The Rust Thread

T

tripower

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I know everyone here has had some experience (many of them very frustrating) on this issue and I wanted to hear your stories. On my 'new" e9 I am discovering new stuff every day. I was tapping on the bubbles at the rear of the passenger side fender and I was able to generate a small mount of dirt, rust flakes and bondo.

I'm just wondering when i really start cutting away at this cancer how much of my car will be left.
 
I poked at the one rust bubble on my 73. It was on the rocker just forward of the rear passenger side wheel well. I found that the rust on the back side of a 1 inch bubble was about 3 inches long on the other side of the rocker. I took my snips to this, and removed a section of the read quarter panel (this is in the area below the rocker cover). THis exposed the rusted inner rocker. The inner rocker was rusted from the jack pillar forward about 5 inches. I exposed all of this, and cleaned out all of the rust.

I was able to get a NEW inner rocker from Mobile Traditions. My plan will be to cut the lower quarter panel from the wheel well forward to the door. I'll then cut out the inner rocker from the jack pillar to the end of the rust (this is about the rear 6 inches of the inner rocker. I'll cut my new rocker ans splice it in, and then patch the quarter panel.

Fortunately, this is the ONLY structural rust in my CA car...

The purpose of this tale is to show that the car rusts from the inside out. So it if you have a small rust bubble, you probably have much more rust inside. I have seen cars where the jack pillar is effectively rusted away up about 4 inches. The only way to find out how bad it ism it to take a look. You can usually see the insides of the car by removing interior parts. In my case I was able to see what was going on by removing the rear inner quarter panel. The rust in this area was caused by the window drain.

S
 
http://www.allstontechworks.com/coupage.html

My site (listed above) has a few insightful pictures regarding my adventures in ferrous cancer.

Keep in mind that this is only the beginning of the rust for me, and more importantly...ASSUME NOTHING.

The rubberized undercoating and soundproofing used all over the car is very adept at hiding rusty metal and making it appear that things are solid.

Cross your fingers, say a prayer, and start poking around the known rust areas (rocker panels, fender tops, shock towers, floorboards) with a scratch awl or screwdriver.

Good luck. I hope you don't find what I did.
 
Re: http://www.allstontechworks.com/coupage.html

My site (listed above) has a few insightful pictures regarding my adventures in ferrous cancer.

Keep in mind that this is only the beginning of the rust for me, and more importantly...ASSUME NOTHING.

The rubberized undercoating and soundproofing used all over the car is very adept at hiding rusty metal and making it appear that things are solid.

Cross your fingers, say a prayer, and start poking around the known rust areas (rocker panels, fender tops, shock towers, floorboards) with a scratch awl or screwdriver.

Good luck. I hope you don't find what I did.
Click to expand...

Please don't scare me like that now I won't be able to get to sleep!
See, with the find of rust (especially hidden rust) that envelopes these cars how can anyone not advocate chemically dipping these cars to make sure you got everything?
 
Re: http://www.allstontechworks.com/coupage.html

See, with the find of rust (especially hidden rust) that envelopes these cars how can anyone not advocate chemically dipping these cars to make sure you got everything?
Click to expand...

Well, the most common caveat to dip stripping is, if you don't get the shell completely clean afterward, the stripper will seed a whole new generation of rust.

The other thing that stops people is the fear that when they reel the basket out of the chem bath, it will be empty... :shock:
 
Sad Story...

When I went to look at my first prospective E9, I noticed it had been recently repainted. Why the guy chose to repaint in that horrid lime green metallic, is lost on me, but there was clearly some overspray on what seemed to be dirt in the rear wheel wells, I whipped out my car key and poked a little at the crusty overspray. To my horror the key went right through the inner wheel well!!

This was before I knew enough to realize that rust was the plague of these cars (Thank heavens someone gave me the avice to buy the best car I could afford!!). .

The key incident prompted me to look deeper...

I found light peering into the uder dash area...

I found badly re-welded rear shock towers...

It was an f'ing mess, and I walked away... Thank heavens!

The good advice still holds. Figure the simplest rust issue will run $500...Now That rust area is probably about 15 sq inches of repair work.. so, if you are looking at a rusty car.. do the math..

Malc is a saint for his work on "the Bucket", but realistically it probably would have been cheaper to star with a better car.

I did this (start with a bad car (on my first restoratoin (65 Mustang), and I probably spent 5 months and $5K more than I woudl have by spending $1K more on the base car.

S
 
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