NinaYo401 Posted December 23, 2018 Report Share Posted December 23, 2018 I’m wondering what if any chance of dealing with the rotten areas of my 505 sedan. i think I heard a crack while driving on my 12 hour trip home, and an fairly certain this passenger rear wheel housing was the casualty. Also suffered some damage in the front when having tires put on, likely caused by the jack. im going to get the opinion on my mechanic tomorrow, and might ask my local custom exhaust and welding person to give me an estimate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted December 24, 2018 Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 Crikey! That's some serious rust issues - the repair will easily exceed the value of the car. My advise would be to drive it as is as long as you can while looking for a car worth investing time and money into. You didn't seem to concerned with my warnings of buying the car sight unseen without a proper inspection - so I truly hope you got the car super cheap. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinaYo401 Posted December 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 Is the rust super dangerous? Should I fiberglass patch the issue? Spray some rust converter and enjoy till the struts fail? Is it worth welding the frame rail in the front? Or fiberglass it too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted December 24, 2018 Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 Wouldn't say it's dangerous per se, but it's definitely not as safe as it should be in an accident. You could try spraying it with something to inhibit the rust, but it's not worth patching and fixing. I'd only look at fibreglass if you want to seal the trunk area - but even that will be a waste of time and effort. Fibreglass isn't structural so not worth using it anywhere really - but it would be ok for sealing the hole into the trunk. Your best bet is to just do minimal work and drive it as long as you can. Spend your time and effort finding a car worth working on. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinaYo401 Posted December 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 52 minutes ago, Bean said: Wouldn't say it's dangerous per se, but it's definitely not as safe as it should be in an accident. This is good news. I’ll try to enjoy it and invest very little. I’ll look for another one. I really like this 2.0L automatic 4 combo. i wonder if the turbo 5-speed for sale in Vermont is equally crusty underneath. im afraid of my corroded fuel return line behind the accumulator. And I’m not replacing that cruddy accumulator for $125 unless it starts leaking. It’s decroded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goce Posted December 24, 2018 Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 That looks like typical sault rust, rust from the inside out, Prevention can help, i'm using anti rust acid but to be fixed you need to cut out the rotten part and weld in fresh metal, but that is feasible only if you have the space and equipment, here is some of the repairs i've done few weeks ago on the little Lada Niva i'm fixing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinaYo401 Posted December 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 There are local students who weld for free on Sunday, but it’s sculpting the replacement metal which would be the challenge. I think they do that as well, but underneath a car is unlikely. shoujs I get something welded to the front? I could possibly have that done. as long as I can get pads and rotors working on the back, I’ll fiberglass a patch back there. But the area in the front might benefit from a couple hundred of welding. Might be able to get a couple straps welded in back, to support the fiberglass and hold things together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinaYo401 Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 My mechanic says the rust isn’t too bad and he sees nothing that wouldn’t pass inspection. He suspects the spare tire’s weight of causing that crack, abd says he could weld a patch easily. He felt the issue in the front was a very simple fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 I guess our opinions differ greatly - you're much more into the rust belt than I however so maybe the tolerance for that stuff is higher. If that car was inspected here it'd be immediately taken off the road until it was patched properly with welded metal and it passed structural integrity inspections at a body shop (big $$$). If you proceed with repairs make sure to ask for pictures - would love to see how he does it. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinaYo401 Posted January 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 Read a story of someone from Michigan who had a repair done in Virginia, where they guy said he was afraid to have the car on his lift and said it wasn’t safe to drive it. So when the guy got home, he inquired with his regular mechanic, who thought just laughed hysterically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goce Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 There is a big difference in structural rust or separation, and cosmetic rust, i've had cars with both, the structural is definitely scary, cars with extremely high mileage also big accident damaged cars have rust in high stress areas, and when they have rust or separation there the doors start to move around when going over bumps, the steering wheel feels flimsy or shecky, my brother had a peugeot 605 that had close to 2 million km on it, it had little rust but all the joins on the frame had started to separate, those cars are made like tanks but every day flex plus couple of accidents dismembered that chassis. That said you can easily decide when is too far gone to be dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 Virginia isn't rust belt - Michigan is. VA mechanic likely never sees rust like that, and rust like that certainly wouldn't pass VA inspection, so it's very possible he didn't even want to touch it purely from a liability standpoint. Michigan mechanic has probably seen a LOT worse, and authorities there are likely much more lenient. Where I live, it'd take a lot of money to properly sort that rust out. I'm pretty OCD with repairs but only for keeper cars. I've used duck tape to holed a truck fender together, and then sprayed with undercoating so that I didn't get an inspection ticket - worked for YEARS! What ever you decide - just don't put a lot of money into it. If your mechanic can do some patches to buy you some time - great. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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