[msteelsos]

Deer ran into the front passenger side of wagon.
Radiator, headlight assemblt, fender, hood need replaced.
Question about the top bar (hood, rad etc) that appears welded to two vertical supports.
Is this one unit (apppears to be) with one piece fender to fender and two vertical piarts on the inside of the headlights?
Have seen just the top piece online, but everything appears to be spot welded.
Thanks

 

[msteelsos]

Anyone have info on repairing the front frame?
Tom

 

[Zeitgeist]

Yeah, those parts are all welded together. Depending on the damage, you might be able to pull everything back into roughly the same place. A few years ago I was able to resurrect an Audi 90 that had taken a hard shock to the snout. I welded a large washer to a pair of vicegrips and then used a come-along to pull the front back into position.

 

[Real1shepherd]

Deer ran into the front passenger side of wagon.
Radiator, headlight assemblt, fender, hood need replaced.
Question about the top bar (hood, rad etc) that appears welded to two vertical supports.
Is this one unit (apppears to be) with one piece fender to fender and two vertical piarts on the inside of the headlights?
Have seen just the top piece online, but everything appears to be spot welded.
Thanks

These car are sacrificial; they give themselves up to protect the occupants. A lot of people won't touch a MB that has/had frame damage. I'd take it to the best frame shop you can find that has done MB frame straightening. If it were me, I'd probably sell the car as parts and get another.

Kevin

 

[augapfel]

Sorry to hear about your incident.

As Zeitgeist says, all that front structure is spot-welded together. Individual parts are commonly available but you are expected to cut and weld as necessary. I've seen many instances where only part of a collision part is used and most is thrown away.

Do try to pull everything into position while the pieces are still connected. Then, cut away the truly unsalvageable kinked or crumpled pieces or portion of pieces and trim the new ones to fit.

My 89 parts car was hit on the left front and there appeared to be a lot of damage. A closer look revealed that the unit body frame rails were just fine. All the stuff above them had been pushed back and torn from the frame rails. You should verify that this is the case for your wagon before proceeding with the repairs. Otherwise a competent body shop with good frame straightening equipment should be consulted before you mess with the stuff up top.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Resale is gonna be a killer, but then again these cars really don't hold much value in the market anymore, so use a prudent calculus before proceeding.

 

[Real1shepherd]

"Resale"...a Benz that's been in a front-end collision....what resale? Part it out, fix it and enjoy it, or donate it to a .50 cal range session.


Kevin

 

[msteelsos]

Sheet metal damage

No unibodyframe damage, just sheetmetal.
Can get a new upper radiator bar and will straighten the rest as soon as a hood and fender come in.
320000mi, modified the rear suspension with adjustable air shocks a year ago.
Just like the car. No rust here in New Mexico.
Thanks for the inpout.
Trying to post a picture also.
Tom

 

[augapfel]

Man, I just *hate* you no rust AZ and NM guys ;-)

 

[Real1shepherd]

Man, I just *hate* you no rust AZ and NM guys ;-)

You're leaving out eastern WA, eastern OR and northern Idaho

Kevin

 

[msteelsos]

Hey Kevin

How much rain do you normally get on the eastern slopes?
We here in sw NM are supposed to get 12" but drougth this year, 3.4 so far.
Tom

 

[Zeitgeist]

You're leaving out eastern WA, eastern OR and northern Idaho

Kevin

We don't get much 124 rust over here on the wet-side of the Cascades, either

 

[Real1shepherd]

How much rain do you normally get on the eastern slopes?
We here in sw NM are supposed to get 12" but drougth this year, 3.4 so far.
Tom

We get about 19 inches normally....that includes water by snow. I think this yr we are about on average. Had a very cool, late spring and the fruit (grape) crop just got poured on going into harvest. That could be really bad news for Walla Walla wines-stay tuned.

Because we're up against the Blue Mountains, we get a bit more precip than the Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland).

Sounds like you are pretty close to our percip.

Kevin

 

[Real1shepherd]

We don't get much 124 rust over here on the wet-side of the Cascades, either

Well technically, you DO get rust, but it never rusts through....it's mostly surface and nothing I ever had to worry about in cars. Wood there on the other hand, does not fare so well;you get dry-rot up the wazoo.

Kevin

 

[rayhennig]

Sounds tasty!

Deer ran into the front passenger side of wagon.

Remember, wild deer is much drier that farmed so you need to add some fat. I favour goose fat but, failing that, pork. It was obviously quite a large deer so you should eat well.

A deer hit my 300CE, right at the front. It rolled up ever the bonnet, windscreen and roof and then dropped off the boot on to the road. Then it picked itself up and ran off. No damage to the car and no freezer full of meat either.

Oh well.

RayH

 

[Real1shepherd]

No damage to the car...are you serious??! Accidents like that here, usually trash the whole car. When I was living in Ouray, CO...and old couple hit an elk that way and as it went over the hood, it took out the top of the car and decapitated the couple.

Kevin

 

[Zeitgeist]

I think the Roe deer in Europe are actually quite small.

 

[rayhennig]

Yes

I think the Roe deer in Europe are actually quite small.

They are small (chevreuil) but we do have some pony-sized examples (cerf). Mercifully, it wasn't one of those.

Bon appétit.

RayH

 

[Rupununipete]

Ok you guys... this talk of road kill has got me going. I am off to the freezer to pull out some moose sausage for my supper.

You DO NOT want to hit one of these in anything. Thier legs break, they come through the windshield and kick everyone to death that survived the impact. Only thing I know that does more damage is wood bison.

However they taste damn good once through the grinder with the right seasoning and fat mixed in.

Pete

 

[Real1shepherd]

What the hell is "wood bison"...you talkin' about regular range buffalo or some smaller cousin that hides behind trees?

Kevin