Euro 280SE 4-Speed manual

[Casey]

If one can look at this mess of rust and see any glimmer of hope, that makes me feel that maybe my 300CD is worth saving.  I just don't get it.  It looks like an insurmountable amount of work.  I'll be watching this project with interest for sure.

I would love to find a manual transmission to fit on a 450SEL though.  The 200D I bought is manual, and after you drive it around for a bit, automatics just seem no fun at all.

[Big_Richard]

the reality of the situation is, this is only ever going to be a patch job unless that chassis is chemical dipped and corrosion inhibited via the submersion method.

You will be able to patch up all the rust but more is sure to surface in time as the visible rust WONT be all the rust and the rust eating away from the underside of the visible surfaces all over the car are yet to be discovered. (salted road use)

If the project is managed economically however, not too much money will be lost if it all goes pear shaped in a few more years. A home resto is the only logical step to take if even considering one, on a vehicle of such (little) value.

Dont get me wrong, I'm very excited for the car and want to see it resurrected but i hope you understand the reality of the situation and dont get too carried away spending lots of money.

[TJ 450]

Yes, this is a case of salted road use early in the car's life. Once the salt gets in there, it haunts the car for the rest of its life... Even if there is no visible rust for a few years.

A car will rust as much in Australia, if it is stored in direct path of salt spray. Even where I live, there is still a certain amount of salt in the air during inclement weather (about 3km from the beach).

I agree with what you're saying MT. It will only be a patch job, but the better that is done, the longer it will last.

If the car is stored in a dry environment, and I treat as much of the rust as possible, I should be able to have some fun in the car for a few more years, until it rots away completely.

However, I won't be doing anything other than basic servicing until I can confirm that the rust can be repaired in a satisfactory manner. The front fenders are rotten as well, so the only panels of value on this car are the main section of the chassis, sunroof lid, bonnet, boot lid, and the rear doors as far as I can tell at the moment. Passenger door is marginal. The outer sills are serviceable.

Another parts car is needed to provide a useable SE interior, fenders, and possibly donor sections if I can't see to the rust with the 190E sheet metal I already possess.

The UK rust bucket 500SEC I had was a lot worse than this. The underside of the chassis is actually quite intact on this one, even under the wheel arches.

However, there is simply no comparison to my 6.9... Rust issues on that were very minor, hence I wasn't afraid to spend the $$$$$.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

you will be able to enjoy many years out of this 4 speed 280, you'd enjoy those years alot more with a "kompressor" bolted on to the engine where that york compressor used to be.

I think you know what im talking about 

Slightly contradictory to my last post, but hell, itd be fun so the expense is ok

[TJ 450]

Yes, well, I already removed the York compressor. There is now a void that needs to be filled.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

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[TJ 450]

I'll keep my eyes peeled for sure, but it's a bit out of the scope at the moment obviously.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

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[Tony66_au]

A tale id like to relate re a rustmonster I had, although not a Benz I stripped the interior right out, door cards carpet dash the whole schmeer.

Replacement floor pans, plenum base, firewall sections etc with many a night spend with a spot weld drill.

New interior sourced and the car came back together and went for roadworthy and rego.

Weekend came and early Sunday I skipped Church to go for a 300 km run down the Great Ocean Road to Lorne and back, new CD player installed and loaded with tunes, my driving sunnies perched on my schnozz as im cruising down the road.

I make a slight adjustment to my sunvisor now loaded with CD's in one of those nifty CD sleeves and cruise on oblivious to the fact that the sunvisor was slowly coming away from where it was screwed into the roof until it dropped in my lap with a shower of rust........

Bugger x 10 and other choice language, so I haul over at the next truck stop and clean up a bit, the sun now belting down on the roof of the car so I crank a rear window down and wander off for some roadside fried food, sit and nosh for 20 mins deciding if i should push on or go home.

So as im heading home, a gaping rust shower hole in the top right corner of my headlining I casually adjust the rear view mirror which feels weirdly loose in my hand because it too has rusted out of the roof and it held in only by rooflining.

I get back and it dawns on me, this car id spent money and time on had spent a while full of water windows up which means that on hot days it turned into a sauna with moisture forming on the inside of the roof which was covered in some kind of insulation stuck to the roof, I hadn't removed the headlining as it was perfect.... Perfect for hiding rust lol

I laugh now but these days I pull the roof lining as well as even a leaky boot/trunk will create condense in places youd never think water would go, namely UP and slowly rusting out C pillars and turrets.

BTW Roof dodgy repaired with liquid nails and blocks of wood to replace visor brackets and rear view mirror brackets and hidden with a new roof liner.

Tony

[Big_Richard]

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[1980sdga]

Two words:  Tur Bo...

A US smogger would be a good candidate 

[Big_Richard]

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[Casey]

car bodies should be made out of stainless steel, but even then that would create its own set of problems and still rusts if neglected anyway.

"Own set of problems":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mjd2NTJU9g

[1980sdga]

I'm guessing this one is the hi compression version?

[TJ 450]

The moral of the story is don't crash a DeLorean.

Now, I made a discovery... This 280 doesn't have central locking... absolutely no sign of it ever being there.

Clearly, it was optional.

The engine is indeed the high compression version.

Tim