busdriver Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 If a subie were to rust out at the frame /body junction, is it possible to bring the subie back to life by piecing in metal. Or is it just a waste of time. I just wonder cause my subes a little ragged on the frame, but the rest is minty fresh. Just wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Worth your time? That's totally in the eye of the beholder. It would have to be SERIOUSLY rusted out. Mine is very rusty and It's still structurly sound. I've only see one Subaru that was completly rusted out and unsafe to drive; that was Arch's old Brat. Only thing holding it together was dried mud and the drivetrain You could patch it back together as long as where you wanted to weld on was still solid. In the case of this Brat however there just wasnt much to even weld onto. Then again you could pick up another Subaru for $400 and swap over all your goodies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 like where at? if your drive shaft isnt rubbing on anything, your not too rusty. we put new floorboards in that brat morganm was talkin about. only thing that realy killed it was haulin tools, and stuff, from texas to minnesota. post some pics of the rust if you can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 BD: I've done a lot of bodywork over the years, and I've come to the conclusion that "controlling" rust is the best option in terms of time and $$. For your vehicle this would be a wire brush, Extend spray, and rubberized undercoating. The frame rail caps may be worth cutting out and replacing if the body is above average. "Bodywork" looks good, but does little/nothing to improve the strength of the unibody. It's hard to make a judgement call on your vehicle, but the unibody can pass the "look test", yet still be very weak before it eventually buckles. And until it does buckle, you'll have a false sense of security about its structural integity. You'll know better when the car takes a good smack... The good news is that the undercarriage rust is fairly easy to keep under control if you start treating it early. In this part of the country you should powerwash the undercarriage in the spring to get rid of road salt deposits. Then hit the rust spots with the wire brush/Extend/undercoating. If you do this once a year, you'll stretch out the life of your Subie considerably. good luck, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 I think it kind of depends on what you want to do with the subie? If your going to off-road it all you need is solid frame rails to attach the lift to. My frame looked rusty but it was actually still structurally sound. I had holes in my floor boards and rockers. If it's a daily driver and you want it to look good...controlling the rust could be a problem. Probably more than it's worth. Would be easier to watch for a clean one and don't waste time restoring an old one? My .02 Glenn 82 SubaruHummer---pitched my old body and made a new one 01 Forester---undercoated to the max! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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