I've looked at the rust on my car for tooooo long and want to finally take care of it without costing me a ton.

Car: 2001 C320
Color: Black

The rust is common for my year Merc but other than bringing it to a body shop $$$$ to cut it out, repair, and re-paint the door I have yet to see a low cost fix that would look good.

Since I work at a sign shop I have access to pretty much any type of vinyl I could ever need, and was thinking of wrapping just the bottom third of the doors starting under the door molding going down. This is the only area besides the wheel wells where there is rust.

The Problem: The water is getting inside the doors via the holes that the outer door molding clips to. The water runs into the door panel and settles at the bottom (inside) of the door....there are weep holes but don't drain all the water..The rust shows from the outside.

The Plan: Remove as much rust as I can and clean with anti rust solution...... sand smooth, apply bondo and repeat until flat and smooth.
Then remove ALL of the door molding and run a bead of silicone around each hole. While the molding is off, I'll apply a High Performance Cast Vinyl with Laminate starting in the molding "groove" and wrap it under the bottom of the doors. I'll probably use something like Oracal 970 RA. Its rated to last 10 years and by that time I'm sure my little 01' will be retired.
I also thought of using a matte black or black carbon fiber vinyl to make it a little different, but I know the gloss black looks good already. I've seen lots of full and partial wraps that look just as good if not better than custom paint!!

Before starting this project I'll take some before , during and after pics.....but I wanted to get some feedback as well....Any Thoughts??

 

There's going to be an easily noticeable difference between the paint and vinyl, no matter how close you match the shades...primarily because of the difference in the refractive index of the two surfaces (light will bounce off the two surfaces in different patterns and intensities).

So I would say if youre going to vinyl, do the entire car and not bits and pieces.

Also, something to consider - rust isn't just making your car not look good...its also reducing the structural integrity of the frame. Covering it up isn't going to stop it..its just going to make you NOT notice when there's enough rust to start to worry about frame failure.

 

i say sand it down, prime and paint it, you can buy color match paint spray cans from paint shops. that way you get rid of the rust and can match the paint so it wont keep rusting in that spot.

 

jcnash, I see what your saying, but I doubt a little rust on the doors is reducing the structural integrity of the frame. I plan on eliminating the source of the rust and removing whats already there before applying the vinyl.

I see lots of cars that have a just the hood or roof wrapped where it still looks tasteful. I'm not necessarily trying to make it look like a factory paint job, but I honestly think It will be harder to tell than you think. We can match Vinyl to any PMS number to match any color....exactly!!

Phister- I would have gone that route, but I don't trust my painting skills enough to give it a shot.

 

OR call around and see if any wreckers have the door in your colour....... you would be surprised how cheap panels can be

 

^^ Thats because you cant see the rust underneath.

I caution because I have an '02 which is also prone to rust. Add tot hat I live in Canada with snow and salt and stuff on our roads. A year ago I took my car to the bodyshop to fix the 'rust on the door on the lower quarter panels' and when they took off the sideskirts, there was tons of rust ont he actual frame underneath.

Yeah check scrap yards for doors/panels. There are many other better ways of fixing this issue than covering it up.

 

Covering up the problem will only make the rust spread faster. It'll trap moisture.

I had Line-X spray around the rear wheelwells when I developed a bit of rust on each side about 5 years ago. I finally had both sides fixed this year, and the problem had gotten very nasty. Unless you're going to sell your car in the next 6 months to a blind man with cash, your proposal is not good either in the short or long terms.

By the way, when I had all of the rust taken care of (in two separate jobs), the guy said that the structural supports underneath the engine were also rusting - they removed the rust, undercoated everything as best they could, but he basically told me the cancer would come back eventually. So the 2001s and 2002s are ticking time bombs on several levels.

 

Rusting was never a problem on SA early builds. East London is used to our Durban high humidity, salt air, rust bowl. The dip, paint & wax injection shops saw an upgrade prior to W203 production starting.

Are these Bazilian, Mexico or German builds?

 

My car was built in Germany...

I guess I was kind of looking for an inexpensive fix, knowing that the car has 180k miles on it and is 11 years old- I just don't see spending a lot of money on this.

Do you think even if I remove the rust, sand, bondo, prime and stop the source of the water-- the rust will come right back?

I have tried calling around local junk yards and european parts stores and have struck out everywhere. Who knows how long it will take or how expensive it could be to replace all of them. I've seen some go for $700 each.


Tommy- How much did both jobs cost to remove and repair the rust?

 

I wouldn't spend much money on it, either. If Tommy's car had rusting in the structural components up front then most likely your car does, as well. It just wouldn't make financial sense to fix rust on the body only for the structure to degrade entirely in the next few years. It's had a nice life and 180k miles is nothing to sneeze at.

 

LILBenz- My thoughts exactly!!!

I really don't know how much longer this car is going to last so that is the main reason for wanting to cover it up. However, I can say that this has and continues to be a great car and I plan on driving her until she goes no more..She's been serviced regularly, and other than a few minor things she's been very reliable....Still pulls very strong and I have yet to see a drop of anything on the garage floor.
Theres something about rust though that just makes a car look trashy, and thats ALL I see when I look at her.

I found some doors for about $375-400 each, but then I'd have to re-tint them and when its all said and done.......$2,000!!!

I could honestly see doing this it the car were a few or even 6 years old, but.......it's not!

So........I've made up my mind, I'm either going to do as I suggested with the cast vinyl, or sand, bondo, prime and try my luck at just spray painting the door from the molding down with dupli-color spray paint.

My thoughts are that the vinyl will last up to 10 years and I won't have to keep touching it up every few months vs. paint. The vinyl will also have a 4mil laminate on it which can withstand the abuse of snow, salt, water and little rock chips....it's tough *****!!!

 

Hard to remember at the moment, I think it was like $2100 for both front fenders, the subframe, one of the rear wheelwells, the bottom of the passenger's door, and a new center console switchrow.

So it's a bit hard to break out each component, especially since I'm sure I got a volume discount.

I probably wouldn't recommend it though on a car that old unless you're dumb like me and make the decision emotionally instead of with cold facts.

 

Likely Brazilian, rumour has it they were dipping more cars than the bath was rated for.

 

OP,

Please do NOT do what you are suggesting. I sanded, prepped, primed, and painted my wheel well rust, only to have it come back even faster. We DIYers do not have the facilities the shops do to combat rust, and even the shops cannot beat it unless they cut it out.

Your doors are likely rusted to hell inside, and no matter what you do outside the rust is going to keep creeping inside-out. Filling the holes will not prevent the rust inside the door from continuing to grow.

The only long term solution is to replace the doors, yet that is costly. You're better off just driving it till it dies, or trading it in. Don't make the emotional mistake Tommy and I have of getting it repaired for $2K when the car is only worth $6K. You'd be better off trading it in for a 2004 and taking the hit on trade value.

 

What the hell was Mercedes thinking with the early 203s? Here we are talking about a 2001 Mercedes rusting to the point of not being worth fixing. Anyone notice the millions of 2001 cars on the road without that problem?

 

Early 2000 cars even out of Germany were crap if you got a bad one. Even poor Trey has had some rust. I've have never seen an SA 203 with door or fender rust & we built them from day one 2000. They were sold here with a 10 year rust free guarantee.

Cut & weld, replace doors or sell.

 

In my cars deference I think the rust started from rock chips and stuff like that not coating issues but I don't know where the doors normally rust.

 

Nooo *****!!!! I see Geo's older than I am with no rust....LOL!!....I could have bought 4 Geos.

It seems like the consensus says not to spend the money to fix, which I wouldn't have done anyways.....and if the rust will just continue to grow no matter what, what will vinyl hurt?

Besides, Its painful to look at every day.....

Worst case, I just pull it off and Im out $50.

 

I have a 2005 and I saw some rust on the inside of the door the B billar but its nothing big it just looks bad when it leaves that red rust trail on the inside molding. I sanded and painted it when I got the car but it seems to be coming back. MB said we dont have rust warranty past normal warranty either..