Bodywork repair

We adopted our body test rig using specific for 190SL attachment struts for geometry tests of the received body.

We tested possibility to correct geometry of the whole rear end at once.

By some pressure at the rear end it was possible to achieve better door gaps.

Tests revealed one additional problem – pins and bushings of door hinges were worn out and we ordered new replacement parts.

We removed rear wings spot by spot drilling-off welding to save panels for further use.

By some cuts rear wing was detached.

This cut shows how thick layer of filler is over a rear upper panel of the body.

Door rear pillars were removed ensuring free movement of the rear part of the body.

Reason for incorrect position of doorposts was severe corrosion of adjacent to frame surfaces which was worsened by silicone under-layer between steel doorstep profile and doorpost made of aluminium.

Someone had been trying stabilize position of the doorpost by such funny wedge discovered as doorpost was removed.

We removed both rear wings.

Another doorpost had damages of the same kind.

We cleaned damaged surfaces by glass pellets before surface reconstruction.

As rear wings were removed we started straightening of the rear end of the body.

It was noticed that existing repair seams on reinforcement panels are done incorrectly.

We cut weld seams of the previous repair to make necessary adjustments.

It was noticed that there are missing welding spots on doorstep profiles in the area of doorposts.

Structure of the doorsteps was pressed together for following welding.

Under the seam mastic inside the passenger compartment there were found un-welded areas of the reinforcement panels.

As height of the rear end was corrected separated parts reinforcement panels were welded together, as previously forgotten seams were as well.

Protective chemical was applied over restored and affected by corrosion body areas.

We started works on conservation of damaged by corrosion new body parts.

Locally corroded areas of the wings were cleaned manually.

We cleaned manually internal surfaces to find out the nature of the corrosion.

At the rear there were left sections of the original body without protective treatment resulting in extensive corrosion.

All measurement points of the front part of the body were precisely levelled out and fixed.

All measurement points of the rear part of the body were precisely levelled out and fixed.

Carelessly made cut-out for radio unit was smoothed out before dash panel compatibility test.

Glove box lid had several dents which we flattened out.

Replacement patch was welded into place restoring aluminium glove compartment housing.

Damaged threaded plate of the engine hood was manufactured and inserted in place to accommodate hinge plate.

Gap between wings and engine hood required correction.

For soldering purpose we grinded away filler along the whole engine compartment opening’s edge.

We assembled front bumper for compatibility test with renovated body.

There were excessive gaps between chromed parts of the front bumper.

Trying to assemble for compatibility tests rear bumper, we discovered that there are supplied two end pieces of the rear bumper belonging to the same side. It was necessary to arrange exchange of one of RHS pieces to the missing LHS part.

We weld new bolts to repair broken front grille bars and installed repaired parts onto the car for compatibility tests.

We reworked front panel for precise fit of grille decoration.

One of door brake pegs was missing, but another was broken.

Since door brake pegs are not available from parts suppliers, we self-manufactured missing metal and rubber parts.

Unfortunately some of parts were delivered in quantity less than required.

Gaps around engine hood were not satisfactory and required improvement. We had to remove all layers of filler to find out real shape of the body panels and decide on possible actions saving this body.

We detached incorrectly welded wings and corrected profile of the body according to shape of the hood.

We applied tin loading along the whole perimeter of the opening to ensure even gaps.

Continuity of the shape was achieved after grinding.

Now gaps were within acceptable tolerance.

We replaced worn out hinge bushes of both doors.

We adjusted recently received hidden moulding to suit our body.

We had to drill out remnants of broken hardened screws out of aluminium front panel to attach hidden moulding.

After machining we received for assembling restored door posts.

We tested compliance of restored attachment surfaces towards our body carcass.

Rear door posts were attached to the body at the prescribed position.

We used new threaded nails to attach body steel panels to aluminium doorposts.

Inner hidden cavities were sprayed with protective coating.

We installed doors and door locking mechanisms to perform adjustments of all related components.

Door strikers were installed onto the doorposts.

Necessary adjustments were carried out ensuring even door gaps.

Rear wings were mated to restored doorposts.

Rear wing was welded back into the place. Thick layer of the filler was removed before correction of the surface

Shape of the surface joining rear panel and rear wing was improved.

As rear wing was fixed along the rear doorpost shape of the wing surface was corrected.

Shape of the rear panel was corrected providing smooth transition from lid to rear panel.

As rear wings were back in place we sealed luggage compartment.

All gaps around movable components of the body were improved.

Bodies of the rear lamps did not fit into prescribed recesses which had been made to short and narrow during previous repairs.

We did necessary corrections on the rear wings ensuring lamp housings fit into place.

We checked compatibility of eyebrow decorations on front wings and made necessary body shape adjustments to achieve fit.

We checked compatibility of eyebrow decorations on rear wings and made necessary body shape adjustments to achieve fit.

Stone-guards which already had new chrome layer were not confronted with the body before, so now we had to correct shape of the body to achieve compatibility. We noticed that stone-guards on both sides are of different size and shape.

As stone-guards were positioned in place we continued compatibility tests tailoring side mouldings located under the doors.

Tin loading was applied over reconstructed surfaces of the body.

Finished body surfaces received protective coating.

Reconstructed surfaces of the rear wings first were grinded.

We achieved necessary quality of the surface applying tin loading and sanding of the surfaces.

Finished surfaces were primed to protect against corrosion.

We checked fit of adjacent components.

Delivered luggage compartment lock did not fit into prescribed hole of the lid, so we had to rework it.

We produced missing catch plate for the luggage compartment locking mechanism.

We installed luggage compartment lock into place and adjusted position of the lid.

All decorations were installed onto the lid for compatibility test.

We had to grind away previously applied filler to achieve acceptable fit of decorations.

We installed complete rear bumper to check compatibility of bumper components and bumper brackets.

We installed complete front bumper to check compatibility of bumper components and bumper brackets.

We assembled engine hood locking and release mechanisms.

We completed adjustment of the engine hood achieving even gap along whole perimeter of the lid.

Supplied door window lifting rails had protruding weld spots along repaired edge which could cause braking of the door glasses during installation or use.

We had to redo repair of glass retainer profiles and grind improved weld seams.

We attached to the door glasses restored retainer profiles.

We installed door glasses onto prepared lifting mechanisms.

It was needed to make adjustments of door glasses and adjacent structures as gaps around the glasses were incorrect.

We manufactured from aluminium missing stop angles for window lifting mechanism.

We installed and adjusted upper stop angles for door window lifting mechanism.

We self-manufactured and installed missing lower travel limiter brackets onto window lifting mechanisms.

It was impossible to attach end-rail decorations to the damaged doorposts.

As doorpost structure was re-created we attached end-rail decoration pieces to the body.

We had to correct shape of supplied end-rail decorations to achieve fit with our body.

We achieved necessary fit among doors, body and reworked end-rail decorations.

We installed and adjusted door strikers ensuring correct position of the doors.

For compatibility test we installed all available interior components onto the body.

We checked fit of new partition panels installing those in place under the front wings.

We cleaned all discovered rusty spots around the bottom edge of the body.

We removed all decorations from the body and detached body from the welding rig.

Restored body we installed onto the transport rig and moved to the paint shop for further surface treatment and final painting.

While body was treated in the paintshop we continued search for the parts required for assembling.

We received current parcel with previously missing parts for restoration.

At the paintshop body was in the preparation process for painting.

During the period of use cut-outs for radio installation on the dashboard had been irreversibly modified.

We produced replacement plate with correct cut-out pattern.

We precisely tailored recess in the dashboard to accommodate new plate.

After welding all seams were grinded.

Now original radio and faceplate precisely fitted into dedicated position and we sent dashboard to the paintshop.

body 2