define "too far gone"

[supere30]

Floors are easy to fix, either welding or pop rivet. Its basical flat sheet metal you can bend by crimping or clamping to a table. Simple... Check the rest of the car, especially brake lines and fuel lines. You don't want to have to replace all that shiz. Also check suspension points where there can be stress such as strut towers or shock mounts. If all that is good and the car runs well, I say go for it. Pull the interior buy a bunch of sheet metal a pop rivet gun, a grinder and cutting wheels or a tin snips and go to town! Then cover it all in 1970's shag carpet and nick name it the SHAG mobile! Good luck!

Oh and I forgot to mention. Where ever you pop rivet new metal seal it with some sort of sealent, such as urethane, or roof sealant. Sticky goopy shit. Then go under the car and paint and undercoat it.

ive dealt with floor pan repair before because rust but DAMN, I think it is able to be fixed but your gonna have one hell of a time doing it. please don't prove me wrong I love seeing old benz's like this fixed up... and low

thanks guys, the strut towers have rust as well
i want to learn some about fabricating and i figure this is a good way to learn. it runs but the glo plugs have not been updated to the pencil style so driving it in the winter is miserable, constantly killing the battery and the heater blower does not work, also the a/c will not hold a charge for long. that said i really dont drive it, but when i do... people cant help but compliment and ask questions about it. which ever way i go by riveting or welding i want to start with some sort of clean metal. what tool is a good one to cut part of the old floor out?

[supere30]

That wiring job scares me more than the floor...

its beat to hell and back.
some previous owner put their arkansas thinking cap on and installed a half ass WVO setup on this car. in the process.... man i dont even know what to say about the wiring its ridiculous.

[rab71]

Okay so if you want to move forward with the floors. A sawzall or a grinder with cutting wheel works wonders. Get some safety goggles or glasses. And the wiring is what it is I guess. Id get some better connectors. And heat shrink. Or the connectors with heat shrink. The air conditioning obviously has a leak get the refill stuff with the dye in it or use soapy water to find the leak. The heater blower should be easy to trace or it could be as simple as a fuse. Buy a repar manual or google is your friend.

Glow plugs... I don't know a damn thing about glow plugs... They glow?

[Nick475]

If floors are the only bad thing. Fix it. If there is chassis rust. Give it a well deserved Viking funeral and set that thing ablaze

[XkokidureX]

wow man, too much rust

[supere30]

as i mentioned before i just cannot bring myself to part this car out, it was a gift from my dad. i have a few ideas of what i want to do, and i will update this thread as substantial progress is made, right now I'm in need of a engine hoist to remove the engine to repair rust along the firewall shave the bay tuck new wires and paint. I'm trying to keep this project to a very minimum budget by borrowing most tools I'll need and using scrap steel. its a learning process for me and i hope everyone else will enjoy the build to come. i may sell the black interior. the dash has no cracks at all or really any imperfections and the only missing item is the front seats. driver floor mat/carpet is worn, and both drive and passenger door pockets have issues, other than that it seems very usable and a desirable color. As of now now, i have pulled the windshield, dash and the wiring harness.

[johnnytsunami]

sounds like more trouble than it's worth, but I suppose I understand the sentimental value. good luck.

[cus]

massive learning curve, but as long as the welds are strong, and you manage to get rid of rust off all structural parts, then it should all be okay.

enjoy the learning curve, and take peoples advice on it.
could be a great car. good luck with it!

[Miroteknik]

Oh my. The years and money that you will put into this...

I know somebody who would really appreciate your headlights.....

[D&W]

id say too far gone, buy a good one and swap out your grill and steering wheel from your dads to keep the sentimental value.

its not worth the time/money you will put into it sadly

but crazier things have been done, so if you want it, go for it.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

I totally feel 'ya on the sentimental value of the car, but remember, it's ultimately a machine. /8s are cheap in good condition, and you'll spend a lot less getting a clean one and swapping parts over than you will bringing that car back from the dead.

Plus, you know what'll happen: you'll spend a hundred years and a million dollars putting that car back together, and some dipshit with no insurance will rear end you a day after it's finished, and your insurance will give you $3k for all of it.

[Warcraft]

looking for some insight on my '73 220D
this is the extent of the damage to the floors in the front, the back on both sides seem ok.
i dont have the heart to part this car, and i'm amazed how after 40 years it still drives.
what do you guys think? too far gone? slap it back together and drive it around town?
i want to fix this car, but i dont have a welder or really any power or air tools?
does anyone have an idea where to start? i know for a starter like myself harbor freight seems like a friendly place. I'm not loaded + i have a new wife that looks at me funny when i mention dumping a ton of money in this car.
thanks in advance for the kind words on my bucket!

the car

the damage




when i thought it didnt have that much rust.

Look at her, like young girl.
Almost perfect condition
Buy some metal sheets, prepare it, cut rust out and take it to someone to weld.It shouldn't be big money....
Subscribed....

[M.Doban]

Burn it.

Imagine with me for a minute all of the parts of the body that you CAN'T see. Do you see them? See how they're all eaten up by rust? I do too.

It's just not worth the time unless you have the equipment.


If you want to keep the sentimental value, just jack the windshield wipers up and pull a new car underneath.

[rice4life]

Stop contemplating whether it's too far gone or not, get some scrap metal, welder, mallet, and vice grips and start welding shit.

What harm in there in trying? Who cares if it's 'too far gone' you stated that it's for learning, so jump in and start already. It's about learning, right?

If it works out, you have a good classic mercedes, if it doesn't, you still have a classic mercedes.

[Warcraft]

Burn it.

Imagine with me for a minute all of the parts of the body that you CAN'T see. Do you see them? See how they're all eaten up by rust? I do too.

It's just not worth the time unless you have the equipment.


If you want to keep the sentimental value, just jack the windshield wipers up and pull a new car underneath.

Great advice
Where are the balls in this game?
MB parts are availabile all arround so it shouldn`t be big issue to find floors.
Those are the most critical sections on this car.