mike300z Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 So this could be considered more than your average rust repair job. Over the summer I acquired this car from my dad and since replaced the water pump which went out, and began repairing some body rust with rust paint. The other day, after a 5" snow I was driving down the highway in FWD,( has 4WD high and 4WD low) and hit a bump in the road at 65. Blew the driverside strut assembly through the strut tower. After a $70 tow to my dads house I tore off the interior panels to discover to no surprise the passengers side was rusted out equally as bad. The pictures below shows how bad it was. I then went in search of a replacement car, almost bought a turbo wagon but got talked out of it, so now I'm back to fixing this one. Everyone said it couldnt be done, but look at her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 What happens is water and road salts get behind the stamping that contains the shock, and rusts the well out from behind. Dam that midwest rust! I lucked out on my 3door, but i had to cut out and replace the framerails under the font of the car. I am happy to see that somone would make these repairs, as the general consensus here would not comprehend that kind of rust(lots of western folks) Keep us updated on what you do and how you do it, and many more happy miles to you for your efforts! Whereat in ohio are you? I am native to northeast indiana myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 why would a pnw'er need this ? sorry for the rust belt death. once it hits that bad ship one in from west coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 What happens is water and road salts get behind the stamping that contains the shock, and rusts the well out from behind. Dam that midwest rust! I lucked out on my 3door, but i had to cut out and replace the framerails under the font of the car. I am happy to see that somone would make these repairs, as the general consensus here would not comprehend that kind of rust(lots of western folks) Keep us updated on what you do and how you do it, and many more happy miles to you for your efforts! Whereat in ohio are you? I am native to northeast indiana myself. Miles do you mean where the front frame Ts off to the jacking points. If So How did you fix it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 why would a pnw'er need this ? sorry for the rust belt death. once it hits that bad ship one in from west coast. That is not always an option, or there are only so many to get ahold of from what's available. In these parts(indiana, ohio) There were not many subarus to begin with in their day, not as many sold, and not many left. A rusty subaru is better than no subaru. And not to suggest that someone out west would need a car like this, but rather they have never seen such degree of rust, as it does not occur as severely with the lack of winter weather and road salts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) Miles do you mean where the front frame Ts off to the jacking points. If So How did you fix it? Yeah, right at the part where it curves up, and where the radius rod mount inside bolt is. I cut off layers of steel to expose the inside, and welded in layers as they were stamped, about 3 layers of metal. It was sort of exploratory surgery reverse engineerng. It was tedious work. I used a 4 1/2 angle grinder with metal disce, a grinding disc, and a flepper sanding disc. I welded with a harbor freight 100 dollar flux core unit using .035 tips and wire. I used zinc infused weldable primer on my new metal. I used part of a furnace cover of some sort and home depot 26 ga steel. The home depot was crap, the furnace metal was good, and part of an xt6 rear quarter panel was best. The metal i used was soft and bent easy, cold rolled instead of stiff like hot rolled. Then i covered with napa stone guard black, and chassis black paint to make it all one color.\ with the rest of the undercoating. here is my build thread highlighting my conquest of RUST http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=119353&highlight=runabout Edited May 11, 2011 by MilesFox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Thanks Miles. I checked that thread out. You sir are a genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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