Mercedes 207D panel problem

[antonia]

Hello folks

I wonder if anyone on here could give me advice on removal/refitting procedure for a rusty offside front wheel arch. Is it bolted on or are welds or glue involved please? I have managed to source a new panel, along with wing, and front grill. All are very rusty on the van at the moment. I was going to get the panels painted, THEN fix them on ourselves. Is there anything I should know?
We can see that the wing seems to have bolts.

Kind regards

Antonia

 

[LDV Camper]

Removing mercedes wheel arch

Hi,

I did the same sort of replacements on a 307 a few years ago. I sourced all the panels at that time from EuroCarparts in Wembley. All panels bolt on and off (can be difficult if rusty) but you will need a tube of cellulose based putty to assemble body panels. This comes in a tube like bathroom silicone and is applied with the same sort of tool.

Other than that it's a straightforward job. Good luck!

 

[Byronic]

I haven't removed these particular parts on the 207D (Type 1) MB but I have done so several times on the 709D (Type 2)MB which is a larger van but similar in many respects.
The outer wing is screw fixed under the wheel arch to the inner wheel arch, there are further screw fixings down the door 'A' post Visible when you open the door. There's a further bolt fixing at the front which is accessible when you get the front grille off which in turn is fixed from the rear with 4 X bolts.
The top of the wing is screw fixed along the top,easily seen when the bonnet is open.
The joint/junction between inner and outer wing is sealed with seam sealer and is very difficult to cut through. So no welding so far.
However if the inner wing/wheel arch needs replacing then this is weld to the general bodywork, albeit spot welds, is a major bodywork job. Generally on an old vehicle the only practical repair is to patch weld new steel as required, not difficult to do once the outer wing is removed as it doesn't have to look cosmetically perfect being largely hidden.
Hope that helps, until someone who has done the work actually on a 207D can give you better advice.

 

[antonia]

Thanks you both

Thanks Guys,
Im not sure if we want to handle this job ourselves or simply GRP and fill the rust, which would of course be cheaper.
I supose we could grind off the spot welds along the top of the wheel arch and use maybe carbond on the replacement, that way we could get the panels sprayed up before we reinstall.

Many thanks

Antonia

 

[Byronic]

Don't know if you really mean "grind off". Because there is a preferable way to remove a panel from spot welds and that's to use yes, you've guessed it a "spot weld remover" just fits on a normal electric hand drill about £10? Makes the job very easy.

 

[Deleted member 207]

There are about 7 bolts or screws to remove to get the wings off.
2 on the support that holds the bonnet hinges, 2/3 that bolt onto the firewall skirt and then 2/3 self tappers that can be accessed when you open the door on the door pillar.

Usually there is some type of glue/silicon used on the firewall skirt which can be peeled away once you have all the bolts/screws removed.

Its not a hard job, but you need to remove the front panel and radiator supports as well which entails a few more bolts.

For the price of the new wings its just not worth the effort trying to repair them often see them on eBay for about Eu40 plus postage from Poland.