2G Strut tower rust [Merged]

[99gst_racer]

I couldn't find a good condition replacement strut tower without spending $100+. So, we ended up cutting sheets of steel and forming them and welding them in place. John @ SIM actually did it all for me. We were trading parts/services and that was his end of the deal. It was a pretty simple process though.

 

[dsmTripp]

Did they just get spot welded in or did you actually run a bead on them? I ask because i got my little wire feed welder i will be using...

 

[99gst_racer]

He ran a bead along the entire seam with a wire-feed welder.

 

[dsmTripp]

Im interested in what settings on the welder he used that way i dont run the chance of pushing holes through...

 

[Doubleot]

Good info in here, I'll need to do this eventually, If I don't sell my Dsm before that time comes .

 

[99gst_racer]

Im interested in what settings on the welder he used that way i dont run the chance of pushing holes through...

It won't require much heat because that sheet metal is pretty thin. Which model welder will you be using? Most wire feed welders come with a sheet of recommended settings for various thicknesses.

 

[dsmTripp]

Well here is a post i posted back in your general welding thread that has pictures of my harbor freight wire feed flux/mig welder. I talked to a couple people in there and most said i would just simply be tacking it at various points until it was pretty much welded all the way around.

Well i opened up the door on my welder and there wasnt anything there. Now one the front of it it has a chart heres pictures of the front. Also you said if the thickness is 0.050 you use 50 amp. Does that go for every thickness... as in metal = x thickness = x amps you use with it? Well here are pictures...

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[The Great White]

So I've been looking and posting w/ no success as to getting the strut tower rust repaired. I plan on moving by the end of August to the Boston area, and my goal is to have this repair done before my move. I have the infamous rust on the passenger side strut tower (it's pretty nasty). I have a previous post of what it looked like a few months ago and it has just gotten worse since. Since then, I've bought a replacement strut tower assembly that was cut off another eclipse that is in pretty good shape and is a good size. But I went to a shop the other day and he quoted me $1500, which was 3 days of labor. Pretty crappy in my opinion. I suggested just cutting out the rust and using pieces from my replacement strut to weld in. It seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

If I had any welding experience or even a welder for that matter I'd probably just try it myself, but I don't. So it's not like I can follow the forum on all the other posts of how people fixed theirs since welding is the crucial step.

So my question is....

1) Anyone know a good, experienced, reasonable body shop in the Chicago land area, or even Boston for that matter when I move.

2) If you can rent welding equipment; from stores such Home Depot, Menards, etc.

3) Any DIY'er in the area who has done this job and done it well with no problems who could help or even guide me where to go.

Any pro-active help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[99gst_racer]

Post a pic so we can see how bad it is.
It's condition will be a large determining factor on how much time/money it will take to fix.

Also, this may be better to post in the regional forum.

 

[The Great White]

It won't require much heat because that sheet metal is pretty thin. Which model welder will you be using? Most wire feed welders come with a sheet of recommended settings for various thicknesses.

99gst: Any suggestions on what you recommend in order to cut out the old rust spots in order to have a clean cut surface to weld with and for the replacements pieces to fit in easily?

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

99gst: Any suggestions on what you recommend in order to cut out the old rust spots in order to have a clean cut surface to weld with and for the replacements pieces to fit in easily?

A grinder, or sawzall is what most people use.

 

[The Great White]

A grinder is what most people use.

I'm aware of that , but you can "grind" with a lot of things, wire wheel, etc... I was hoping for more specifics. I've also heard mention of plasma cutters and cutting wheels. So I didn't know which of those would make for an easier job. Thanks

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

I'm aware of that , but you can "grind" with a lot of things, wire wheel, etc... I was hoping for more specifics. I've also heard mention of plasma cutters and cutting wheels. So I didn't know which of those would make for an easier job. Thanks

sawzall and/or grinder pictured are what you need to use.

 

[99gst_racer]

An air-powered cutoff wheel is what we used.

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A plasma would be the quickest and easiest way to cut the old section out, but then you'd have to spend alot of time prepping the hole afterwards to make it a weldable surface.

 

[Cool09]

Here's the rusty strut tower of a 2g talon I'm considering purchasing.

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The other side is rust free. The car runs fine and the body is in great shape. For $1000 I might go for it.

I thought perhaps the whole was too big... but there sure are some large ones in this thread that have been repaired.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Anything can be repaired but do you want to spend the money.

 

[silv98gsx]

Hey I was wondering if this is too far gone or if I should nip this in the butt before it gets bad?

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[bewstin]

Alright, so here's the situation. I'm sure a lot of you have experienced strut tower rot with DSM's, as i know it's very common especially in the 2g's. Well I've owned my car for about 1.5 years, and invested about $4000 between engine rebuild, 20g and supporting mods, and other bolt ons and goodies. I've recently become concerned about my strut tower rot on my driver's side, as there is a decent tennis ball size hole by the front where the fender bolts up. Today i went to a welding shop in my town, and the guy said it would be about 500$ to fix both sides. He was telling me we'll just cut out the infection and weld in some new metal. The car is otherwise in great shape, interior is 9/10, all there, all electronics work. Exterior is in great shape as well, no rot in the trunk or quarters or anything. The big question is, is the car worth fixing?? My only other option is to find a clean 2G shell. A 2g shell will cost me much more i would assume, could have electrical issues, or could have rot in other places, and all in all just cause me more headaches, not to mention all the time and labor ill have to put in to swapping everything over. I'm leaning towards just fixing my car, but i guess input is always nice. Ill go take some pics to post up as well.

 

[OakStreetTuner]

Ah your car has some cancer, compared to buying a new car I think it's worth it. Be sure to have a good alignment shop go through it after so you don't eat your tires off or I case the caster is off.

 

[bewstin]

Here's some pics of each side

Bud92gsx thanks for the link, i actually looked at that one, as well as pretty much every other strut tower rot post on this forum and dsmtalk. I'm more so just trying to find out if $500 seems reasonable for my damage. Also i drive the car daily, i don't want my struts to shoot through my hood when i hit a pothole. I've put about 30k miles on the car since i've owned it, no problems so far, but how bad would you say my rot is??? From other posts I've seen much worse, but I've seen better as well.

 

[V12 Killa]

Driver's side looks to be in better shape than the passenger's side (rust around where the upper control arm bolts up is a little scary). But for $500 i'll do it & later down the road just find a cheap, rust-free AWD shell.

 

[bewstin]

Yea that's what i plan on, as long as i can find one

 

[Jst4Cyl]

Bumping this up and will be posting pictures of my progress on my 2G. Core support needs some attention also .

 

[hoodrichhavel]

I have rust on my driver side strut tower as well...and I want it to look stock after replacement. What would be my best bet? Removing the spot welds and replacing the piece completely is what I was thinking but I can't find a new/rust free strut tower to save my life....
HELP?!

 

[Dsmkauai]

Here's a short write up I did a few years ago when I did mine. http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...or/388340-fixing-rusted-out-strut-towers.html, it was just a quick fix but is still holding up solid and no rust has reappeared. Since my engine is out and I have a good donor car, I will be cutting the towers fully out and rewelding in my donor towers. Only reason I'm doing it over is I am really going to try and push this car down the 1/4mile. I just don't want any chance of some kind of failed from this area. Plus i want to make some extra bracing up front. I plan to launch this car hard, wanna see some 1.5-6 60's this time around . I was already able to hit low 1.7's so I'm on the right track i think. But when I did my rust tower fix it was a must, I was switching in brand new coilovers and just kept imagining them blowing thru the roof due to the rusted out towers. Anyway hope it helps anyone else dealing with this. Ill do a write up and get good pics when i do the donor tower swaps.