2G Is this 1995 Eagle AWD worth saving?

[Jacobgr]

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Little context. Bought this car a year ago. It was a good deal and came with lots of parts and a donor. I knew there’s was rust but I could not pass the deal. Here’s my question, is this car worth saving cutting and tig welding out parts from the donor or is it scrap. the donor car has good steel and no rust in these areas. My options are to save this one or buy a rust free shell if that’s possible to find to fully move everything over. FYI the donor car cannot be saved and it’s only good for parts. I’m into this project to learn and try different things since I like working on these cars. Thanks ahead of time for your help and guidance!

 

[jesse12345]

If you have a clean doner car that makes everything way easier. I've been fixing the rust on my cars from scratch which is alot harder. I think personally it's worth saving. Yours doesnt look like the worst ive seen. The sad part is the salt in northern states isn't the only thing that kills these cars, it's letting them sit in tall grass for years.

 

[Jacobgr]

If you have a clean doner car that makes everything way easier. I've been fixing the rust on my cars from scratch which is alot harder. I think personally it's worth saving. Yours doesnt look like the worst ive seen. The sad part is the salt in northern states isn't the only thing that kills these cars, it's letting them sit in tall grass for years.

Hi and thanks for the reply. This car was on salty roads by the previous owner sadly. the driver floor pushed up and the support beam is also bent. I’m planning to get the floor from the donor and fixing that aswell. That parts seems easy enough my only worry is the back of the vehicle like shown in my pictures and here’s where I would need to figure out the best places to cut and weld. Each side of the car needs to be replaced.
here’s another picture of the rust opened up and just now found that rockers are shot from the back of the door to the wheel. Also a small spot on the rocker center of the door.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Here’s is close up of the rear

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

To clarify the hole in that I mentioned center of door is not on rocker but there floor looks like simple fix

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Here is the floor I want to swap out since it’s pushed up and support is damaged. If it was not pushed up I wouldn’t bother since it’s light surface rust. I could also pull the floor down and then cut out and replace the damage support.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[jesse12345]

Most of those floors were pushed up from people using a jack under them. My floors were also rotten and pushed up, I just cut them out and pushed the frame back down and welded it up. I'll show some rust repairs I've had to do since I live in the rust belt also. You'll have it easier since you have a doner car, which is nice. If I were you I'd cut quite a bit further from where the rust is just so you don't have to start patching because there's more rust than you thought. I'm by no means an expert, I've just learned as I go and so far it's worked out good for me.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[Jacobgr]

Most of those floors were pushed up from people using a jack under them. My floors were also rotten and pushed up, I just cut them out and pushed the frame back down and welded it up. I'll show some rust repairs I've had to do since I live in the rust belt also. You'll have it easier since you have a doner car, which is nice. If I were you I'd cut quite a bit further from where the rust is just so you don't have to start patching because there's more rust than you thought. I'm by no means an expert, I've just learned as I go and so far it's worked out good for me.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Feels like I’m speaking to the right person about this! Thank you for sending me those pictures I really appreciate it. This really motivates me since I’m in the same situation as you were in. what type of welder did you use.mig? I’ll keep you updated with my progress cheers!

Pics of donor car!

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[jesse12345]

That is a solid looking car to use! I mainly use my cheapo Harbour freight titanium flux 125 and slowly tac everything up and grind it down. I try to keep the heat low so I don't warp anything. Everything I weld up is pretty rusty and pretty thin so this welder works fine and I've sort of mastered it at this point, so that's one of the reasons I keep using it. I also don't use it on anything structural (i use a different one for that) so it does the job fine for me. Everyone is different though so just try what fits best for you and your budget.

 

[Jacobgr]

Little update! No progress on the rust yet but I pulled the engine and transmission since the automatic transmission is possibly blown said previous onwer. I have a manual one ready to go with transfer case,rear differential and axels but won’t do that yet since I’ll focus on the shell and rust for a bit.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

Rust is not fun! You think you got it and it keeps going and before you know it thats 100mm rusty part turns into a 300mm long cut out

As long as you get out ALL the contaminated panels and fix the areas nicely it can work well. Your new donor looks in better shape and before you go to far in putting it all back together i would do the full underside clean, de surface, then treat the surface and then final undercoat. Its a great way to make a chassis last where you are for a very very long time! Do that for all the parts underneath, so arms and tank and straps. Basically anything metal coat it haha

 

[chrysler kid]

looking good!

Anything is worth trying to save, at the very worst you can always start over with a clean shell one day and transfer over your complete car into a rust free shell. It’s all about what work you’re willing to try yourself

 

[Jacobgr]

I

looking good!

Anything is worth trying to save, at the very worst you can always start over with a clean shell one day and transfer over your complete car into a rust free shell. It’s all about what work you’re willing to try yourself

I like the way you think! I’m just gonna send it and I won’t think about it too much and deal with the problem as they arrive!

Today is a rain day so I stayed inside looking into some boxes that came with the car. Looks like I have all the pedals needed for the swap and I also found this throttle body that is significantly bigger than stock I have no idea if it’s any good.

I believe I will have to rebuild the tcase and manual transmission or at least open it to look at its condition and change seals and whatever appears worn or to prevent future issues.(I have never opened a transmission previously)

I will also change the main seals on the motor and a couple others, timing belt and more as I do research. But that will be later when the chassis is done and possibly painted

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[Jacobgr]

Moved into a new garage and started working on the car finally. Cleaning up everything with a needle gun! When removing gas tank and removing the straps I noticed the piece that the support its bolted on above the subframe is badly rusted and very thin. I guess a little more work won’t hurt .

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[jesse12345]

Good thing you have that doner car.

 

[Jacobgr]

Good thing you have that doner car.

Haha I’m glad! The doner is fwd.. I’ll have to check if it’s a match for the piece, or at least similar enough to grab some steel from it.