Mercedes-Benz S123 300TD | GOOOD NEWS! I got BAD NEWS!

I got plans to use this as a Daily winter car!
But the car got plans to retire?
I gotten hold of a automatic transmission for the Benz! But is the ship sinking?
#mercedesbenz #s123 #rust
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[@morganmcdonagh2663]

As a w123 estate owner myself, they can really rust and they hide their rust really well, by the time you can see it on the outside of the car it will be really bad. It's just metal and steel repairs. It's not a spaceship it can all be fixed. Stripping it out to do the repairs and not procrastinating is the hardest and longest part I find.

[@NaoPb]

I agree on the last part.

[@puttitat2851]

The chassis rails and body is literally not connected. Fixing it would require a frame straightening bed.

[@darrenwilson8042]

Here in the UK after 40 years cars do not need an MOT - this Merc illustrates why that is madness

[@gehejjed1]

??? That's interesting!

[@darrenwilson8042]

I think you misspelled scary - the idea that the onus is on the individual regardless of knowledge and experience to assess their own car at unspecified periods is insanity

[@thomash2806]

It’s 30 years in France if you switch to a ‘collectible’ registration document.

[@frglee]

'An upside-down cabriolet', lol, aka 'a Fred Flintstone car!' 😁 Back in the days before strict MOT tests I had a teacher with an ancient Commer van with holes in the driver and passenger wells. He used to wear wellies in it in bad weather. Alarmingly, he used to carry his family around in it and even sometimes take students to sports events!

[@andythebourne]

'This is an upside-down cabriolet' - I have never heard a more brilliant way to describe this kind of situation! Too bad that this car is so rusty, it would be a cool winter beater for sure.

[@truxton1000]

Well rust is usually achievable, but it takes time!

[@porsche356a]

You need to pick your battles and this is one that will go on and on and on to the point where you will lose all enthusiasm for the car!

[@franco992]

What we didn’t see was where the good metal begins? If you could find where the solid metal starts, you can get an idea of the scope of the project, get your head around it and come up with a plan. Of course this assumes there is some good metal somewhere! But I think you are more interested in the mechanical side whereas this looks like a big fabrication and welding job. If funds permit, you could get someone else to repair the chassis and then you can continue afterwards with the mechanicals?

[@SeasideGarage]

Still looking for the good metal... :P

[@mehrzahl2219]

Maybe get a Volvo 850 for the winter? They are good wrt rust.

[@SeasideGarage]

850Tr5 please!

[@terryatkinson3182]

​@SeasideGarage don't be greedy 😊 My friend has a 2.5 non turbo 5 cylinder 850, nice car and in green was well minded all its life. He got it for €2000 as nobody knows how good they are and they drink petrol 😅

[@huwdavies6650]

Matt Furious Driving had rust issues in exactly the same place on his W123. Possibly not quite as bad, but a lot of work nevertheless.

[@01ls1z28dabx]

Look how long he's been working on it. I'm sure he's beyond burned out of it.

[@billyporter2195]

Sorry to see your bad news, I hope you find interesting alternative soon. Good luck

[@loser_one]

Sorry to see this, though they all do seem to look like this underneath! I suspect you may find even more if you take the wings off as well. Take a look at Furious Driving and especially SOUP classic motoring. This is a cool car and well repaired would be a good drive for a long time, so perhaps worth the investment.

[@iandennis7836]

Oh, most DEFINITELY soup classic motoring......time consuming yes, but......

[@clausclausie7560]

More decay than the Titanic (in 2023). I know it is a mountain to climb but I do hope it gets a new life with lots and lots and lots of fresh metal.

[@netzwerk-werkstatt332]

At least nearly everything is fixible. But how many hours, months, years would it take?

[@chilternman]

It depends what you want out of it. If it were me due to rarity I would treat it as a slow project. Choose one area at a time and do that and no more. Spray with red oxide then walk away and come back another day for the next bit and do this over a period of time, run engine every now and again and eventually it will be solid. Just don't try and do too much otherwise it will be overwhelming. I would first check the bulkhead also because if that has gone it is a goner, however stuff shown is mainly bits of metal, and a welding torch just a long time needed. You always have the motivation of replacing the gearbox knowing mechanically all is good 👍

[@peterriggall8409]

Beyond economical repair. Parts car.

[@StevesMachines]

Holy moly, that's pretty far gone, I think stripping it and selling the parts to pay for a new project is the sensible approach.

[@christophermarshall5765]

Good project car.

[@winandd8649]

8 years between MOT's for classic cars? Wow, I was already happy with 2 years here in the Netherlands 😃

[@johnmcdonnell81]

See if you can find to good complete inner wheel arches. But, those chrome wheel arch covers I bet are hiding lots more rust. Then you'll be looking at wings too. Best of luck whatever way you go 👍

[@dandandan389]

That's such a shame as the visible bodywork isn't too bad and I was looking forward to seeing the new gearbox fitted. The rust underneath just seems too far gone to repair though which is a real shame.

[@Mr.-Wint]

For your own good, - let it go, - to the scrapper..

[@henktulp4400]

Yes it’s a lot of work!!! But apart from timeconsuming it is NOT expensive to do!!.... Sheetmetal, a Mig weldingset, anglegrinder, cuttingdisks.... it is not that much money.... And if you get it fixed properly (you will if you want to!) the car can serve you for years....

[@nickmoore2301]

I'm so sorry ❤ luckily you couldn't get up to any real speed due to the faulty gearbox, that car was an accident waiting to happen 😮

[@SeasideGarage]

Haha!

[@daniellee9015]

You are brilliant most people would give up but you keep going absaloutly brilliant video ❤👍

[@thomash2806]

I’ve been watching Mercedessource’s saga on rescuing Old Spence. There are some worth saving and others that are not. The engine if good might be a keeper, though.

[@delukxy]

Yes, that one is mint compared to this one. You can imagine what Kent would be saying about the rust being uncovered here. He was complaining about the minor body marks on Old Spence.

[@SeasideGarage]

hehe... I saw some videos about rust fixing on mercedessouce which involved fiberglass and bondo... That tells me that the problem they have with rust over there is a little different then here!

[@mickspencer4171]

That's a real shame because I love the W123s, id love to see this fully restored but would cost an absolute fortune, and a hell of a lot of time doing it.

[@johnbee7729]

Well ..... at least you now have a good transmission. :)

[@SeasideGarage]

lol

[@honestmstk9790]

With friends like the one who traded you this, who needs enemies. The mondeo was a spaceship hahaha. But I dont want to make you feel bad, this series is super entertaining and earned my sub. Whatever you end up doing with it, we support your decision.

[@SeasideGarage]

I can guarantee that he was not aware of the scale of this... I should on the other hand had looked a bit closer before doing the swap.

[@honestmstk9790]

@@SeasideGarage Fair, I'll give him the benefit of doubt. It is really a shame because there are not many left on the road. I also looked into buying a classic car for daily driving (1980. Scirocco or a similar to yours Mercedes) but they were all riddlied with rust. I dont know how to weld and as a student can't afford to have someone do the work so i ended up buying a Motorcycle. Its such a relief knowing that other than the swingarm nothing can rust and as a bonus it's almost as cool as a classic car. I'll gladly drive something 30x more dangerous if i can avoid dealing with rust hahahah. I had a skoda felicia before this and couldnt even patch some holes in the trunk properly with bondo, but thats the new owners problem now XD.

[@walterwixzwerg6735]

I'm not surprised. The more I was wondering why you spend so much time in engine and gearbox on a 123 with seeable rust on the panels without dismounting the fenders and hammering around the jack stands. Even good locking w123 will need a sqr meter of sheet metal if you start to strip them down. Because of this I'm driving VW T3 instead of W123 since 12 years, because all w123 I looked at were junk and I'm not good in doing body work.

[@marcellorava6149]

It's a shame because it's a nice care! Take your time to think abut it... It will be a very long and maybe frustrating job... but it will be rewording.

[@sietse9920]

One thing you can say about the rubbery coverup: it fooled the MOT-guys!! Good stuff 😂😂

[@cx.silver.bullet]

"Upside down cabriolet" is now in my dictionary 😂

[@BoredoldPunk]

I didn't know how bad the rust was in mine (240D) until I pulled into a fuel station, and the rear of the driver seat went thru the floor.

[@mtttony]

Wings off, sheet metal,cut out the bad and weld in the new over a long weekend..

[@richardsutton7791]

Bad news, but good content 🙂

[@arieplomp8906]

That was a surprise you didn’t want! 😮Some times you buy Some one else his s..t! Sad that the previous repairs were done so bad ! And masked with that black underseal kind of crap! Bad welding and perhaps wet conditions and not treated with good rustprotection! Perhaps you can buy the white 245 back !

[@SeasideGarage]

id LOVE the white 240 back! but last time it was for sale it was WAY more expensive then what I sold it for.. and still in the same condition... :(

[@arieplomp8906]

Its sad to hear that the 240 didn’t get any well deserved tlc! And sadly the prices of the 240 are going sky high! But hopefully you’ll find a Nice daily driver! You found a rare gearbox for the 123 so a Nice daily should not be a problem 😂

[@davidanderson3425]

Well, there are a lot of usable spare parts on this car. Selling them might be a slow process but what else can you do with this vehicle? I wouldn't attempt to repair. Too far gone and it would take forever.

[@grayfool]

What a shame. My 280E was in a similar shape so I got rid of it. I really miss the car though. It could be worth making it a long term project as you like it so much.

[@morganreyman7929]

no problems . 1 week cutting a welding

[@Adam.Piper62]

Once you have made peace with your decision it is really fun to poke holes! You have plenty of other projects that deserves your attention you can't save them all, so try not to worry! On another note, this is the problem when people put thick layers of underseal over areas they know are rusty. Looks perfectly fine for the MOT as they are not allowed to damage the car but unfortunately it alows rust to grow unnoticed.

[@kd23se4]

Matt from Furious driving can tell you eveything about repairing the rust on a W123

[@stefantrnacek1394]

With the time required and the money required, it just would not be viable to repair. You have other vehicles that would be better to focus on. You would think that with all the modern chemicals and technology, they would have something better than salt to use on the roads. At least, that is something we don't have to worry about in Australia.

[@Simonicusmaximus]

Shame you cannot get the guy from " Cold war Motors" over he is very, very, skilled at bodywork! Perhaps if it is not possible you could brake it and give another Merc a new lease of life? You could do a complete teardown video too, mabe a time lapse?

[@highroller8877]

How hard will it be to find another sub frame? The floor can be remade I don’t know about making another sun frame be a lot of work in that. But then you would wanna fix the rust in the body also. Definitely to many good parts still in the car to even consider scraping.

[@maxboonkittypoison]

mabe store it and sometimes do a bit of welding. Make it a slow project. And turn it around to get your investment back from the swap and the gearbox. Sorry for the bad news :(

[@Weissenschenkel]

Oh, man... I feel sorry about the amount of rust you've found. It seems that the patches were welded with oxy-acetylene, which sucks balls, in my opinion. I've seen cars worse than yours being recovered, but the amount of work is immense. I wish you can bring her back to a better shape. It doesn't have to be perfect, but at least to be rust-free.

[@andrewprettyquick2070]

Datsunify it patchwork quilted.

[@steveo3002]

less talking , more welding , you have that nice workshop and lift , i have to work in the street lol....a few days work would get alot of it done and make some good videos

[@tiitsaul9036]

Dude! Do yourself a favour and don't even think about repairing it. It's gone.😢 It's sad, here in Australia, these cars (all classic cars) are mostly rust free, but are getting scrapped regularly.

[@danp9551]

The title of the video reminds me of Prof. Farnsworth from Futurama. "Good news, everyone!" And then something bad usually. Jokes aside, it's a shame about the car..

[@dutch_eunos]

It might be a good solution to get another diesel w123 and swap everything over if it has a good body😅

[@andreassiegel4727]

I agree. Rebuilding this rust bucket doesn’t seem viable. 😮

[@phildunne2632]

Hadrian panels in the uk have inner wing repair pannels.

[@skyll4141]

Don't give up. see the channel furious driving he's fixed similar issues on his Merc and he's not a professional. you can do it.

[@SeasideGarage]

I watched Matts series on his with great interest! Its impressive what he does OUTSIDE like that! But to be honest, mine is way worse then his.... :(

[@skyll4141]

@@SeasideGarage still you've got way more tools and a garage. be positive yay.

[@rustino666]

Those are factory vents to keep your ankles cool in the summer. Seriously though, gutted for you man. I think she's done. Too much work I reckon. Better off looking for another one and strip that one of all the good parts.

[@korpijeesus]

This just went from car repair to car necromancy. It's still doable, the rubberized paint was the mistake here, it absorbs moisture and patchwork-drunk-welds let the moisture in the frame. Cut away all the rust and then see if it's too far gone. I've had to deal with these 123s a lot and unless the frame is rusted through they are savable.

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

That is a parts car for sure.

[@2008tourer]

Holy shit... 😮 That's bad

[@malcolmcowan9554]

Furious deriving KZbin channel done those repair in those areas on his w123 look him up

[@alanalzee4849]

It would be easier to find another car for the bodyshell and transfer the engine etc

[@1961nuffield]

Break for spares or scrap, I'm afraid.

[@Mr80sliveon]

Actually older diesels before egr valves and dpf filters are PERFECT for short journeys as they do not suffer internal engine condensation like petrols do, which breaks the engine oil down.. so an old diesel is BEST for short journeys. Post 2001 then no..

[@martijnkosters9024]

Stop blowing holes in my ship!

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

I hate to be negative, but that car is way beyond repair... It's such a shame. 😢

[@Morzsaszar]

If you thing this is beyond, you havent seen rust yet

[@kosir1234]

not beyond repair. But u need time. a lot of it :D

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

@kosir1234 It would be a complete ground up restoration, including stripping the whole car down to a shell and having it media blasted, etc...

[@shaunhardie6077]

WOW, that rust is so bad. You have some decisions to make wether you carry on with the car or just let it go.

[@gehejjed1]

That's really bad news. I would have kept the Escort...

[@brianyoung9014]

Find another body their great cars.

[@harryharker9564]

It is a pity but I think it's time to bite the bullet and spend your valuable time and efforts on a more deserving car

[@Mad_Skill_Garage]

Ha ha ja 😂 Byt den med en Escort!

[@LesterLovesWatches]

Get rid. Try to forget the cost. Get a better one, maybe a 230E. Sorry it wasn’t the winter car you hoped.

[@peter_is_my_name]

I feel your disappointment. I hope the news gets better for you in some shape or form.

[@doktoruzo]

Oh, that's a shame. It will take a lot of work and expense. 'Maybe swap it for a Ford Escort'...lol 😂 Love the gallows humour. That's another thing the English and Danes have in common.

[@jasperdemann5936]

It could still be a winter car...just not a *this* winter car! If you can find repair panels, I'd say it's worth it. But if you had to hand-fabricate every piece...naaaaah!

[@chrisbury4635]

I think it's a total basket case and i don't think the car is worth repairing because the rest of the car is totally worn out, hope you can fix up the Saab 😊

[@westmus]

Dailying an old car while giving it minimal or no maintenance will kill it very fast. Especially in moist climates like the danish. The now old cars rusted fast when new and with age they just have become even more fragile.

[@twocvbloke]

That's quite unfortunate, and whoever bodged it together like that, it makes you wonder how many other cars they did the same to leaving them in such an unsafe state, not to mention the people who missed the poor work who decided it was safe for road use too, to someone it may be worth restoring, but really, it's a parts car now, better to cut your losses and invest in something else... :(

[@davidchandler9260]

I started with your channel after seeing you in UpnDowns 25 hour live stream. How about inviting Kitch and his fabricating skills for a “holiday” and collaborate in the 123 ‘s rust/rot!!

[@westmus]

Looks like typical "have to be cheap" repairs done be an mechanics and then the car have had an owner that clearly paid very little attention to maintanence. The previous owner have killed this Mercedes.

[@perolsen3813]

Tak for endnu en god video. Det er den helt rigtige beslutning at stoppe. For 30 år siden startede jeg på samme måde, med at tænke en ting af gangen, og ligepludselig er bilen lavet, men det var den ikke og jeg spildte en masse tid og penge. men sikke en klamphugger der har synet den for 6 år siden.

[@SeasideGarage]

du har ret :)

[@perolsen3813]

Tak for dit svar det vil jeg vise min kone. Hun mener jeg aldrig har ret ha ha@@SeasideGarage

[@josemorenoporras7506]

Buy other from Spain or something like that and use those parts to build a nice one.

[@jrnmller1551]

Denmark has a 180% tax system for cars and even for a old used one,would be very expensive to MOT

[@EmilysDadd]

Oh dear 😢

[@sween187]

1.50, I have been looking at it with a hammer, sorry but that made me laugh

[@SeasideGarage]

CLARKSON!

[@Andy-sh9eq]

Its a shame that there are no w123 based kit cars

[@SeasideGarage]

haha ! YES!

[@seeayesix2817]

Terrible news :-( Hope you can find something else to replace it with, or find another S123.

[@gerhardorosz7984]

Very unfortunate turn of events..I would suggest you take this one apart for parts or just sell it as is and search for another winter car

[@BelfastMurf]

I’m disappointed for you, particularly after finding the gearbox. Hope you’re not too down.

[@JasperV70-205CT-BX]

Nooooooooooo😢

[@jo05dk]

I don't think dailying a 123 is reasonable now a days. If you find one that isn't fucked, you'll fuck it by driving it in the winter, or in the rain. To me they've lost their practical value. Still love them, but as a classic which gets treated as a classic, never ever a daily. Anyways: Such a shame to see another 123 turn out to be as crap as feared. The basket cases take a real enthusiast, bordering on mental case, to put right imho. It's not for the sensible human being with a life and other priorities. So sorry man. I was hoping against hope for a better outcome.

[@ulfnilsson5351]

Ahhh, so the broken gearbox, was a safety feature. 🤔

[@loadvip8761]

If you want a w123 you have to weld this amount of rust. Every w123 that hasnt been restored looks like that.

[@SeasideGarage]

Well... I have worked on quite a few 123 for the last few years... all non restored and used daily... and yea.. there is rust... but this is on another level.

[@theotherchannel2279]

Oh mate... Why not try to get hold of patch panels for the bad areas? Anyway I hate rust.

[@jrnmller1551]

With rust, what you can see is 1/3 off the rust!!!!!!

[@theotherchannel2279]

@@jrnmller1551 When I meant patch panels I was talking about complete ones... 😂🤣

[@robpeabo509]

Sometimes logic has to outweigh what the heart wants. The reality is that unless you are willing to spend a lot of time (= money) as well as real money (= money) on the Merc right now, it really does need to be shelved or got rid of so you can work on vehicles that will provide good KZbin content and a financial return.

[@MT-rc3gn]

Yeah....no. that looks like waaay to much work. You'll be spending months getting the rust fixed. And when you are done you will probably find even more. Then theres the risk that the MOT station finds more issues. And in the end you'll still have a rusty, denty car wth a broken front turn signal lens 😂

[@sinorman231]

am sorry man,, shame, there so much work to get that welded to a good standard, would take weeks fulltime , i think keep it if nothing else a parts/donor car..

[@ferguscosgrave7510]

So be it

[@leighton757]

Well i think fot me its a dustbin job!

[@DSperation]

That's not a project, it's a life sentence. Unless by some miracle you find a non-rusty 123 with a blown engine get rid of it, break it for parts...

[@chrisburns453]

Sad - strip for parts

[@InternetListener]

Scrap it or sell it as donor car for other car restoration. That body is gone, I wouldn't let anyone to put it on the road again...

[@chrissmith7655]

Hi, sad but you do not have the time to fix it . Move on to better projects with an end result. Many thanks.

[@mikenygaard8982]

prøv at ligge mærke til da du bankede hul i panelet i venstre side der rykkede bilen sig osse til venstre som om den faldt mere sammen.. det så vildt ud :O se fra 10:44 hele panelet rykkede sig det kunne man osse se på bunden af forskærmen

[@SeasideGarage]

Hold nu kæft! du har ret! det er jo helt vildt :O

[@mikenygaard8982]

Det så osse vildt ud 😅

[@kosir1234]

noooooooooo :(

[@Charlie1012000]

No, take time and make effort, advertise, make phonecalls, put down miles to find a better W123 It will save you both work, time and headaces.