2G My car has cancer guys (RUST). Options? What to do? ;(

THiCC ECLiPSE GSeX · Apr 20, 2020

Hey guys. Just joined the forum! This is my 1999 Eclipse GSX w/ black leather interior and all the options... The hardest and most sought after version (except it being an auto, LOL

). My dream car.

Over the years the weather and salt seems to have taken a toll on my previously showroom quality Eclipse GSX, I am wondering if this rust is fixable, what my options are, and cost estimates and tools required from experienced owners.

I am also looking for experienced owners on guidance for fully dismantling the car and re-building it, (where parts go back together, what order to remove things/ put them back ect). If you are in the CT or MA area or willing to drive up I would greatly appreciate your knowledge, expertise and advice. I need someone to do a full inspection of the car and tell me what needs cleaning, fixing, or replacing when we remove all the parts. I will be also looking for replacement parts and possibly a painter on DSMtuners too, I was told painting the car black would be $3000-4000. I want to (1) dismantle down to the uni-body frame (2) screen the part conditions (3) lay them out in an organized fashion (4) repair/ clean all the rust (5) rust proof with truck bed liner (interior/ trunk/ engine bay) (6) touch up exterior paint/ PDR on some recent small dents (7) install CF hood, wiper cowl and hatch (8) install widebody and polyurethane front and rear bumpers (9) repaint exterior from white to black (10) replace, paint, or blackout all light fixtures and replace them with white, amber and red LED bulbs. Depending on how much this costs, I am going to hold off on rims, CF interior, air suspension, and performance mods. I will do the maintenance mods tho.

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THiCC ECLiPSE GSeX · Apr 22, 2020

Dusty Landrum said:
If you can, embed the photos in the posts. Just copy and paste them into the post and it will make viewing them WAAY easier btw. Have to say though man, your car looks just like a lot of others on here. Just the way it is with the northern cars. If you are having to DD the car, then there is no way you will ever be able to get it completely taken care of the right way. Just covering it up with bed liner etc will actually probably make it worse too. My advice would be to put the car on stands and slowly work on it like most of us are doing on here. Will be VERY time consuming but way cheaper too (but still expensive). Other than that take it somewhere and have them do it but I can't even imagine what a shop would charge to do a complete frame up restoration on these...

I am going to park it and do the dismantle, rust cleaning, coating, and mods for up to 5-7 months, then AFTER I am done DD it.

THiCC ECLiPSE GSeX · Apr 22, 2020

benspilk09 said:
Bed liner is a waste of time and will make it worse. What you need to do is keep it clean and dry. Additional coatings will just further trap chemicals and moisture against the metal and speed up the rust.

What you should do is sand blast it, paint it, and keep it as clean and dry as possible.

Sadly, If you DD it and live in the north, there's really no saving it. If you want your car to stay in decent shape, the only option is parking it October through May.

I am going to park it and do the dismantle, rust cleaning, coating, and mods for up to 5-7 months, then AFTER I am done DD it.

DevineAstral · Apr 22, 2020

THiCC ECLiPSE GSeX said:
I am going to park it and do the dismantle, rust cleaning, coating, and mods for up to 5-7 months, then AFTER I am done DD it.

Where bed liner is a good alternative, remove all rust and dirt and moisture before even think of laying it on. Yes it’s a hard substance but it’s also deceiving. A buddy of mine sprayed his frame on his ranger, afew years after spraying it, went to jack it up and his frame was completely rotted through.! The bed liner gave the appearance everything was fine still but hid what was really going on.

AWD-Tony · Apr 22, 2020

Matt oats said:
Look fine to me That rust is minor I think ....Should I buy a 1gen tsi awd with 450hp and 20k in rebuild he says $3000

Sounds too good to be true imo. You should start another thread with pics and details.

benspilk09 · Apr 22, 2020

You will never get all the rust out because it started down in the panel seams. You can sand blast what you see, but it will come right back because you didn't fix the root of the problem. That requires an invasive repair.

DevineAstral · Apr 22, 2020

benspilk09 said:
You will never get all the rust out because it started down in the panel seams. You can sand blast what you see, but it will come right back because you didn't fix the root of the problem. That requires an invasive repair.

Couldn’t agree more my man. I can’t tell you how many cars here in PA that have been junked all because someone didn’t take the time to do it right and said “F-it, let the next person deal with it.” And it just snow balls from there.

pat white · Apr 23, 2020

yes if you want to keep it tear it down to nothing NOW ...especially if it's gonna be winter driven ...lots of salt used on roads here plus salt from the ocean ...only thing that works here in the long term is to get the vehicle rustproofed with an oil like product ..rust check or Krown process ...every year ..that would be after getting the rust repaired and painted ...they drill holes in the rockers and other spots and spray the product inside with wands then put rubber plugs in ...plus spray underbody ...not for a show car but to dd it in salt ....

THiCC ECLiPSE GSeX · Apr 23, 2020

pat white said:
yes if you want to keep it tear it down to nothing NOW ...especially if it's gonna be winter driven ...lots of salt used on roads here plus salt from the ocean ...only thing that works here in the long term is to get the vehicle rustproofed with an oil like product ..rust check or Krown process ...every year ..that would be after getting the rust repaired and painted ...they drill holes in the rockers and other spots and spray the product inside with wands then put rubber plugs in ...plus spray underbody ...not for a show car but to dd it in salt ....

What do you think about getting the torn down car frame totally sand blasted? That is an interesting oil process, never heard of it before. Hmmm. :hmm:

pat white · Apr 24, 2020

I think you should take one step at a time ...tear it down and see how much damage you have and what it will cost in time and money to bring it back to where u want it within your budget ...you know if it's gonna be apart for the better part of the year ur gonna be driving something else...so why not garage ur car in the winter ..shame to drive it in salt after restoring it ...that will keep her pretty

THiCC ECLiPSE GSeX · Apr 24, 2020

pat white said:
I think you should take one step at a time ...tear it down and see how much damage you have and what it will cost in time and money to bring it back to where u want it within your budget ...you know if it's gonna be apart for the better part of the year ur gonna be driving something else...so why not garage ur car in the winter ..shame to drive it in salt after restoring it ...that will keep her pretty

I would be using a family members car in the meantime, so it would have to be a one time thing, I only own the GSX.

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2G My car has cancer guys (RUST). Options? What to do? ;(

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