rust repair questions

[evandael]

am i in too deep with this?

i have no experience repairing rust on a car but have access to (and have practiced with) a MIG welder, sheet metal fabrication, and all the requisite cutting/grinding/punching tools required to do these sorts of things.


rear valance/battery box




driver's side floorboard






passenger's side floorboard





i'm not delusional in thinking that this will be easy, but i am confident that given an honest effort, practice, and time i could get this done. i just seek the infinite wisdom and advice of r3v before tackling this!

[ttrousdell]

See my build thread under sig. I had similar rust issues on my e30. Only thing you can do is cut it out and weld new pieces in. Unfortunately some of those parts are nearly impossible to recreate with just flat sheet metal. Donor car body parts will make the job much easier. Not to scare you but that is a big job for someone without experience.

[jrobie79]

I had nowhere near that rust on my floor pans (battery tray only had surface rust) and I thought it was a big deal cutting out 6x6 squares of the floor pans to reweld....no prior welding experience either...just started practicing with a bunch of scrap till I felt I was comfortable...floor pans arent seen so I wasnt worried about the visual aspect of my welds, but I am happy with the results....it is a pain in the ass though.

[evandael]

in the floor board pics, is there any possibility that a major structural part of the car is compromised?

i don't completely have a grasp of the e30 structure and tried searching for a diagram of sorts to help me evaluate it, but to no avail.

[shaferbm]

If you're willing to fix the rust, that thing is a pretty sweet deal. Almost jumped on it myself.

[Bearmw]

Until you cut and grind away ALL the rust you will have no way to know the amount of structural damage.

[evandael]

alright, another question:


how bad is THIS one? (apologies for large pic)

[nomansland92]

Same rust problems with my Ix, If you can find my thread its called winter IX restore i think you can see how i fixed mine. Ill be doing my battery tray next week so ill see how it goes.

A few pointers from what I've learned is USE seam sealer.
make and wel the patch in, primer, then seam seal, then re primer, and paint (I use POR-15), then under coat.

When i first started i just welded patches in then painted then with rustoleum and they rusted right away .

Feel free to pm me if you have a questions i'd be glad to help, and i only like like 40 minutes from Pittsburgh ;)

[evandael]

^thanks man

like i said before, i have no experience with this but certainly am not afraid of tackling it. i just want to verify that the projects i undertake are actually salvageable (within reason).


so does anyone know about strut tower rust issues?

[yyi]

I'm curious about welding around the battery tray and spare tire area. Since it is extremely close to the gas tank, is that a safety issue? Is it necessary to remove the gas tank?
Also, how about the underbody material? I heard that is flammable as well, is there any truth to this?

[Swanny]

I've been using this stuff called POR-15 after I do anything with bare metal to keep rust from forming/coming back. This shit is amazing! I'd check it out as something to cover up your repairs with. Good luck

[ttrousdell]

I'm curious about welding around the battery tray and spare tire area. Since it is extremely close to the gas tank, is that a safety issue? Is it necessary to remove the gas tank?
Also, how about the underbody material? I heard that is flammable as well, is there any truth to this?

It is not necessary to drop the gas tank to weld by the battery box and spare tire area. The underbody material is not too flamable but if you do a good amount of welding in the same area the stuff will get hot and will ignite so watch out. It is also not good to breathe the stuff so I usually remove it within 2 inches of where im welding.

I've been using this stuff called POR-15 after I do anything with bare metal to keep rust from forming/coming back. This shit is amazing! I'd check it out as something to cover up your repairs with. Good luck

POR-15 is the tits. I use it all the time.

[nomansland92]

Ya I've found out first hand that the under coating is flammable is you built up heat. Take you time and just spot weld the whole thing

[JGood]

am i in too deep with this?

i have no experience repairing rust on a car but have access to (and have practiced with) a MIG welder, sheet metal fabrication, and all the requisite cutting/grinding/punching tools required to do these sorts of things.


i'm not delusional in thinking that this will be easy, but i am confident that given an honest effort, practice, and time i could get this done. i just seek the infinite wisdom and advice of r3v before tackling this!

I shared that exact situation and mindset going into my repair, which probably had substantially more rust then what yours appears to. At first I stumbled a bit as I learned, but now 6 months later, I am 100% confident around a MIG welder, and am not the least been hesitant to tackle any project. I say do it. Even if it's just to learn and get the experience.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=225093

One thing I can guarantee... you have a lot more rust then what those pics show. Being from the PA area, and considering how badly rotted those areas are, there is bound to be more rust. So plan to budget a lot of time, because once you pull that carpet, undercoating, and sound deadening, you'll have some surprises!

[nomansland92]

One thing I can guarantee... you have a lot more rust then what those pics show. Being from the PA area, and considering how badly rotted those areas are, there is bound to be more rust. So plan to budget a lot of time, because once you pull that carpet, undercoating, and sound deadening, you'll have some surprises!

^ 100% true, i have found 3 times the rust that i had planed for on my car. I found spots were it was simply a little bubble in the undercoating and after it was said in done it would be almost a 1" hole. The biggest thing is to search very well. My favorite thing is to use a body hammer or a welding hammer and with the pointed end just go around and tap everywhere and you can feel and here the difference in the metal were there is rust.