Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Momentum on the Mercedes project...

It's only been a couple of weeks and change since my last update, so I must be doing something right. I got the metalwork on the front passenger fender done:



I haven't done the filler work on the fender yet (I'll get to it soon), but I thought it was time to clean the car up, turn it around, and start on the driver's side:



When I got the floor coating up, the driver's side did look a little crusty at first:


But, some cleanup showed that the floor was mostly solid and the rocker was almost 100% intact. This should be easy to repair:



Tonight, I started in on cutting and patching in the rear:


That's where I left off tonight. I'll try to finish this patch (and the rest of the rear driver's side floor board) tomorrow.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Still working on the Mercedes...

It's been close to a month since my last update, but I've been busy. Sadly, I'm still working on the passenger side. I thought I'd be done by now. But, it's not due to lack of effort on my part. I've been working on the car in the evenings after work in addition to on the weekends. I just keep finding little details that need attention.

To recap and get you up to speed:

  • the floor and rocker repairs are done and coated
  • the rear wheel well (inner and outer) are now repaired
  • a hole in the trunk lid, previously covered by a rubber plug (presumably from an old antenna installation) is now welded shut
  • the trunk floor is repaired
  • the hood spring perch is now rebuilt and the new hood spring is installed
  • the wheels I'm going to use on this car are now painted
  • since I was in a convenient place to do so, the passenger side door jambs are now painted
At this point, I'm working on repairing the front passenger fender. It has some pretty serious rust issues and I sold my good fender from the parts car. Right now, I'm patching up the rust holes and will soon re-mount the fender to the car. Once that's done, I can finally turn my attention to the driver's side of the car.

Some photos from the past month:












...and that's where I am. I'm trying to do at least a little work every day, which has been helping a lot to speed things along.