2G Strut tower rust [Merged]

[alice]

What kind of metal have you all been using to replace the rust? Probably steel but what thickness and where do you get it? Thanks a lot -Jeremy

 

[uberchargedDSM]

After I read this thread I ran outside and looked at my strut towers to make sure no rust was there since I just bought my car recently. I'm guessing if you live in the hot weather area's the rust isn't a problem.

 

[alice]

It's the damn salty roads in the winter up here in NY. And, a lot of us store our cars at one point or another which doesn't help.

 

[_Madman_]

Ugh... Scary... there is a hole in my car as well, on the passenger side. The drivers side is a little bit better.

Strangely rust in my case is not near side panel, its more to front of the car.

I'm wondering if it's better to look for new/used panel or weld everything. I will try to post pictures as soon as I can.

You can vaguely see trouble spot here: http://www.dsmtuners.com/gallery/files/4/0/3/4/9/2.jpg

But it has been poked through and now there is a 2"x0.4" hole.

How bad is all this rust, does it go through structural parts or is this just a cover-up shield?

 

[alice]

If you look back a few pages, you can see the severity of the rust. Typically, it rusts through right on the shock tower where the tower meets the fender. This is a critical point because the shock/spring combo mounts there and you can only imagine what would happen if that blew through and you were on the freeway. Not good!!

 

[EricGRIT09]

Yeah, mine got so bad before I started repairing it that the strut actually moved up and down 1/4 to 1/2 inch when you put weight on it. I will have some more pictures up in a day or two, I'm starting work on my driver side, and doing some work on the metal supports on the underside of my car.

Oh, and the passenger side came out awesome, haven't painted it yet, and I used some nice decently thick steel, its like a tank, haha. I think I might just weld in an airbox area, too.

 

[gsxAWDdsm692]

Yeah, mine got so bad before I started repairing it that the strut actually moved up and down 1/4 to 1/2 inch when you put weight on it. I will have some more pictures up in a day or two, I'm starting work on my driver side, and doing some work on the metal supports on the underside of my car.

Oh, and the passenger side came out awesome, haven't painted it yet, and I used some nice decently thick steel, its like a tank, haha. I think I might just weld in an airbox area, too.

Pics!!!

 

[EricGRIT09]

Ok, here are a couple finished shots. Now these are just from my cell phone camera, I will have better ones soon, as well as shots of the other side.

EDIT: Oh and I do recirculate that BOV

 

[Grimis]

nice, still say bring your stuff and you can redo mine good job tho

 

[Kybol]

Ok, here are a couple finished shots. Now these are just from my cell phone camera, I will have better ones soon, as well as shots of the other side.

EDIT: Oh and I do recirculate that BOV

That looks exactly like what i need to do. Do you have any pics along the way or just the end result? Did you just cut everything out and weld the plate in?

 

[Gamble97]

I just bought a new shock tower from mitsu and had a body shop put it on and paint it. I'll get some before and after pics soon.

 

[gsxAWDdsm692]

I just bought a new shock tower from mitsu and had a body shop put it on and paint it. I'll get some before and after pics soon.

Drivers side I guess?

 

[Gamble97]

Nah, passenger side.

 

[gsxAWDdsm692]

Nah, passenger side.

And people said they were discontinued. Where did you get it?

 

[EricGRIT09]

nice, still say bring your stuff and you can redo mine good job tho

Haha, thank you. If you lived around here I would give you a hand, haha. Its a lot of work, but definitely worth it. I haven't done the driver's side yet, or the underbody. Last weekend was just a lot of cleaning and I've been trying to get a good tune this week.

All the rest of the major work comes next week, during my spring break. Hopefully I will have some progress shots by then.

Also, to the other question, I just cut all the rusted areas out until I had nice solid metal to weld to. Then, I cut pieces of steel, and started tacking them in place. Lots of medium sized pieces, and large pieces bent wherever you can. Also, I put in two layers of metal where the original design also had two layers. It came out VERY solid, I'm not the least bit worried about strength, or even future rust. I also lined the wheel well with rubber undercoating so that no water could get up into there, ever.

What you can't see in the pics I posted so far is that I actually went all the way down under the air filter area, and also behind the strut tower right along the firewall also.

I'll have real pics ASAP.

 

[DSM4me44]

Anyone who lives near by and wants earn a couple hundred bucks and help fix mine? They aren't rusted through yet, but i don't want to attempt this myself.

 

[_Madman_]

I just bought a new shock tower from mitsu and had a body shop put it on and paint it. I'll get some before and after pics soon.

HOW?! Do they produce them?! Do you have part numbers, prices? That's something I would like to get my hands on as well.

 

[turbobluestreak]

Just had to post the pics on mine, this is only the strut towers that I fixed not to mention the coresupport and rear hatch areas.

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tbs

 

[Gamble97]

HOW?! Do they produce them?! Do you have part numbers, prices? That's something I would like to get my hands on as well.

I dont have the part number, it was on the thing and I never bothered to look. Sorry.

And people said they were discontinued. Where did you get it?

I bought this last year for my last dsm but never got around to having it done. I got it from the dealer and posted up on my local forum. Some guy was nice enough that worked there, he gave me his employee discount. I'll look for the pics and see if I can find them.

 

[Gamble97]

Here is the before:

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Here is the new shock tower from mitsu

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And I don't yet have an updated pic, but I will snap one when I get home.

 

[gsxAWDdsm692]

wowww

 

[Gamble97]

The previous owner drove it without the washer in there, I just put it in there for temp use to go back and forth to my parents house to work on the car. Then had it towed to the body shop. Also had 2.75" intercooler piping with sears couplers and would blow off at 2psi. I changed a lot of things on this car so far, and I'm not done yet.

 

[Gamble97]

Ok here is the updated picture.

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[Grimis]

wow what a diff . what did the body shop cost ya to do that besides the $2xx.xx for the panel?

 

[Gamble97]

I knew someone that worked there, so they only charged me $350 labor. Also the body guy lost his ass on hours on it, still took him like 3 days.
But now I owe him a favor if he needs something.