mercedes 208d motorhome scuttle panel removal

[kells]

Hi new to the forum

Wonder if anyone has replaced the scuttle panel on a T1 van ,my question is do i have take the wings off the van ?
have the front stripped down the rot is around the vents but not as bad as first thought but the previous owner had did a bodge job on the scuttle panel and it's the only part letting the van down

 

[clarkmichigan55b]

Hello and welcome.
Yes you do. I did my scuttle panel 6 years after buying the van brand new.
Is the inside of the bulkhead rusty around the air vents?.
The cause of the rust it is foam seals on the rear of the panel. The seals are stuck on to bare metal then the panel is spot welded to the body. The body shell is then immersed in primer. Moisture laden seals on bare metal starts off the rust
I still have the old scuttle panel i can up load a picture of it next week.

 

[kells]

Hello and welcome.
Yes you do. I did my scuttle panel 6 years after buying the van brand new.
Is the inside of the bulkhead rusty around the air vents?.
The cause of the rust it is foam seals on the rear of the panel. The seals are stuck on to bare metal then the panel is spot welded to the body. The body shell is then immersed in primer. Moisture laden seals on bare metal starts off the rust
I still have the old scuttle panel i can up load a picture of it next week.

Hi
Thanks for the reply yes the rust is around one side each of the vents nearest the wipers outlet ,the foam seals have deteriorated,previous owner had did a really good job of making body filler look like a scutlle panel , the air box's i plan to take out and remake new ones by adding a slope on the inners for the water drain out instead of sitting in the vents as there have been attempts to repair these and there rotted at the corners

Seems the only scuttles you can buy now are for left hand drives ,i got one from coastal motorhomes so hoping there's not much fettling to do

 

[Blobcat]

Hi
Thanks for the reply yes the rust is around one side each of the vents nearest the wipers outlet ,the foam seals have deteriorated,previous owner had did a really good job of making body filler look like a scutlle panel , the air box's i plan to take out and remake new ones by adding a slope on the inners for the water drain out instead of sitting in the vents as there have been attempts to repair these and there rotted at the corners

Seems the only scuttles you can buy now are for left hand drives ,i got one from coastal motorhomes so hoping there's not much fettling to do

Coastal Motorhomes are pretty good, I used them a few times for bits for the Talbot Motorhome I bought at auction a few years ago.

 

[kells]

Coastal Motorhomes are pretty good, I used them a few times for bits for the Talbot Motorhome I bought at auction a few years ago.

yeah seem to have a very good range across the board alot of folk recommended them

 

[clarkmichigan55b]

Enclosed pictures of my panel after 6 years from new. Replaced with with new panel from Mercedes as to date no rust has reappeared.

 

[kells]

how it looked what lurked underneath and the botch job whats left

 

[clarkmichigan55b]

How bad is the rust on the air intake box on the bulkhead?.

 

[kells]

How bad is the rust on the air intake box on the bulkhead?.

drivers side is bad had to cut out 3 ins of rot from below and at the wiper pin side , the previous shoddy repair was done with lots of filler and some scraps of tin , 2 philips screws and seam sealer

the drivers side not as bad just rot near the wiper pin ,going to take the air box's out and rebuild new one's seeing as i'm this far into it
pictures look worse than it is due to the30 yr old foam gasket disintegrating

 

[SL63 Mark]

Love to see a picture of the van

 

[kells]

Love to see a picture of the van

 

[clarkmichigan55b]

This is my van that i have owned from new. The pictures were taken by Excel dent of Aylesbury who removed about 15 car park dents the van had accumulated over the years.

 

[kells]

This is my van that i have owned from new. The pictures were taken by Excel dent of Aylesbury who removed about 15 car park dents the van had accumulated over the years.
View attachment 70908 View attachment 70909 View attachment 70910 View attachment 70911

That's really nice always wanted the twin wheel version when i was a market trader many moons ago , have you did a full restoration on it

 

[clarkmichigan55b]

The body work is as from new apart from the front scuttle panel. The wheels have been refurbished twice and since the pictures have been taken i have repainted the bumpers front and back in satin black.
I have also fitted a new rear fog lamp and rear panel where the number plate is fixed as the old one cracked from age, and also refitted the Mercedes badge on the off side door. The pictures were taken in March this year.

 

[kells]

first trial fit as one end of the panel had spread as if it had been stood on so didn't sit well , also noticed on putting the old cut off panel up against it was up and down all along the seam ,think somebody was watching the ocean when they cut it



Windscreen i managed out by myself after calling a few windscreen company's who became no shows ,most didn't want to tackle it most steer clear of campervans ,autoglass quoted £180 removal and replacement but any damage was on me and replacement being £680 + vat , they then decided they didn't do that any longer so i went at it alone ,,,,if it's gonna break i'd be as well being the one who broke it

with the weather on the turn the days were mostly planned around rain showers all the welding for the air box's were done and fitted i seam sealed inside and coated the welds in anti rust inhibitor along with aldis anti rust paint which i found to be quite good ,coated all the bulkhead under the scuttle but forgot to take pics,,,,,not the best welder in the world but i'm happy with it , air vents have a slight rise in them so water never sits i also left a gap of about 10mm between the air box and the scuttle so any water would run off down the bulkhead


after days of adjusting .clamping and lining up all the panels i welded the scuttle in place , to say it was easy would be tellin porkies the panel was up and down all along the top seam , the outer edge had been flattened slightly and the tops of the pillar section wer cut at a squint but got there in the end the extra wiper holes in the panel i welded in 2 5p coins which were a perfect fit ,,,,seemed a good idea at the time ,,,,,but saved some time



Fitting the window tomorrow and primer the panel ,then kinda park it at that till the spring as not many dry days now

 

[kells]

Buttoned up for the winter put all the panels on loose just in time as the wet weathers set in looking forward to getting the whole cab painted in the spring

 

[clarkmichigan55b]

A lot of work required but it will be worth it to prolong the life of the vehicle.
It is a shame that Mercedes over the years of production did not improve the manufacturing procedures to eliminate this rust problem. Rust is the main problem of these vehicles, i am glad i replaced the panel on my van early on in its life but i did not intending to keep the van as long as i have.

 

[kells]

A lot of work required but it will be worth it to prolong the life of the vehicle.
It is a shame that Mercedes over the years of production did not improve the manufacturing procedures to eliminate this rust problem. Rust is the main problem of these vehicles, i am glad i replaced the panel on my van early on in its life but i did not intending to keep the van as long as i have

All Mercedes vans have the same rust problems not just the older ones and a lot of the issues are preventable one being the scuttle run off into the inner wings ,luckily i have no issue there

I had seen the inner wing mounted water bottles on a bmw 5 series which is a flat mounted bottle for the windscreen washers they fit perfect inside the inner wings plus have a filler thin enough to catch the run off from the scuttle and an added bonus of a bottom drain plug pipe to empty onto the ground ,may fit these