Hi,i was buy an oldtimer w116 with a beautiful Thistle Green Metallic 300SD but there are a lot of work and i have a big question, it's OK to startrestoration ? is not to much damage or kind of ?
Hi, and welcome. Unfortunately what you see is already quite bad for a W116. The rust you don't yet see is going to be far worse. Restoring it to an OK condition will be extremely expensive, unless you can do all the work yourself and would reuse as many old parts as possible.
I would walk away. It's not worth saving.
Yes,i want to make myself the restoration using fiber glass after cleaning all rust from chasis , but how to bond the cost-effective metal without special tools ?!
That car is seriously bad. I think you would be better off using another bodyshell.
Fibreglass is not a permanent repair. It tends to only hide the problem, whilst accelerating the rust underneath.
I suppose it depends on what you are expecting out of the car when done. Fiberglass can work for non-structural, but when you get to the jack points welding and steel is required. That much rust is pretty bad.
That does not look like an OM617 engine?
thats what I thought s class. the radiator is also the wrong one and the car sits very high at the front, perhaps its a much newer lighter aluminium engine?
galileo, this is not the car worth saving. a half reasonable one is cheap and a much better starting point.
i buy it with 500 E and this car have the same birthday as me ! 1 iune , and is the first car at my 21 age
i love them and i don't want to run away
From your posts you say that you are new to the w116. First and foremost congratulations they are designed like no other car in the world. Secondly, buy another w116 with a rock solid body. If you go through and bondo the whole car, in 2-3 years it will all fall apart and you will be in a worse position than you are in now. Save yourself the headache now. That chassis looks to be in the fatal rust stages. The w116 is one of the safest automobiles of its time, but with what appears to be that much rust the safety of the automobile greatly diminishes to that of a rolling coffin.
Once you start knocking off that rust you will be able to see for yourself how bad it has spread. My personal recommendation would be to strip that car of every conceivable nut and bolt that is salvageable (rust free or minor surface rust) and take that chassis to the scrapyard and buy another w116 that has a great body and maybe a beat up interior.
The point directly below the windshield is a cause of great concern, that is a primary point in the structure of the chassis. If that fails the entire roof will collapse onto whoever is in that seat.
I can only echo what Diesel 617 has said. I am not sure on the level of availability of 116's in your region, but this one really looks beyond salvation. Keep looking for a solid one, this one is waaaay too far gone.