Topic: Mercedes-Benz W123C restoration

[RIXCAR]

This restoration was done by RIXCAR, a vehicle restoration and painting workshop located in Riga, Latvia. The company has an experience of seven years in car restoration processes.

Previous projects include full restorations of such cars as BMW E24 M6, Ford Thunderbird, Studebaker Golden Hawk and many other American and European classics, and now a classic Mercedes-Benz W123C project has been finished.

This is what the car looked like when it arrived. At first glance it doesn't look so bad.








The car came to the workshop just for a body painting from outside, but during the disassembly process a necessity for more complex body repairs appeared.









It will be fun to put it all back together.



The whole body was covered in tiny rust spots all of which had to be eliminated.











Some places had a really severe rust damage.





Classy MB body had hidden rust spots all over the car - not the best news for the owner. A lot of work had to be done to ensure that the rust won't come back and that the car will look great.



After cutting out the rust on outer layer we noticed that the inside is damaged as well.





Old paint was taken off to ensure that the new paint will lay perfectly.



All the damaged areas were cut out and custom made patches were welded in.









Some more complex patches had to be made from scratch.













When welding had been done, the Mercedes needed some final touch ups before it was ready for a new paint job.



We tend to make metal panels as smooth as possible to minimize the need for putty.





Old cars usually change their looks dramatically after being painted and this wasn't an exception. The Mercedes looked wonderful and the assembly process could begin. All the assembly works must be done with high accuracy not to scratch or damage the new paint.











Although the car is old, it is still a Mercedes and must provide it's owner with a comfort so a new noise and vibration cancelling insulation layer was installed.





Inside of the body was also painted.









And here is the final product. All the details are in their places and the Mercedes-Benz W123C is ready to see the sunlight. All of the body is treated with anti-rust materials so the owner won't have to worry about that.







We put on new whitewall tires to enhance the look of this classic car.







A lot of welding and grinding works had to be done and we are proud to be able to give this Mercedes a new breath of life.
Hopefully it was an interesting reading material. More updates on other projects coming soon. Meanwhile, feel free to take a look at RIXCAR  Facebook page or homepage to see other projects.

[HeliDriver]

I'm not really feeling the whitewalls (and what happened to the alloys in the early pics?), but what a great looking car! Nothing fancy or blinged out about it, just a classic Mercedes shape. Any shots of the finished interior?

[aquadorhj]

great job.

I feel this kind of work would cost a sh1t ton of money here..  i mean, stripping the whole car, doing custom weld jobs, paint then put it all back together...

that kind of money would probably buy a used but recent range rover...

[EV-Light]

does this mean I can buy that MB from you guys and you'd deliver it to my house?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Terrific work!

[Northernridge]

Nice job and good photo essay.

[Fobroader]

Great restoration!! Please keep them coming. Though I have to say....those white walls on that car....

[HeliDriver]

I'm also kind of curious about the mechanicals. Seems to be some rusty looking bits poking out from underneath. I'm guessing the idea is more to do an economical driver that still looks good than a full-on concourse queen? Not saying it's a bad thing, just curious.

[5 Wheel Drive]

Looks like there's a lot of work that's gone into that car.  It looks great!

The whitewalls on the other hand...

[RIXCAR]

does this mean I can buy that MB from you guys and you'd deliver it to my house?

We don't buy/sell cars. These are all the cars of our customers and we arrange the transportation of the car to our workshop and also deliver it to the customer when it's done.

Great restoration!! Please keep them coming. Though I have to say....those white walls on that car....

The whitewalls were owner's desire, a matter of taste.
Thank You for the feedback guys.

[Fobroader]

My FIL would love the whitewalls. 

I guess the whole resto-mod thing hasn't happened out there yet.  Lowered, some 18's...stuff a V8 in it...now we're talkin'.

Now that would look awesome.....the drivetrain, suspension and brakes out of a newer AMG in a classically style Benz such as this  That would be a proper Deutsche resto mod.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

My FIL would love the whitewalls. 

I guess the whole resto-mod thing hasn't happened out there yet.  Lowered, some 18's...stuff a V8 in it...now we're talkin'.