Rust Fix

[BoostedYeep]

Hey guys, I've been looking around and most people are talking about welding rust holes and what not with new sheet metal and cutting out the metal around the rust so that the cancer doesn't spread anymore. But there seems to be a considerable amount of rust that needs attention. I got a quote from a rust technician and they told me that it would cost $300 to fix just the strut tower rust.

Now, I'm not sure how much it would cost to fix the rust but I thought $300 was a little higher than what I thought it might have been. Maybe $200 just to cut then weld on a new piece. Didn't have to be pretty. But my friend has a welder but I don't know how good he is with it. So I have access to a welder and a cutter to cut around the rust but I'm not sure if I should just have my friend and me do it or the technician. And that's for the strut tower not the bottom part of the car.

Here's some pics of the rust. He hasn't given me a quote on the rust below the car but here's some pics.

On the passenger rear side it seems someone tried to cover it up with some fiberglass.

 

[tenn-gsx]

$300 sounds cheap to me. That is a structural area. You need to make sure that whoever does the work does it correctly. It may have alot more rust inside the tower area. Just be sure that it gets all the rust out if you do it because if not you will be doing it again sooner than later.

 

[BoostedYeep]

Its a lot worse looking now than it is in the pic. That one was taken back last winter. But $300 sounds good? I just want it rust free as soon as I can.

 

[tmaxx411]

the last quote i got was to repair both rockers on my avenger. it came in at roughly 1800 for the work, not including repainting it. So, id take 300 in a heartbeat

 

[GSXrestomod]

Yea, 300 sounds like a good deal to me. I grew up in michigan so im no stranger to rust. And that is a structural area, so you want it done right.

 

[H4G64T]

H O L Y C R A P T H A T I S A L O T O F R U S T

$300.00 is an extremely good price. Mind telling me where you got that quote? That kid with the 99 GSX over by you has some very minor rust he would like to take care of too.

 

[Project91Tsi]

If $300 seems expensive for something like cutting and welding in new body panels or sheet metal to repair rust damage, I suggest purchasing a relatively new car just a few years old with under 75000 miles, and living with the $250-$600 a month payment. If I were a union welder, I wouldn't do that work for under 5 hours labor, and by the time you factor in materials, that's really not bad. Of coarse the alternative of having your friend to it might only cost $100 in supplies and then you'd have one probably crappy looking hack weld job done with some random sheet metal wedged in the just to say "at least there's no rust" Then again, I would check the credentials of the person willing to do the job for $300, and make sure they ARE better than the "friend with a welder"

 

[H4G64T]

the last quote i got was to repair both rockers on my avenger. it came in at roughly 1800 for the work, not including repainting it. So, id take 300 in a heartbeat

What was he making them from? Platinum? That's excessive.

 

[brownfinger]

Sorry I'm blunt, but I'm old, I've done all of this. Save your money, buy a car without rust. I'd shell-out for brake parts, and such, but don't spend money on a car that is already doomed. Do necessary maintenance, and save for a clean shell, while they're still some available!

 

[raiderrodney]

I have to agree with brownfinger...I've went down this road with my old CJ5 I had and it is a losing battle. Little to no rust was the #1 thing I was looking at when I was on my dsm search

But...if you're determined to fix it then 300 is a great deal if done right. I would look into some of Eastwood's preventative/rust stop products and do other parts myself. If you have this much in a couple areas it's fixing to break out in several other places

 

[Trav83]

Well I like seeing DSM's get saved so I'm all for the encouragement of fixing it, however you definitely got your work cut out for you, that's a lot of rust. Just make sure that when it's repaired it gets a protective coating, fresh new metal rusts VERY fast.

 

[BoostedYeep]

H O L Y C R A P T H A T I S A L O T O F R U S T

$300.00 is an extremely good price. Mind telling me where you got that quote? That kid with the 99 GSX over by you has some very minor rust he would like to take care of too.

I went over to the Auto Rust technician place on Niantic near Route 10 and the bowling alley.

If $300 seems expensive for something like cutting and welding in new body panels or sheet metal to repair rust damage, I suggest purchasing a relatively new car just a few years old with under 75000 miles, and living with the $250-$600 a month payment. If I were a union welder, I wouldn't do that work for under 5 hours labor, and by the time you factor in materials, that's really not bad. Of coarse the alternative of having your friend to it might only cost $100 in supplies and then you'd have one probably crappy looking hack weld job done with some random sheet metal wedged in the just to say "at least there's no rust" Then again, I would check the credentials of the person willing to do the job for $300, and make sure they ARE better than the "friend with a welder"

Well I'm not sure like I said how much rust fixing usually costs. So I was just going off based what a friend said. I looked them up and I get good and bad reviews from the place so I'm not sure. I'm just gonna have to do it because it needs to get fixed badly and i'll post pictures of the work after. Also the tech said it would take about 3 hours to cut, weld, primer etc.

the last quote i got was to repair both rockers on my avenger. it came in at roughly 1800 for the work, not including repainting it. So, id take 300 in a heartbeat

Holy crap!

I would have done this right after he gave me that quote.

 

[GSX401]

I went over to the Auto Rust technician place on Niantic near Route 10 and the bowling alley.



Well I'm not sure like I said how much rust fixing usually costs. So I was just going off based what a friend said. I looked them up and I get good and bad reviews from the place so I'm not sure. I'm just gonna have to do it because it needs to get fixed badly and i'll post pictures of the work after. Also the tech said it would take about 3 hours to cut, weld, primer etc.

I have heard good things about them. $300.00 sounds about right for cutting out one side and fixing it. Your best bet would be to see if you can cut out a good tower from another car and use it for direct replacement, but as long as he can cut it out with-out moving the angle of the actual area the struts mount to, you don't have to worry about it.

 

[BoostedYeep]

Sorry I'm blunt, but I'm old, I've done all of this. Save your money, buy a car without rust. I'd shell-out for brake parts, and such, but don't spend money on a car that is already doomed. Do necessary maintenance, and save for a clean shell, while they're still some available!

I live in New England so finding a rust free car is impossible. Unless I search in the lower states. Also I have another car that I'm looking for a shell, an SRT-4. So the GSX is my project/daily driver for now until I get the SRT-4 back up. I don't mind working on the GSX for now anyways. I'd probably spend about the same or if not more if I got a shell then changed everything over while rebuilding the engine and tranny.

Well I like seeing DSM's get saved so I'm all for the encouragement of fixing it, however you definitely got your work cut out for you, that's a lot of rust. Just make sure that when it's repaired it gets a protective coating, fresh new metal rusts VERY fast.

I'll make sure I keep that in mind when they are putting the new metal. I'm sure they will coat it with something. And then I gotta start undercoating the car also after I fix the rust under. We'll see how it goes for now.

I have to agree with brownfinger...I've went down this road with my old CJ5 I had and it is a losing battle. Little to no rust was the #1 thing I was looking at when I was on my dsm search

But...if you're determined to fix it then 300 is a great deal if done right. I would look into some of Eastwood's preventative/rust stop products and do other parts myself. If you have this much in a couple areas it's fixing to break out in several other places

We'll I looked everywhere and these are the only spots I see with MAJOR rust. Other spots look fine to me but looks are deceiving. Might have rust under not sure. I'm going to take a look at it and see if there is more. If it looks like a losing battle then I would have to agree with you.

I have heard good things about them. $300.00 sounds about right for cutting out one side and fixing it. Your best bet would be to see if you can cut out a good tower from another car and use it for direct replacement, but as long as he can cut it out with-out moving the angle of the actual area the struts mount to, you don't have to worry about it.

I've looked for some at junkyards. They are asking $150+ just for the piece. All of them were also bent and none were in good condition. So the $300 sounds better to me.

 

[dxxparsell]

I completely re-did both of my towers, not all that bad maybe 10 hours. CUT OUT FARTHER THAN THE RUST! The rust is always farther than you can seen, when you do it do it right. Take a weekend and take your time. After I cut mine out i Bent 1/4in steel and bent it accordingly, I did top and bottom, grinded the welds flush. After all of that A buddy/his dad suggested some duraglass to keep the moisture away, then sanded that down. added a very small layer of bondo, 1/8th in thick at the most to make them look nice. Primed then painted with rustoleum, they look untouched, you can still see the spot welds from factory

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I completely re-did both of my towers, not all that bad maybe 10 hours. CUT OUT FARTHER THAN THE RUST! The rust is always farther than you can seen, when you do it do it right. Take a weekend and take your time. After I cut mine out i Bent 1/4in steel and bent it accordingly, I did top and bottom, grinded the welds flush. After all of that A buddy/his dad suggested some duraglass to keep the moisture away, then sanded that down. added a very small layer of bondo, 1/8th in thick at the most to make them look nice. Primed then painted with rustoleum, they look untouched, you can still see the spot welds from factory

Pics.

 

[dxxparsell]

There kind of spaced out, where the cuts were cut cut our more but from underneath, the duraglass then bondo and paint.

There was also another round of welds all the way around each patch then grinded again.

 

[pindlepiper]

I agree with saving the dsm $300 sounds pretty cheap to me.

 

[blk98tsi]

You should do it yourself rather than taking it to Auto Rust Technicians.
I had some work done there, and the welds were horrible and they super overcharged vs what they did/quality of the work. The guy is slimy too, never want to deal with him again. Really, your friends work can't be worse than theirs.
There are pics of their work up here : Auto Rust Technicians
*don't want to retell the story or get offtopic, but I'd do it myself or find another structural welding shop*

 

[johng96gst]

Ialso know how the New England weather will kick the sh*t out of a body. I live on the beach and the salt water does damage. But that was $300 just for the tower, and that things loaded. I hear ya about saving, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I'd start shell shopping. I think you'll find a shell for cheaper all that repair. Good luck bud.

 

[minimoose]

300 is cheap, the holes look kinda big from the top but i guarentee they are bigger on the botton and that area has mulipule layers of steel, after you fix it id really suggest using por 15 its a chemical paint this will kill any rust and it won tcome back work really good but is exspensive but any body man will know what it is.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Great photo reel!!

I have to admit I'm amazed. I was getting pretty worried as the pictures went on - but you weren't kidding, it turned out beautiful.

 

[dxxparsell]

Yea thanks man and like I said there were about 10 steps that I didnt have time to take pictures of, there was another bead of welds on those, then grinded flush, and the patches on the bottom with undercoating on top of galvanizing stuff instead of the duraglass/bondo to make it pretty

 

[GSX401]

You should do it yourself rather than taking it to Auto Rust Technicians.
I had some work done there, and the welds were horrible and they super overcharged vs what they did/quality of the work. The guy is slimy too, never want to deal with him again. Really, your friends work can't be worse than theirs.
There are pics of their work up here : Auto Rust Technicians
*don't want to retell the story or get offtopic, but I'd do it myself or find another structural welding shop*

Who did you go to, to fix that hack job?

 

[BoostedYeep]

Wow that looks amazing. I should've paid you the $300 to fix my rust spot.

But I have some pictures. I totally forgot to add them on here. Its fixed. And here is the result

BEFORE
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=1zlpzlz" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/1zlpzlz.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

AFTER
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=zmxm5x" target="_blank"><img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/zmxm5x.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

It's okay for $330 I guess. I think if you gave me the instructions and all the tools you used I would be able to do this with my friend much better. I'm gonna PM you.