How much RUST is too much?!?

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twistinglane

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I figured typo in title of last post too confusing;-) so reposting!
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I'm trying to choose a solid, but reasonably priced coupe... I've looked at cars with bubbling paint on on lower front fenders. And a car with little rust holes on rocker panels -after taking off covers.

I'm game for some body work and panel repair or replacement. But worry that a "pretty car with an issue" could become a "parts car" if there structural rust in A pilar, or behind the rockers.

I've read advice to jack each wheel and see if doors close. Not tried that yet.

What are your thoughts on when to walk away from a favorably priced coupe???
Thanks,
Paul
 
If you can see a little bit of rust and you think its not to bad, stand back multiply it by 10-15x and you will be getting close (maybe)

These things rust bad, and the worst thing is, that you cant see it until its to late normally.

Bad areas are

top of front fenders and strut towers
Rockers (particularly front and rear, front probably being the worse)
Bottom of front fenders
Trunk floor and area where trunk welds to rear panel)
Floor pans

Hell, Basically everywhere unfortunately!

If your on a budget and you just have to have a E9, buy the very best car you can find with the least amount of rust i guess,

By looking through photos here on the forum re rust and restorations you will get an idea of what and where you should be looking.

My advice is to researce any car very well before leaping in
 
no such thing as a parts car

It's only a question of money and time.
So, how much is your limit for body and paint?
How much of the work can you do yourself (e.g. free).
How much body filler and fiberglass patching can you tolerate?

These three things will define what is and isn't a parts car.

As far as checking for rust, bring a film thickness gauge. Assume anything over 40mil is bondo over a dent or a rust spot. Check the classic locations (fender pocket, inner front bulkheads via the 2 glove boxes. Pull up the carpet and check the base of the A-pillars. Stick your endoscope into the inner rocker (when carpet is pulled up). Look carefully at the tops of the inner and outer fenders. Anything not perfect in that outer fender channel (the area just under the edges of the hood), and I'll bet there's rust in the hidden fender channel. Check the obvious stuff (seams on the hood/trunk lids and the bottom seams of the doors). Pull the trunk wooden panels and inspect around the gas tank and bottom of the spare well.

THen put it on a lift and check the floor plugs. Don't let body schutz in the shape of sheet metal mislead you into thinking it IS metal. THat OEM stone chip stuff will retain the shape of a metal panel long after the metal itself is long gone to the rust bucket in the sky.

Check the wheel opening lips and the inner rear wheel housings directly forward of the tires (and adjacent to the outer rocker area).

If you find problems and still want this car, you could always buy a rust free parts car and move everything over ;-)
 
Not much if you have to pay someone else to do the repairs for you. The biggest fallacy (concerning these coupes) is thinking you are going to buy a cheaper rotted coupe & fix it up to save money, the smart money is paying extra initially for a solid car that doesn’t need literally thousands of dollars for rust repair. If you pay off a car loan on a solid coupe it’s the same amount every month, if you’re paying a shop to repair rust they are going to hit you with some numbers that may almost stop your heart.

Consider that some of the body panels are No Longer Available so they have to be hammered out from flat sheet (something that not every shop can do) or cut out of a solid coupe (very few left). I’ve got 43 years in the auto body & sheet metal trades and after looking on & off for a coupe in the Northeast for better than 25 years I flew to Texas and bought a pretty solid car so I guess you know how I feel about chasing rust around on a uni-body car. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
I looked at a coupe a few years back in NH. I knew where to look for rust and found some in all the mentioned places. It was not overwhelming but evenly distributed about the whole car. The interior was fairly solid and the car was a nice ride. I called Mario to describe the car to get a sense of repair cost, thinking about 10K. He knew the car after 30 seconds and said min of 30K. Message: an educated consumer may not be so educated...alternative message, multiple what you think by at least 3X.
 
it's never isolated

Isolated rust on the rear shock towers isn't too bad, but it's never isolated.

Isolated rust on the rocker panels (if you can see them; you have to remove like two dozen tiny phillips screws on the outer rocker covers to get at 'em) isn't too bad, but it's never isolated either.

Any rust on the front fenders or front shock towers should be an instant walk-away, IMHO, unless you look the beast in the face and decide that you're going to drive the car as-is and then stick by that bargain.
 
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