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gold 6.9 resto

Started by nathan, 04 July 2009, 08:07 AM

nathan

Howdy all,
its time for my annual update on the gold 6.9s project. this has been a long project, pruchasing the 6.9, purchasing wrecks for panels, sourcing bits and pieces. anyhow, the painters started a feww months ago and have been working on the infinite degree of rust. its actually going pretty well now...attached are some pics...you can see some before and afters...also you will see a couple of shots of the wrecks where the amputated parts to graft onto the 6.9, thereby eliminating th eneed for complex fabrications....
REAR DRIVERS SIDE C PILLAR BASE (MINOR HOLE!), PARTS CUT OFF WRECKS




DRIVERS SIDE FRONT SILL/FOOTWELL






RUSTED DRIVERS SIDE BOOT/TRUNK WELL, GENUINE REPLACEMENT PART WELDED IN


DONOR CARS


1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

WGB


TJ 450

The quality of the work these guys are doing is spectacular... and I saw it in the metal this morning! ;-)

I really like the boot well panels and the outer sills... very impressive.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

kolin

nathan.
i have to take my hat off.i thought that the rust i had on mine was alot.but yours takes the cake.
i am so scared to start.
but seeing yours gives me some hope.
keep going and keep us posted with the photos.

oscar

I forgot about this goldie.  That's looking awsome Nathan.  8)
1973 350SE, my first & fave

s class

Very impressive stuff Nathan.  Gee, but those donors really were essential to the project. 


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL

nathan

we have taken a while with this one!
the donors ended up being useful. not only for 4 doors, bonnet, boot (who would have thought a boot could get rust!), but also especially for the boot seal areas which were clapped out.  they didnt cost much and their parts have fed numerous other cars too...

i think the only rustier car i know of was mirafioramans 6.9 in the uk...havent heard from him in a while, maybe he ditched his project

nathan
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

Burty

As my little classification says , i'm a "newbie" with these cars , is this rust what would be expected with a car of this age , or did you get this one cheap because of it's condition??
I'm keen to get into one of these 6.9's , but your article has just made me re think??

Big_Richard

Nice work..  8)

have you decided on a colour yet ?

Please don't tell me its another silver 6.9  ::)

PB says: "break the mould and keep it gold"

TJ 450

Quote from: Burty on 04 July 2009, 08:53 PM
As my little classification says , i'm a "newbie" with these cars , is this rust what would be expected with a car of this age , or did you get this one cheap because of it's condition??
I'm keen to get into one of these 6.9's , but your article has just made me re think??
Some rust is to be expected, unless it is a top example. The level of rust seen in Nathan's gold car is definitely not commonplace.

FWIW, my 6.9 was sitting unregistered in someone's front yard out at Ellenbrook WA, for a good part of a decade and prior to that, out at Kalgoorlie. All the screen seals are completely shot and the carpets were wet, but the rust is quite minimal for a W116, there are a few localised rust holes in the firewall and under the left rear wheelarch box-section.

What you don't want is a car with odd rust spots all over it... that usually means that the usual places are rusted out to an advanced stage.

Areas to check are:

Firewall, behind rubber sheeting at bonnet hinge area.
Boot wells, either side of spare wheel area under trim.
Around windscreen seals.
Bottom of doors.
Outer sill (some rust is very common in this area and not too much of a concern, unless the car is going to be getting wet all the time) and front mudguards.
Floorpan (hard to see because of sound deadening). First place to check is under the front carpets, in the far corner where the accelerator pedal mounts and on the passenger side in the same place. Water sits here where it enters the holes in the firewall/screen seal and eventually rusts out the floor.
The bumpers often rust out, but are easily replaced with good used ones.
Also watch out for bog in the above mentioned places.

Good luck Burty and I'm sure you'll find a good solid example... they do exist. :)

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

nathan

Burty,
this car indeed has more rust than t he usual, although most 116s do have some degree of rust and repair by shops is not cheap if done properly.

6.9s owners generally go one of a few ways.
-most will say buy the  best example possible, or  agood example and make it very nice (WGB, my silver 6.9)...this often ends up costing less in the long run
-others with mechanical know how (TJ, PB) enjoy doing lots of work on their cars are able to buy less perfect examples and do them up...
-finally are those who have the dream of doing up bombs, then realise its not economically feasible afterwards and bail!

good luck on your hunt and keep us posted, the WA crew is quite helpful you will find!

PB, still dont know about the colour, we are a way off from that yet...two silver 6.9s would look better wouldnt it? then again, that
gold is crazy and appealing!
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

TJ 450

That is a good summation, Nathan.

I reckon the gold would look nice and fresh, plus you won't have to worry about the gold paint hiding everywhere, unless you are going to remove the engine and do a 69ltr style resto.  ;)

FWIW, my 6.9 will eventually be repainted in the same blue that it rolled out of the factory with.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

Big_Richard

#12
Nathan, not that its worth much to you, but i beg of you, please let it remain gold ;)

I couldn't personally think of much better than having 1 x gold 6.9 and 1 x silver 6.9.

It is the most perfect collection, full stop.  8)

PS, my car wasnt just less than perfect, it was a complete and utter heap of sh!t, the only frightening thing is, that i didnt chicken out, i decided to proceed.

Perhaps if i didnt, i wouldnt be on a vegimite sandwich diet for 6 months buying furnature for my house ;)

nathan

PB, i will give dad the heads up that icon gold is the word!

and as for the description of your car, im not in the habit of saying others vehicles are a piece of $h^& on the forum, so i euphemise a little!

1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

s class

Icon gold is so, well, iconic.  good choice. 


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL