R170 SLK - didn't think of that
Discussion
With long term ownership in mind for a 1998 SLK230 - ownership currently standing at 16 years - part of my Spring Clean is to remove the under wing shields and give it all a good clean out. What I overlooked is taking them out and putting them back in seems to have compromised their effectiveness. I guess the plastic age hardens and unless I put them back in exactly the same place there will be gaps. I think some replacement softer ones are called for. Unless anyone can think of something else. Have I overlooked domething? Is there a technique for softening them again? Like you might anneal age or work hardened metal to make it malleable.
Leaky under wing shields.
Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
Leaky under wing shields.
Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
DickyC said:
Noo, there's very little rust on it. My Spring Clean and occasional trips to the body shop have seen to that. No, the more I think about it the more convinced I am it's the underwing shields that are now fitting badly because they've gone hard. I'll buy new ones.
In the top photo I can see it bubbling through from the inside. As you look after the car I would recommend having the area looked at by a bodyshop, and once repaired spray some Dinitrol wax over the reverse of the panel.New shields may help prevent it, and what I've done on other cars is stick a piece of thing felt on the bottom edge of the wing, to prevent chaffing of the paint.
The body shop estimated what I asked for which was to take the bumpers off and do the rusty bits. That was June 2017. Within six months the rust was coming through again telling me they hadn't taken the bumpers off. Grrr. During that six months they went out of business. I'm warming up to doing it again but I'm torn between keeping the original wings and having them ground back and leaded or having new ones. So much of the car is original it's a difficult decision. Even the exhaust is original. I'll spend on it what the car is currently worth but we like it and hope to keep it. It has had a fairly easy life. It's my wife's daily, is used regularly and apart from an occasional Italian Tune Up by me it tends to potter.
mwstewart said:
In the top photo I can see it bubbling through from the inside. As you look after the car I would recommend having the area looked at by a bodyshop, and once repaired spray some Dinitrol wax over the reverse of the panel.
New shields may help prevent it, and what I've done on other cars is stick a piece of thin felt on the bottom edge of the wing, to prevent chaffing of the paint.
That's good advice. Thanks.New shields may help prevent it, and what I've done on other cars is stick a piece of thin felt on the bottom edge of the wing, to prevent chaffing of the paint.
DickyC said:
The body shop estimated what I asked for which was to take the bumpers off and do the rusty bits. That was June 2017. Within six months the rust was coming through again telling me they hadn't taken the bumpers off. Grrr. During that six months they went out of business. I'm warming up to doing it again but I'm torn between keeping the original wings and having them ground back and leaded or having new ones. So much of the car is original it's a difficult decision. Even the exhaust is original. I'll spend on it what the car is currently worth but we like it and hope to keep it. It has had a fairly easy life. It's my wife's daily, is used regularly and apart from an occasional Italian Tune Up by me it tends to potter.
There's absolutely no need to replace the wings and in fact it's very likely the paintwork can be localised with the repaired area blown in and re-lacquered rather than the entire panel re-painted in base coat then lacquered. It would be worth spending a little more taking it to someone well thought of (the hard bit is finding that person!).Yes, well, I thought I had. They did some lovely work for one of my customers but it depended on the mood of the shop's principal player. Gee whiz he was hard work. Under complaint about part of the job, the roof, they took the car back and polished the roof. They did it reluctantly and, I suspect, thought I needed to be taught a lesson. They didn't mask anything so there were dots of polishing compound all over the car. They left the car in the sun and it baked on. I can still find some now if I look.
Next stop is a little outfit in Andover who, as restorers, are less desperate to turn cars round. On my recommendation my brother put a car in there and he was happy. And if it's good enough for the reigning South of England Fuss Pot Champion it's good enough for me.
Next stop is a little outfit in Andover who, as restorers, are less desperate to turn cars round. On my recommendation my brother put a car in there and he was happy. And if it's good enough for the reigning South of England Fuss Pot Champion it's good enough for me.
DickyC said:
Yes, well, I thought I had. They did some lovely work for one of my customers but it depended on the mood of the shop's principal player. Gee whiz he was hard work. Under complaint about part of the job, the roof, they took the car back and polished the roof. They did it reluctantly and, I suspect, thought I needed to be taught a lesson. They didn't mask anything so there were dots of polishing compound all over the car. They left the car in the sun and it baked on. I can still find some now if I look.
Next stop is a little outfit in Andover who, as restorers, are less desperate to turn cars round. On my recommendation my brother put a car in there and he was happy. And if it's good enough for the reigning South of England Fuss Pot Champion it's good enough for me.
I can sympathise having experienced similar on the path to finding a 'good hand'. Good luck in Andover - it sounds a promising proposition.Next stop is a little outfit in Andover who, as restorers, are less desperate to turn cars round. On my recommendation my brother put a car in there and he was happy. And if it's good enough for the reigning South of England Fuss Pot Champion it's good enough for me.
mwstewart said:
I can sympathise having experienced similar on the path to finding a 'good hand'. Good luck in Andover - it sounds a promising proposition.
Thanks very much! Yes, I'm optimistic. I know the hard cases are faint about the early SLK but I've always liked it and I'll record my adventures in Readers' Cars in the next round of work.DickyC said:
Next stop is a little outfit in Andover who, as restorers, are less desperate to turn cars round. On my recommendation my brother put a car in there and he was happy. And if it's good enough for the reigning South of England Fuss Pot Champion it's good enough for me.
There was a company called Contract Paint located on the south side of the A303 just east of Andover.Had a huge reputation for concours restoration especially Sunbeam Alpines ( I should know). Owner John Timms & wife passed away but the company might still be around & maybe upholding a fine reputation.
WJNB said:
There was a company called Contract Paint located on the south side of the A303 just east of Andover.
Had a huge reputation for concours restoration especially Sunbeam Alpines ( I should know). Owner John Timms & wife passed away but the company might still be around & maybe upholding a fine reputation.
I'll check them out. Thanks.Had a huge reputation for concours restoration especially Sunbeam Alpines ( I should know). Owner John Timms & wife passed away but the company might still be around & maybe upholding a fine reputation.
The car surprised me by asking for a service I hadn't been expecting. In amongst everything else, up on the ramp it emerged the rear subframe has deteriorated badly so my rolling restoration over the sixteen years we've had the car may have stopped in favour of a thorough refurbishment. I'll put it on Reader's Cars when I start. There will be quite a lot to do and decisions to make. Should I replace the original front wings or find someone who can still do leading? So much is original - even the exhaust! Interesting project. The service manager was trying to steer me towards a replacement car. Even though it's probably worth a grand (on a good day) it owes us nothing. It was £23,000 in 2002 and not many expensive things have happened. That's cheap motoring.
I bought a '99 SLK 230 in August last year. Just under 80,000 miles. It's been an, erm, interesting adventure with it in the past few months, but I've grown rather attached to it.
It's definitely been accident repaired at some point (tell tales of slight paint mismatch/overspray, and the tinworm is just beginning to rear its head on the front wings/rear sills.
Would be interested to know what (if anything) you did with yours?
It's definitely been accident repaired at some point (tell tales of slight paint mismatch/overspray, and the tinworm is just beginning to rear its head on the front wings/rear sills.
Would be interested to know what (if anything) you did with yours?
Apologies for the delay. The first article is one I started, the second one I inadvertently took over and duplicated much of what I said in the first one and the third one - Shed - is worth a look to read the posts by a bloke who is anti-SLK in a big way.
SLK Rust Traps
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mercedes SLK - Preventative Maintenance
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
SHED
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The rust thing is really interesting. Ways of viewing rust, I mean. It exists, you have to live with it. My wife has had the blue car for 18 years and it has been serviced by MB Newbury for all but one service (two different estimates for cost and they couldn't explain the £150 difference in estimates so I took it to a specialist in a huff). Anyway, they now give you a video of your car being visually dissected by the technician. The most recent one had a traffic light system green for okay, orange for needs attention, red for needs attention now. And he went to town on the rust, this is rusty, that is rusty, this is very rusty. Drove me nuts. He gave the exhaust a red. Yes, it looks rusty. The technician insisted it needed changing. My view is about as different as it could be. I'm proud of the exhaust. It's original. It's 22 years old, functions well and the car sails through the MoT. I'm not changing it just because the MB technician thinks it looks rusty.
Rant over.
A couple of things to add to the grim area behind the front wheels. With the wheel off, I take off the under wing shield and have a clean up as shown in the SLK Rust Traps thread. Now, in addition, I also slacken the front wing bolts in the door shut and take out the bolts along the bottom of the front wing. I ease the bottom of the wing away from the footwell and hose out the crud. I leave it to dry and reassemble it with copper grease. Be careful not to buckle the wing. It only needs a wee bit of a gap to allow the crud to wash out.
The under wing shields themselves, as explained in the post, wil have age hardened and won't go back with as good a fit as they had when you left them alone. This is a problem except you are now maintaining the body regularly and can overcome any problems caused by the shields not fitting well anymore. The distortion is made worse the longer they are off the car. This can be improved either by being quick or by supporting them in their preferred shape and minimising any twisting. Other than that the rust is pretty much there to see. Oh, no, there is join where the front wing meets the bumper. That is a poor bit of design. Put the car up on a ramp and have a good look round. The blue car doesn't have any rust perforations that I know of and the recent addition, the black car, I have yet to investigate.
I try to do this once a year. The bits come off easily now that they move annually. Be careful taking off the under wing shield nuts. They are plastic but will wring the neck of their studs very easily if they haven't come off before. Give them a squirt of penetrating oil a week before you do the job. The studs would be a right pain to replace.
The drains in the boot shut (the little grilles either side behind the roof) can get blocked. I pour water down them occasionally to see if one or other has blocked. If one has, I work a length of wire gently down through the drain tube fro the grille end until water appears at my feet and I know the blockage has cleared. I make a bit of a crank in my end of the wire so I can rotate it as it passes along the drain tube.
More when I think of it.
SLK Rust Traps
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mercedes SLK - Preventative Maintenance
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
SHED
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The rust thing is really interesting. Ways of viewing rust, I mean. It exists, you have to live with it. My wife has had the blue car for 18 years and it has been serviced by MB Newbury for all but one service (two different estimates for cost and they couldn't explain the £150 difference in estimates so I took it to a specialist in a huff). Anyway, they now give you a video of your car being visually dissected by the technician. The most recent one had a traffic light system
green for okay, orange for needs attention, red for needs attention now. And he went to town on the rust, this is rusty, that is rusty, this is very rusty. Drove me nuts. He gave the exhaust a red. Yes, it looks rusty. The technician insisted it needed changing. My view is about as different as it could be. I'm proud of the exhaust. It's original. It's 22 years old, functions well and the car sails through the MoT. I'm not changing it just because the MB technician thinks it looks rusty.Rant over.
A couple of things to add to the grim area behind the front wheels. With the wheel off, I take off the under wing shield and have a clean up as shown in the SLK Rust Traps thread. Now, in addition, I also slacken the front wing bolts in the door shut and take out the bolts along the bottom of the front wing. I ease the bottom of the wing away from the footwell and hose out the crud. I leave it to dry and reassemble it with copper grease. Be careful not to buckle the wing. It only needs a wee bit of a gap to allow the crud to wash out.
The under wing shields themselves, as explained in the post, wil have age hardened and won't go back with as good a fit as they had when you left them alone. This is a problem except you are now maintaining the body regularly and can overcome any problems caused by the shields not fitting well anymore. The distortion is made worse the longer they are off the car. This can be improved either by being quick or by supporting them in their preferred shape and minimising any twisting. Other than that the rust is pretty much there to see. Oh, no, there is join where the front wing meets the bumper. That is a poor bit of design. Put the car up on a ramp and have a good look round. The blue car doesn't have any rust perforations that I know of and the recent addition, the black car, I have yet to investigate.
I try to do this once a year. The bits come off easily now that they move annually. Be careful taking off the under wing shield nuts. They are plastic but will wring the neck of their studs very easily if they haven't come off before. Give them a squirt of penetrating oil a week before you do the job. The studs would be a right pain to replace.
The drains in the boot shut (the little grilles either side behind the roof) can get blocked. I pour water down them occasionally to see if one or other has blocked. If one has, I work a length of wire gently down through the drain tube fro the grille end until water appears at my feet and I know the blockage has cleared. I make a bit of a crank in my end of the wire so I can rotate it as it passes along the drain tube.
More when I think of it.
Edited by DickyC on Saturday 16th May 09:18
All the cars now live outside. The blue car did have the garage but doesn't any more and it's fine. The big advantage with a car like an SLK is they weren't made by a few enthusiasts for a few other enthusiasts, they were made by a big manufacturer who had to make them liveable-withable for a lot of customers eager to find fault.
I would just like to point out that your earlier assertion that the car was your wife's daily and had led an easy life is at odds with my experience and my other half's daily drive 
I almost bought a low mileage silver SLK 320 when I was looking around a few years ago. It was in lovely condition and very reasonably priced but it had a manual gearbox which when reading up a bit about the Mercedes manual boxes put me off.
I ended up with an SL instead for double the cost.
I almost bought a low mileage silver SLK 320 when I was looking around a few years ago. It was in lovely condition and very reasonably priced but it had a manual gearbox which when reading up a bit about the Mercedes manual boxes put me off.
I ended up with an SL instead for double the cost.
It's had an even easier life for the last six weeks.
Despite its easy life it will need work underneath. The rear subframe is an MoT pass but a concours fail. And an MB technician fail - "That's an Orange."
F
k off with your traffic lights. When the subframe comes out for a refurb I'll do - or have done - the whole underside. Some remedial work and a refresh of the underseal.
Despite its easy life it will need work underneath. The rear subframe is an MoT pass but a concours fail. And an MB technician fail - "That's an Orange."
Fk off with your traffic lights. When the subframe comes out for a refurb I'll do - or have done - the whole underside. Some remedial work and a refresh of the underseal.Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff