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W460 body work done correctly

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reinhardtius
Posts: 799

W460 body work done correctly

Post#1 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:59 am

I think the used and classic car buying experience can be very gray and tough to be sure of what you're getting. When I bought this G from Steffen in CO I was aware of the fact that there was some rust, however when I got the truck it was in a whole heck of a lot better shape than I had thought with the pictures he had sent me. Anyway, rust has appeared in the quarter panel areas (lower), but has not gone all the way through the metal. There is also a tiny spot on the rear tail lamp area. These, as most of you know, are typical areas of rusting for the 460's.

Well I took my G to Jay Givens over at Givens Collision in Frederick, MD. Jay has been doing body work and full restorations for over 30 years now and he was nice enough to go over my truck and tell me a little more about the history of my G. For starters it was repainted a few years back and the work was absolutely top notch. He also pointed out that when it was repainted there was most likely no rust because all of the welds were original and no body filler was present. There were some proper additions done like drain holes added to the rear tail lamp pieces and proper plugs replaced...etc. He said overall the truck was super clean (which I agreed with him on).

I went home and stripped the exterior of all of the rubber moldings, fender flares, rock sliders, bumper...etc and washed the G down really well. I then went ahead and waxed it without those rubber pieces on. The paint looks amazing, I must say. From there I took a wire brush drill tool to expose the rusty spots that were present on the rockers and rear tail light area. Once the surface rust was exposed I treated the surface with Naval Jelly.

"Phosphoric acid may be used by direct application to rusted iron, steel tools, or surfaces to convert iron(III) oxide (rust) to a water-soluble phosphate compound. It is usually available as a greenish liquid, suitable for dipping (acid bath), but is more generally used as a component in a gel, commonly called naval jelly." - wikipedia on naval jelly

So the surfaces were treated and today I'm going to be taking a grinder to those areas affect to remove all bulging and to smooth out the surfaces. The buldging is not much, so I do not anticipate having holes in the metal when all is said and done. If that is the case I will either MIG weld in a new piece in those affected spots or treat the metal again with naval jelly and then apply a fiberglass overlay, prime the surface and then apply a topcoat over the affect areas.

As many may know I am in the process of getting ready to sell my G. School is expensive and it is a bummer, but I want to be up front with everyone as well as prospective buyers that this truck underwent proper body work. Once the surfaces are treated and good to go I will be having LineX sprayed over top to create a air and water tight seal. I decided against Rhino Liner because of the reputation of LineX. My quote for Rhino Liner was 50% cheaper than that of a LineX application, but as many know cheaper is not better in some cases. The LineX is not being applied to hide the rust, but rather to prevent it from spreading and growing.

I'll be taking pictures along the way. Pictures below show the naval jelly application - will post pictures of the surfaces up close before it goes off to LineX.

Here are some pictures to start -

http://picasaweb.google.com/snyder.hunter/GRestoration#
Last edited by reinhardtius on Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

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reinhardtius
Posts: 799

Re: W460 body work done right

Post#2 » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:26 am

Just a quick update. I went ahead and brought the body down to bare metal by use of a circular grinder. The surfaces looked great, only one extremely small hole (on pass side front rocker), maybe .5mm in diameter. So once the surfaces were clean down to rust free metal I went ahead and applied another coating of naval jelly to remove (if any) surface rust that might be present. 15-20 minutes later I brought the G out front and washed those areas off with water (per instructions). Once that was done I drove it back into the garage and wiped those spots down with clean paper towels.

Now that the metal was ready for body filler I put on my grape flavored rubber gloves (thanks to working in a dental office!) and respirator and began mixing up my body filler. I went with the 3M Bondo since I had used it many times in the past on my old white 300GD and had good results. I applied a very light coating to the surfaces where it was not smooth and even (.5mm to 1mm in thickness if that). It took me about 4.5 hours to go slowly around the 3 areas of the G.

I took a little break then I got the palm sander out and started on the passenger rocker and worked my way around the G, going slowly to make sure everything was nice and smooth, There really wasn't much body filler on the surfaces so the sanding was relatively minimal. It, however, did take about 2 hours or so to do all the sanding.

Now that the surfaces were smooth, even properly prepped I used some never fail Simple Green to clean the areas around the body work to make sure there wasn't any remaining dust, dirt or debris. The surfaces were now clean so I used some white primer and sprayed the areas where bare metal and body filler existed.

The end result was awesome. I'm super happy with how the work turned out. My body work experience was very minimal, but I took my time and did everything very nicely. Pictures below show the work.

Cheers,

Hunter
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Suppatime
Posts: 1215
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Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#3 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:24 am

Hello Hunter! It seems your link and pictures aren't coming through on my end, and this seems to be a well thought-out build thread that I'm sure many can benefit from.

Any chance you can try editing your link or posting your pictures to Imgur so they can be viewed directly in the forums?
Filmmaker, Musician, Car Nitwit
Hollywood, CA USA

1980 Mercedes 300GD SWB - OM606/5-speed "Puchy"
2003 Mercedes C32 AMG "Dolores"- FLOODED AND TOTALED
2015 Kia Soul - BOOOOOOOO

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nihil
Posts: 1798

Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#4 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:28 am

This post was from 2009, and I'm pretty sure I own this G now. The bondo doesn't hold up -that- well, and there is rust now. Also, never put bedliner on something you don't want to rust.
1982 300GD LWB RHD

Suppatime
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Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#5 » Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:13 pm

nihil wrote:This post was from 2009, and I'm pretty sure I own this G now. The bondo doesn't hold up -that- well, and there is rust now. Also, never put bedliner on something you don't want to rust.


I'd love to hear your story here... as I'm planning on using body filler on my right and potentially using Raptor Liner.
Filmmaker, Musician, Car Nitwit
Hollywood, CA USA

1980 Mercedes 300GD SWB - OM606/5-speed "Puchy"
2003 Mercedes C32 AMG "Dolores"- FLOODED AND TOTALED
2015 Kia Soul - BOOOOOOOO

User avatar
nihil
Posts: 1798

Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#6 » Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:30 pm

I'll try to take some pics this weekend, they'll highlight the nature of it better than me saying there's rust in some spots.
1982 300GD LWB RHD

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nihil
Posts: 1798

Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#7 » Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:13 am

Here's what the spray-on type bed liner does after time. It looks great at first, but it just doesn't bond to the surface well enough to prevent moisture ingress no matter how well you prep it. I've spoken with several people who have used different products, and long term this always seems to be the end result. I grew to really like the black strip along the bottom of my G, but when I get around to sorting the body out, I'm going to redo it in flat black paint and not any kind of bed liner.
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1982 300GD LWB RHD

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Otiswesty
Posts: 9465

Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#8 » Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:32 pm

Yes, the bed liner looks good when newly applied, but as mentioned above it will fail and trap moisture. Additionally, it is often used to cover prior rust repair. In a car for sail, I would just assume it is there to cover something bad.
461.213, 463.241

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cal_w460
Posts: 2205

Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#9 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:30 pm

I am a bit surprised how many people (on here and other groups/forums) who do complete body off restaurations, and then in the end they are using bed liner, rapor, rubber/plastic based spray on under carriage protection etc.

If you are doing serious body work you should also use well proven products all the way til the top coat.

- Etch primer or epoxy primer on bare metal
- Industrial polyurethane paint on frame/chassis parts
- Well proven 2k paint systems from Sikkens/PPG/known brands.

Also no idea to use 1k paint anywhere on a car because it doesn''t seal the metal against water and oxygen. It WILL rust no matter how well you made the prep before paint.

Regarding these rubber / plastic based products they create a perfect environment for rust to grow underneath. Because the adhesion is poor and when done in a non industrial environment there will always be spots where water / oxygen can enter. Corners, seams between body panels, sharp edges, or if you get a small damage to the coating. You have more or less put the metal in a "sealed" plastic bag with iron, water and oxygen inside.
w460.333 1982 Colorado Beige 300 GD OM617.931

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Mike G.
Posts: 82

Re: W460 body work done correctly

Post#10 » Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:22 am

Bed-lined vehicles don't rust any more than poorly painted vehicles. Like with any bodywork, prep is the most critical step in the process. The examples of the bed-liner peeling off and corrosion being observed underneath are due to poor prep or as stated earlier, merely used to cover up already rusted metal.

I chose to use a product called Monstaliner to cover my entire 230G restoration because of its incredible durability and spotless track-record. I've got a 15 year old G500 with premium MB factory paint that coincidentally has rusted out rockers and door sills. Rust is going to happen regardless of what coating one chooses. I've also accidentally backed into a 3" diameter tree branch in my 230G, snapping it, and don't even have a scratch in the Monstaliner to show for it.
Beware the hobby that eats. - Benjamin Franklin

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