Bucky92 Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 .. I am just curious..do you feel that these to underside frame rust issues can be repaired...I really really would love to save this car and am getting opinions. Like I said I very very much so want to save this car....and no..its not Bucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Ew, not good:eek: It would take alot of work to fix that, is there more? Of course, being in the PNW, I would strip the car and it would be headed for the crusher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted October 22, 2006 Author Share Posted October 22, 2006 any other rust on the car is no issue at all..nothing at all to worry about. I am waiting to hear back from my body/welder guy and what he says since he will be the one fixing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Once its that deep there is no fixing it. It will spread like wildfire. If its a good runner (most rusty cars are for some odd reason) then I would drive it thru the winters and park your clean ones during the winter until this one crumbles past the point of passing inspection or something takes a turn for the worse on a big bump or pothole. Of course this advice is at your own risk...I aint responsible when the gas tank falls off the body and causes an accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbrand Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Drive it till it drops! just kidding, hope you get an honest review/possible fix from your welder friend. After moving to Texas 27? years ago from salt/rust country , I DO NOT MISS ONE BIT the salt induced havoc on body parts or the MFB it can be to break loose parts such as suspension and brakes, etc. good luck and keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 if you have any skill welding and and an angle grinder and some por15 you should be able to fix it with a few days work. depends how much sentimental value the car has to you. If you're serious about repair that, get the right tools and materials, get everything completely stripped off around the rust affected areas and go to town, honestly once things are apart and its ready to have the rust taken care of I dont think it would take more than a day, its just getting parts out of the way and such that may be time consuming. If you dont have the tools/skills how much are you prepare to spend? quick fix is get a cheap spray gun and spray por15 absolutely everywhere, will stop the rust. spray gun will probably be useless after your first or second use with por15 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 You'd have to cut it all out and replace it with new sheet metal, and I would also add reinforcing tube steel. But really, it's only a Subaru, not an expencive classic. Why is this one so special? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 hey, I've got an opinion too! That is a horrific case of rust. If you completely gut the interior of the car and drop everything off of the bottom, and if you have parts & sheetmetal from a donor car or MAD fab skillz, then it could be done. I'm sure there are people who have resurrected hemicudas and other more collectible unibodies from worse. I would say that the colossal effort and expense involved would probably rule out such efforts with any Subaru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suberdave Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 that gives me chills. thats some ugly stuff. i hate to see a rust spot the size of a dime. but thats just nasty. i hope you have all your shots before you work on that thing... -=Suberdave=- http://www.suberdave.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBARU3 Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Gosh, that reminds me of my days living in PA. Now in TX, I have not had to deal with that for 20 years. (Just the right wing conservatives)!!! I would say anything is possible, but you are in for alot of work! I would strip the car, cut out the mess, sandblast the rest, weld in new metal and treat with POR-15 or better yet, Rust-Bullet. I don't envy you. I have parted cars with less rust than that. Good Luck, Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagonsOnly Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 If I were you I'd pull the carpets, get a closer look at the fuel filler neck and mount points for the gas tank, and the reinforcement areas near the seatbelts....that car does not look safe for rear passengers (correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like you're missing some pretty hefty chunks in the area of the rear seatbelt mounts). And I would have to assume the gas tank is not so far behind. Best option would be to mount this car's innards in Bucky, or another donor body :-\ (Please take this opinion with a grain of BioMelt, I don't want to look like there's a conflict of interest here.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBARU3 Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Yes. I would think that car would be dangerous, Be careful. Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beataru Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 time to invest in a hefty sandblaster......................................................... or a dust storm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 It is fixable even if taking rear end mount bolts out breaks something deeper. I went through all of that rust similar until a bent body and still fixed it back to life, stronger than average. You get to see the weaknesses with rust, rust doesn't just happen on bad roads. Fatigue of stress helps it right along. Don't even need to go overboard with thicker guage metals like I did.Galvanized repairing in these places in photo, is my guess making a 25 yr+ unibody even in a bad environment.Could even be lazy about paint, unless electrical likes new metal. My car could have jumped a small cliff by the time I was done with repairs similar to your photo in the beginning.Lamination and the places they put it, makes light metal very strong. I still don't like the though of it, but I am kinda barbaric with concept of what strength in steel is. The old sube taught me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 connie, a year ago i'd say fix it. now i'd say no way unless you really want this car. i witnessed first hand what can happen to a car with this kind of rust. myxyphlyx from this board came to my house so i could help him install his intercooler. when he left my place his rear wheels collapsed into the car due to rust. i posted a picture..okay it wouldn't let me attach the picture since i've posted it before. check out the pic i posted in this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55764&page=4 it's hard to see from this pic, but the top of the rear wheels collapsed "inward" and rested against the inner wheel well. you can see the tilt of the wheel. both sides were like this. very scarry stuff to be driving a car like this. what metal is left it weakened and not safe. it could fail like his did or it could prove costly to yourself in an accident. if you were going to fix this...i'd get a donor car without all that rust and completely swap the entire rear subframe. with your old subframe out, the undercarriage, gas tank and such should be accessible enough to fix easily (relative term as far as rust/body work is concerned). basically swap everything underneath for non rusted parts and reinforce any rusted attachment points or sheetmetal. junked subaru's with bad engines/trans aren't that hard to come by very cheap. you'll also run into all sorts of problems with rusted bolts and removing parts to fix this. that's one of the most annoying issues. most bolts will shear off and won't want to come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Rusted rockers are fixable, but once that area in the second pic goes, it's done. It's really not worth pouring in all the effort into it only to have it rust off in another area. It's not safe anymore. Go west and find a nice one. They've got rust free 70's ones out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 OK after much thought..As hard as it was to do..I had to pass on this car...was almost as hard to do as it would be if I ever had to get rid of Bucky. But there is someone interested in that car who can actually use it..they know who they are. I appreciate all the opinions very very much..So if things work out I am looking at the possibilty of an XT6..but not getting hopes up ( cause they always come crashing down around me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagonsOnly Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 o if things work out I am looking at the possibilty of an XT6..but not getting hopes up ( cause they always come crashing down around me) I'm not going to leave you hanging on this one unless the car turns out to be rusting out underneath me on the trip home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted October 24, 2006 Author Share Posted October 24, 2006 I'm not going to leave you hanging on this one unless the car turns out to be rusting out underneath me on the trip home. I 100% trust you Andrew.. Dont mind anything I say this time of year..I am usually in a termendous funk this time of year. Actually looking forward to your word on the XT6...the more I see them and research them..the more I like them:grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagonsOnly Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 You'll be the first to know. I hope. (If you aren't, AAA will be and I've got problems...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 I don't think it will be "dangerous" per-se. It's definately got automotive leperacy tho. Watch in the rear-view for parts falling off. Give stuff under the car a good shake before you drive it anywhere. Usually in the medium stages of rust like that, stuff hangs together still - except for exhaust, but that pipe doesn't look too old. Rather than *fix* the rust, it would probably be cheaper to just build a full 20+ point cage inside it, and just use the body (and some expansion foam, duct tape, wood, etc) to keep the heat inside. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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