W116.org

This is my first question to what has alreay bean an invaluable forum for me. i have started work returning a 1974 280s to some of it's former glory. to this end i would like to no what others had done to oversome what i imagine to be a not too uncommon problem. the front lacking points have begun to break away form the sill as they are used, to the point where i now use a convenctional jack underneath the car. however, for appearance and i'm guessing roadworthy requirements i wish to fix this.  it would be my preference to regain enough strength so that if need be they could be used as intended.

What a name, "another sad 280s "    Can't be that bad surely   Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like rust is major issue is it?

If so, the only way you can address this problem is to cut the sills out and rebuild the jacking points and either replace the sills or have them fabricated from mild steel.  The sills are still available but not sure what the cost is or where your first port of call for enquiry should be. 

Have a look at these following albums in the gallery.  They're extensive and will give you an idea what's behind the sills and what the jacking points look like.

http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs1/
http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs2/
http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs3/

rust through car is perharps 6 spots al small and fixed or being fixed. my suspicion is that it's caused more by metal fatigue given that as you raise the car on the jack you can see the jack point slightly seperating. was considering cutting points from a good donor car and having them welded on? not entirely sure how satisfactory this would be. would only be a medium term fix until had the money and sourced parts. new sill did look amazing though.

The ends of the jackpoints are just held on to the sill by a ring of weld around the pipe onto the sill.  If that's all that was wrong you could simply run a ring of weld around the pipe again to reattach it to the sill. 

However, I'd be suspicious that whatever rust is viewable in the sill or jack point end is only a small protion of what is behind there.  I honestly think metal fatigue wouldn't be the issue but that's just a hunch. 

Sure you can replace the old jacking points with good ones from a wreck, but you're going to have to remove the sill or cut a portion away to get at the whole jacking assembly to cut them out and to put the replacement jack points in.

Have a close look at these particular photos to view the points.  It's a pretty solid setup in my opinion and only rust would cause jacking point movement.

http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs1/rusty+rear+sill+end+passenger+side.JPG/
http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs1/rusy+rear+jacking+point.JPG/
http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs1/front+inner+sill_0.JPG/

had a closer look at those pictures, helps looking at a time when you shouldn't be in bed. there's a lot more involved in those points than i originally thought and certainly makes fatigue seem unlikely. and yes, by the time all required work was done replacing the entire sill wouldn't be much harder and would put my mind at rest. another way to spend lots of money it appears. having said that i got the impression that the bracket containing the pipe doesn't really seem to be part of the sill. is this correct?

Correct, it's only that ring of weld around the end of the pipe that secures it to the outer sill.  Further on in one of those albums is a pic of the new weld. See below.  But it doesn't look as neat as the original.  As you can tell from the other pics though, it's securely attached on two sides to the chassis. 

http://gallery.w116.org/v/garage/Repairs1/new+sill+on+drivers+side+rear+jacking+point.JPG/

Last night when I was trying to find those pics above I came across sclass' pics of sill replacement on a 6.9.   I forgot all about these pics.  Apart from new sills, there's a pic of surrounds for the jacking point pipe.  These maybe missing from that gold w116 above I don't know.  There's also a pic of a new jacking point bracket.  Not sure if the "pipe" part is already in there or not.  But they're good pics to see what you need to get (if one was to buy it all new).
I'm sure it would be expensive.  There's no reason why portions couldn't be cut out instead and as I said before, custom fabricated protion to put back in.  If you've got the tools and know how or even if you get an engineering shop to fabricate them, I can't see why custom jacking points couldn't be made as well.

You can see the original thread here :

Link

I must confess I haven't done this project yet - a year later!.  Soon though.  There is some justification though for my tardiness - I have discovered that the rear wheel arch on the same side is rotten at the bottom where it meets the outer sill.  I figure this must be replaced at the same time.  I have also discovered that the rear chassis rails are bent downwards just behind the rear axle, as a result of old rear end damage.  In other words, the cutting and welding is going to be a huge job. 

THis is what the new sill looks like :



The jacking point holes are some way bigger than the jacking tubes.  The gap is taken up with these closing rings :



This is the end cap to close off the front of the sill :

I forgot to post the link to your album in the gallery sclass    and somehow I completely missed the relevant thread when it was posted but what a project. Brilliant stuff, so far.  

Re the jacking points I found this very interesting in your thread - "You can buy the rear jacking point separately, but its VERY expensive.  The front jacking point is not available separately.  It comes pre-attached to the inner sill.  In my case it will come with as part of the 'cut and paste', but from investigating the area, I see no reason why a front jacking point could not be transplanted by itself, if your inner sill is good in that area. "

The front comes with a new inner sill.   That was surprising.  But good to hear that you reckon a front jack point can be transplanted.

I didn't realise that last pic was the end cap.  Thanks for clarifying 

Yep, I never priced that inner sill/jacking point combo, but I'm guessing its expensive. 

Hi All,
I am form Algeria and would to know how much to buy the front jacking points , i mean all the sets .as in my contry it's very very difficult to found W116 parts , in some cases i have to buy some 123 spearparts and try to adapt to my car .

Also i have ........(isolation thermique et sonore  du capot avant  ) which is the cover of the engine used for minimaze the engine noise , if there is any other tips to replace it as i do a search since  along time ago but without success .

Thanks in advance for your guidance

Hi Youcef,

For the Bonnet/Hood insulation pad I would use a gel contact adhesive. Not sure about the jacking points.

Tim