1987 Mercedes 190E - M111 2.3 supercharged engine

So work continues...

I cut part of the old front wing so I could get more access to the front of the sill to be worked on and I found another hole (wish I had left the wing on)





Then cut out the bad metal in both areas





Cut a piece of metal to fit







Finally got on to the main section of the sill











Then I flat down the welds, seam sealed, galvanised sprayed, painted in body colour, stone guarded and sprayed in body colour again but didn't take any pictures but needled to say the sill looks 100x better than the holes created by the rust.

So with the welding on this side of the car nearly done we started on the body work to get the car ready for painting.















That's all up to date.

The plan this weekend is get the tyres pumped up, put the car back on the floor, move it out to give it a wash and clean the garage up and then get set up to work on the other side which *Touches wood* isn't as bad as this side so here hoping progress will be a little quicker!!!

Wells chaps, here is an update to cover the past 2 weekends worth of work.

This work is all on the passenger side.

One of 3 holes under the front wing/bulkhead








A small hole in the foot well which we managed to repair just by welding




And another pin hole welded over




Sill repairs




We was then waiting for a new sill to be delivered so we can use the front and back profile off it so we started working on the rear arch. On this side there was more of the inner wing left so we decided to keep as much of it as we could whilst making sure we was welding back on to good thick metal. This will hopefully make the fit of the outer wing better and more original.





Finally got the outer wing separated from the inner without too much trouble


Then we started to attack the inner wing








lastly can anyone tell me what this is? it looks like it goes to a motor in the boot but the end of it is un supported and I am not sure if its meant to be clipped or bolted somewhere?



So an overall update on the bodywork left to be carried out is:

Front of the sill
Rear of the sill & floor
Rear arch

So we finally attacked the spare wheel well which we was not really looking forward too.

At the start


Cut out the rust


Welded in place


Welds ground down


Galvanise sprayed & seam sealed


And finally painted in body colour


Cleaning up the old towing eye


Small repair


And a bit of paint


Welded back in place



Its also pretty level from the back (quite lucky!)

After removing the sub frame and giving the underneath a bit of a fettle the only hole we found was above the passenger side ARB mount


We couldn't cut it out and replace because of the lip so we had to created a plate to cover it.






Whilst we were working on this I sent the sub-frame, bottom arms and hub carriers to the powder coaters and bought some new bushes, wheels bearings, CV boots & lowering springs





And QA checked by the hound


Accumulation of parts to fit


That's up to date. What's next:

Buy a better compressor
Under seal the back end
De grease and paint differential, half shafts & shock absorbers
Fit bearing and bushes
Re fit sub frame and re build rear end
Fit new rear to front brake line and centre to each side lines
Buy and fit new brake disc's, pads and hand brake cables

All the above will hopefully be done in the next 2-3 weeks

Then put the wheels on and move to the front end (Front suspension & start taking the only puny 2.0 Auto out

Finished with 2 coats of paint and lacquer (these are dry, honest!)






Shiny = good.

Then it was time to reassemble the hub carriers with ne bushings and wheel bearings.



And new bushes in the sub frame


We then moved on the sealing and finishing the underneath










Taping up areas not to cover in under seal





we have already, primed, topcoat and lacquered the underneath as another precaution!

Then we got spraying








New Konifer brake lines fitted








As you can see the under seal was a bit thick in some places. this will be gone over again and blended in to the wheel arch more but we only had a couple of cans and wasn't sure how long it would last to the priority was under the sub frame and also where we have made repairs.

We have been having trouble holding the flexible brake lines up, as can be seen in the below picture, am I missing a clip or are these just designed to PUSH into the bracket but due to corrosion its now too large?

*update* The back end is now finished!













The covers were put on just to jack the car on to the ramps

So after we finished the back we lowered the car to the ground again, took it outside to wash it and turn it around and then re positioned it to start working on the front end.



Then in the space of an hour it ended up like this.



If anyone is after any parts from the engine or gearbox from a 2.0l Auto let me know and we can come to an arrangement because I have no use for any of it as a different engine is going in it.

The Plan:

Exhaust off
Prop shaft off
Front suspension both sides off
Engine & gearbox out
Under seal the middle and front section
Wire brush the front of the car to find rust and repair what's needed
Spray engine bay

That's probably the next 2 months planned for.

*Update*

So work has been continuing although I haven't been on here to update the thread. The following updates cover the past 4 - 6 weeks approximately.

Had a look to see how the C Class radiator would fit in the original mounts and it was quite obvious it wasn't going to work off the bat.


We have now cut off the mounts on the cross bar and when the engine is in we will rig up something to hold it in place. compared to the 190 radiator it is massive!

We then started work on the inner wings in the engine bay as you could see the floor through them which is good for weight reduction but we though the MOT tester wouldn't see if that way, so we decided its best to repair them.

We marked up the area to cut and decided to go with a square instead of a circle so we could get a better fit between both panels.






After priming in high build and re dressing a couple of areas


This is the repair on the other side. Top right is where the hole was and the other couple areas of primer is where I cut off the studs that were in place to hold the ignition control module.




Its all progress right?!


Getting there! (Since this photo the cross member has been degreased and primed)


Looking good, this is where the holes were.




Ready for paint.


After the first coat of paint.


After 2 coats of paint and 1 coat of lacquer (about 20mins since being laid)








What holes?!?!?




That's all up to date as of today. All I can say is we are really pleased with the finish we have achieved and not bad for 2 blokes in a shed right?!

Plan of attack:

Tomorrow give it another coat of lacquer
next week, get the engine painted and partially re built and complete some under sealing again that has got painted body colour
The week after, trial fit the engine and see what's needed to keep it in the car

By the end of the year we are aiming to have the engine fully in place and running, anything extra is a bonus.

Thanks for looking.

Here is the past couple of weeks updates.

Fitted new engine mounts


Gearbox mount made from the C class car and trimmed and reinforced to fit, this way the gearbox rubber is as standard and the heat shields were rubbed down and painted.




Test fitting a 190E diesel downpipe (no cat) to the C class manifold......fits perfect, the only down side is there is no lamda sensor hole but a cutter and a weld will soon sort that out.



We had to fabricate a support that fits to the top of the engine mount and then on to an up right to help support the monstrous intake and this was the end result.





Then it was time to fit the wiring harness back on - the engine cover infill is in high build primer but will be finished in a bright obnoxious orange to compliment the suspension parts that have been powder coated.




Next weeks work is:
1) Fit fuel rail
2) See if the standard fuel flexible's will fit and if not find a solution
3) Look at sorting the power steering pipes

The following week:
1) Wiring
2) Wiring
3) Wiring

Then hopefully get it started over Christmas *Fingers crossed*

I collected the front suspension today from the powder coaters and its as striking as expected.



And being inspected by the QC hound (Passed, but she cant tell they are orange!)



I have new ball joints, wishbone bushes and anti roll bar bushes to fit when they are reassembled which will hopefully be this weekend & now the search for some bigger brakes is on the agenda (anyone selling any please PM me)

More updates to come at the weekend.

thanks for looking

So whilst still working on the pipe work i needed a bit of a pick me up and decided to resort to some retail therapy and this is what I ended up with.







I can't wait to get these fitted this weekend.