Casey's 1977 450SEL

[Casey]

Video about the state of the car:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Kbbfo5oys

Anybody think it's worth saving or am I right in thinking this is a lost cause?

[1980sdga]

Sad 

Looks like a parts car unless you have a welder and want to put a LOT of work into it.  Seems like the Brits fix stuff like that all the time...

[mirafioriman]

It's all fixable if you want to. The good thing about Mercedes is many new parts and panels are still available but of course at a price

It's all about how much time and money you have and how much you want to save that particular car. Over here most W116s have rust, ones like yours are common. If there are better ones available there for reasonable money it might be cheaper and easier to just get another.

Personally I like a challenge....

[Casey]

It's all fixable if you want to. The good thing about Mercedes is many new parts and panels are still available but of course at a price

It's all about how much time and money you have and how much you want to save that particular car. Over here most W116s have rust, ones like yours are common. If there are better ones available there for reasonable money it might be cheaper and easier to just get another.

Well I want a green SEL W116.  I quite like this color.  This one would need new rockers, new floorboards, new cowl sheet metal, maybe fenders and other stuff...  I don't know difficult it is to replace the floorboards but that part really concerns me because of all the rust.  There's holes in the front and back and the state of the back where the seatbed should attach to the floor being rotted entirely away is very concerning.  I think it  would be very costly to restore and even then, would be obvious and full of messy welds.  And how many thousand of dollars would it cost...  I don't know how to do welding myself and would rather find somebody who is known to do it well, but I'm not even sure how to locate such a person/place.

Then I worry about things like, since there's holes in the cowls, has the rust spread to down inside where I can't see?  I'd guess probably, but I can't tell until it manifests into a much bigger problem.

I think I'd rather find another one that isn't rusted from the south or west coast, and then get the underbody stripped and redone in such a way that it's very protected, and replace all the rubber seals so water can't leak into the car, and keep it under cover from the elements most of the time.  I feel like I should try saving this one but that's mostly because of money spent on it which isn't necessarily a good reason.  Another issue is that it could be some trouble finding a good one in a green color, and I've already invested in all the green interior parts including brand new leather seat skins - only thing I'm missing at this point is carpets (but I've got front mats from a SWB).

I saw this green 6.9 for sale in California, it's probably a better investment:

[mirafioriman]

Why not just get a good one in any colour and paint it thistle green?

[Casey]

Why not just get a good one in any colour and paint it thistle green?

...because I really would prefer to not change the color.  I want to open the hood and see the same color under there, in the door jambs, if I pull a seal or other part off...  I want to not see original paint color through chips in the new coat years down the road...  etc.  So if I were to change color I'd have to completely dismantle the car, carefully strip the whole chassis, and repaint the whole shebang.

I'm all for a fresh coat of paint when needed but I'd prefer to stick with original color.

P.S. My 450SEL is nickel green, one reason I like it is that it's a distinctly unpopular color on the road these days and it was the color of my very first Mercedes, a 1976 W115.  However thistle green isn't bad if that's what that 6.9 is...

[mirafioriman]

Yeah if you change the colour you do have to paint everywhere but it's a lot easier than repairing rust

[ZCarFan]

One of my 300SDs is like that.  My rational side knows it should be a parts car, but I like the color (681H - Manila Beige) . 

You know... MIG welders are cheap and it's never too late to learn a new skill.  Far worse cars have been saved, though from an economic standpoint it doesn't work.