2G Strut tower rust [Merged]

[th3m1k3]

Is it possible to repair this??

 

[LTUSPE]

That is by far the worst I have ever seen. There is no repairing that. You'll need to replace the strut towers. Find a donor car, cut out the pieces and graph them back into your car. You can still get one of the sides from Mitsu but the other side is discontinued. It's also very expensive.

 

[Squirrel82]

These cars rust since the seam sealer used from the factory is crap.It dries out shrinks and cracks with time allowing water to get in.Look at the door and hatch seam sealer to see what I mean.I blew some compressed air into the small rust hole of the passenger strut tower to see where the water was seeping in from underneath.Turns out the seam sealer wasnt even covering the crack.

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Drivers side tower is intact so after checking the same seam it turns out it was nice and sealed.So I guess that stuff is coming off and redoing it to prevent that problem.

So pretty much what Im saying is redoing the seam sealer will prevent the problem if caught in time.Might have more to add once I actually get in there.

 

[stephen240]

Is it possible to repair this??

I don't know. Mine wasn't that bad I never did upload photos of mine fixed, maybe I'll jump on that here soon .

Paid over a grand to get it fixed, and honestly it doesn't even look that good =/

 

[gudz519]

what do you guys suggest i try doing for an easy fix? didnt really get the help i was looking for

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/354630-engine-bay-rust.html

 

[gob4sho89]

Any suggestions here?

http://s417.photobucket.com/albums/pp256/gob4sho89/spring%202010%20build/?action=view&current=P3110304.jpg

 

[gob4sho89]

Anyone have a clue how bad this is going to be? I will probably be cutting out the rust and just rocking a nicely cut hole in the strut tower untill I have time to weld in a new piece... I am sanding and painting the whole engine bay this weekend, and am nurvous about what i'll find. I have searched and read other posts on this subject, and am looking for a little bit more specific help. Should I worry more because the rust is up close to where the suspension bolts up?
Any suggestions?
here is a link to the picture

spring 2010 build :: strut tower picture by gob4sho89 - Photobucket

 

[frankenstein406]

depending if its painted over and you can poke through it, but I've seen a lottttt worse.

 

[housegsx]

I wouldn't cut anything out until you're ready to repair it. That said, it doesn't look too bad. I saved my Talon and it was to the point that I could stick my fist through it and touch the tire.

 

[brian9397gsx]

yeah dont look under my hood i wish mine were like yours

 

[Kscheuher]

yeah your lucky, im at the stage right now where housegsx was at. I can pit my fist through too! how much did that cost you money/time housegsx?

 

[housegsx]

yeah your lucky, im at the stage right now where housegsx was at. I can pit my fist through too! how much did that cost you money/time housegsx?

I think it took 2 or 3 nights in the garage after work. Money wise it was fairly cheap. Parts were maybe $50. For a piece of 16 gauge steel and some cans of primer, paint, and undercoat. The thing that cost more was welding supplies etc. I ran out of gas, had to pick up some cutoff wheels and so on.

Here is the patch. There was no rust on the other strut tower. WTF

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[steele_verus]

I did a similar job to housegsx's. Thank god my dad's a welder, had it done for free in the matter of a few hours.

 

[Kscheuher]

i wish i knew a welder! it would make my life easier

 

[SrKegler]

Well, to my eyes, that looks pretty bad. See the crease in the shock tower. That is there to add strength. It's already stressed cracked along the entire length and started down the bottom. Remember that piece supports the weight of the right front corner. I'd cut out all the old parts and weld in a new one pretty quick.

 

[dsmking101]

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i need help guys this is and old picture but the rust hasent changed much ....going to the track soon need to fix...any addvice will be appreciated thanks

 

[dalesmitsu]

check your local craigslist for a wrecked 2g, see if the owner will cut the strut tower for you.

If you can get one have him cut it out a half inch more, so you could spot weld it back in, tig is better than mig.

Thanks. The welder is an old school guy, very cool and nice to deal with, and luckily he had a rig to come to me. He was in some very awkward positions too haha. He's located in Mechanicsburg, name is Bill Minnich (Minnich's Garage). He's the best around, really knows his stuff.

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Awesome job. I bet he does roll cages too. How much did he charge you, just wondering.

Is that your backup 2g in the picture.

 

[Blurred Talon]

I had mine done last fall.

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[knochgoon24]

Thanks! I have this theory, I think silver cars get the cancer easier than others. I don't personally know of too many people with 99 silver GSX's, but 4 of them I've seen of the 5 I know of have rust.

My sister's GS had fist size holes. It was silver with 138,000 miles when we sold it.
My car is green and the 2 small rust spots that formed were only surface rust from the top. Cleaned then up with sand paper and sprayed it with Rustoleum primer then green. It has 244,000 miles on it. Fixed it almost 2 years ago and it still looks fine.

 

[turbosax2]

Awesome job. I bet he does roll cages too. How much did he charge you, just wondering.

Is that your backup 2g in the picture.

I don't remember exactly how much he charged, somewhere between $150-200 I believe. It took some time to do the welding, and he brought his welding rig to my house.

The other DSM is my brothers.

 

[dsmking101]

thanks for the help guys i know my picture is not the best but you can see its not to bad i looked at it today and i can see it hasent spred to much yet so i gusse i got to get to it before it dose and theres no body flex on it eaither the corosion dosent flex....so were can i buy a welder for cheep enough for me to do the job myself....thanks guys

 

[blaknoize]

that is some scary stuff. I suppose the 1G's dont suffer as much, mines 20yrs old and has no rust whatsoever on either tower.

 

[1fast97gsx]

So I'm in the process of doing this repair as well on my 2g gsx and it's not as bad as most of the pics I've seen on here but my concern is this... When I cut out my section of rust on the drviers side tower it appears the tower is in 2 layers and it appears the rust comes from the bottom and eats through the bottom layer and then makes its way to the top layer where you will then be able to actually see it. The rust on the bottom section that you can't see is worse and spread out more. Most of the repairs I'm seeing done on here is people just welding in a patch panel to hide the rust from the top, but I believe structurally the bottom layer is more of a factor. I have no clue a this point how I'm going to fix mine as I feel just welding a plate on the top is not a fix, but rather a way to hide the true problem. Thoughts?

 

[1fast97gsx]

Really? Everyone seems to have this problem and many think they have "fixed" it ... I'm just asking what you are doing with the bottom layer.

 

[wkmitsu]

Really? Everyone seems to have this problem and many think they have "fixed" it ... I'm just asking what you are doing with the bottom layer.

Somewhere in this thread there is a post from a guy that fixed the bottom layer by welding in a new piece there as well, then redoing the undercoating.