti corrosion primer first before stone chip and inject the inner sill with Bilt-Hamber cavity wax


Clive

 

[turbopete]

just goes to show how many horrors can lurk hidden under a bodykit!!!

 

[bigasotonuk]

So a plan of attack was formulated.
Passenger side sill replaced in its entirety, jacking point refrabricated, floor repair, and inner sill.
Because of the sill being replaced the wing needed to be removed, and as it was rusty i decided to replace with new MB item.

Wing and front bumper off

Outer Sill removed, at the original factory weld points, you can see that the front wing is removed and the jacking point in the upper left of this pic, and where the door shuts have been cut/removed.

 

[bigasotonuk]

I should of said this repair took place getting on for a year ago now.
Well the repair begins...........
I,ll let the pics do the talking.....................

 

[bigasotonuk]

 

[bigasotonuk]

 

[bigasotonuk]

 

[bigasotonuk]

 

[bigasotonuk]

 

[bigasotonuk]

Last ones, and probably the most important ones.........The finished article.

Apologies for so many pics but I think they say a lot more than what words could

 

[daveenty]

A decent bloke would have used lead and not filler.

Sorry Andy, only jesting. a fantastic job, which hopefully will last for many yeas to come. Just a shame that it happened in the first place, and one reason why I got shut of my W210

 

[anyweb]

what an awesome job, kudos to you Andy for not only doing this but also documenting it and posting the photos, i love it, looks like a great car and brings back memories of my old w202 which is now gone due to rust, however after seeing your photos i can imagine now just how bad it must have been,

wow, you have done HUGE work on that car, i hope it lasts you a very long time,
did the job cost much ?

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
I think it shows all to well how the side skirts whether standard items or AMG side skirts can hide rust all to well, to look at the car before it was done though there was rust you would never expect to the extent it was.

 

[turbopete]

that guy has made a very good job on the car Andy. its a credit to you. i wonder, however, what MB would have said and done (if anything) had you tried to claim on the 'corrosion' warranty (even if you had kept up the MB history) as the corrosion of the sills especially, they couldnt attribute to stone chips!

 

[bigasotonuk]

I did try it and had my car asessed, at the same time as a forum member on the other side on his 43.
There was a dirty big blister of rust that had crept out from under the side skirt and into door shut of the passenger rear door, definetly could not be attributed to stone chipping. They dismissed my claim on three counts, my car had had paint in areas before (though none of these areas was I trying to claim on the warranty), over eight years old (car was just under 9 years at the time), and I had missed having my "extras" done ie Spark plugs, brake fluid change, and air filter replacement, this was because I had them completed already by another garage.
The other C43 had his refused because it was over 8 years only (rust warranty 30 years?? isnt it?) and he had just spent close to a £2000 on an "A" Service!! despite still having Mobilio breakdown cover, and had never missed a single extra on the services.
I was more than happy with the standard of workmanship, if you look at some of the other car pics on his web site of the work he has done in the past you will understand why I chose him, I had to wait nearly 4 months before he could do it, he is normally booking nearly six months ahead, and has customers all over the country.

 

[47p2]

Nice work there Andy, just goes to show how much rust lurks underneath the plastic trims that we never see

 

[Jay Gee]

Thank you for posting all those pictures.I'm now a very worried,if more knowledgeable bunny.