Update by Tim Suddard to the
Mercedes-Benz 230 S project car
Feb 8, 2013
With the nose of our fintail Mercedes in place, fixing the front crossmember—the bit that the bumper bolts to—looks like an impossible job. But, if you unbolt the two front fenders, the radiator and front bumper, access is very good in this area. The job is quite straightforward, if not simple.
This is one of the few places on these cars known rusters, and the reason is that despite Mercedes’ above-average build quality and rust protection in the 1960s, the insides of this two-part support was not painted or protected.
The piece is low and at the front of the car, and as soon as salt and grime gets in there, they begin to rust. Thankfully, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center sells both the front and rear halves of this crossmember at around $300 for both pieces.
We ordered the new pieces, cut off the old ones by drilling out the spot welds, and artificially spot-welded the new pieces on. This “fake” spot welding technique is done by drilling 5/16-inch holes in the new piece every inch or so and then fill-welding them to replicate original spot welds.
After all the aftermarket repair panels we have used on past projects, we were shocked at how well these Mercedes-Benz Classic Center pieces fit and how well they were made. Wow, there really is something to be said for using factory parts.
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