Need advice on this repair

[BlackGT97]

I have a small problem with the rear strut mount on my car and MUST get it fixed. I know most shops wont touch this type of thing so I have to repair it myself. This repair will be stronger then what is already there.

Now I am a qualified welder just in case you think I'm an unskilled welder.
My fist thought was to make a plate to fit around the underside where it is rusted out and weld it up, then add some support up top also. I am capable of stick welding it but I do have access to a MIG welder. What one should I use? I used the piece of wood to try and pry it back into place and with a little more leverage I think I can get it. First picture is from inside the trunk.

How would you go about this

[zapster]

I really hate to tell ya this but it's over.

WAY too much trouble to repair than it's worth.
I know I know..Just get it fixed..

Well there is nothing good left to help fix anywhere in the area where what is wrong..
You will get into this SO DEEP you will never find the way out without going to a tube chassis and put the body on it.

Sorry man but there is nothing left to fix.

...zap!

[Joker11]

It is going to get messy in here, I can see it already.

I would get a wire wheel out and clean the frick out of it all. Get back about 3 inches from where you find the edge of good metal.

Take some sheet metal, not plate, some sheet that you can put on a sand bag and beat into shape to fit the contours of the existing cleaned, good, solid metal.

Trim the outside edge to fit and look nice.

Then tack it in place via MIG process.

Take and make another sheet on the topside. Trim to fit and finish.

On the top plate, drill a circimference of small, like 3/16 holes in it.

Tack it in place.

Now, through the center of the strut hole or tower, (it is hard to see the picture),
clamp the two sheets together.

Now take and mig through the top plate's 3/16" holes and basically spot weld to the bottom sheet.

Prime, paint. Be done. Grab the beeer and the camera.

Show us how it came out.

BTW, you are very welcome.

[Joker11]

Zap,

Some of us have waaaay more time than money. With enough time he can overcome the burden of it.

I am sure if he had cash he would buy a new car or something.

Which made me think of another solution. Go to a junkyard and find the same car. Cut the section out and splice it in. The Mercedes dealer I worked at did that all the time. I was amazed at what they did. I never thought you could do that with a high dollar car and make it like new. They did.

[BrianC]

We do this all the time, not a big deal. We usually use 14 gauge metal,clean it up until you find something decent to weld to.
Brian

[BradTN]

"...Now I am a qualified welder just in case you think I'm an unskilled welder..."

Are you sure? Stick weld rusty auto body sheet metal ? If this is worth doing at all,it's a job for a MIG welder.

Cut the rusty panels back to sound sheet metal, make templates of the gaps from poster board, transfer them to sheet metal and weld in while keeping everything straight and true. You must live in a "rustbelt" area. Nasty job...I hope it all works out for ya.

[BlackGT97]

Originally Posted by BradTN

Are you sure? Stick weld rusty auto body sheet metal ?
.

It can be done. I have successfully stick welder 1/16 and it is much thicker where the strut mount is. Thanks for the advice, I was thinking of doing something similar.

[puddytat]

Hi, welding in the boot area you say!!!!!....stand by for the next episode.......how I put out the fuel tank fire that blew up the house, the barn and anything else nearby....me too.....LOL.

BTW, your insurance company will be interested to know why you are doing this job without consulting them first.....are you also a qualified automobile repairer?...better have a red flag on the bonnet when/if you ever get back on the road again to warn the other road users that a potential hazadous load is approaching.
Ian.

[farmall]

A cordless Sawzall is nice for cutting out parts (cut them oversize) from organ donors.

When patching up junkers, go for gross overkill in the strength department.

Dropping fuel tanks isn't difficult and can sometimes improve access to your work area.

++ on the posterboard suggestion.

[Boostinjdm]

I know I've done this repair before. I just can't remember when or where. Pretty much a cut out all the bad **** and replace with new. The very first step is to remove the strut, put the piece back in place the best you can, grab some poster board and make a pattern complete with reference marks way back on the good metal. The pattern is so you can get the new holes for the strut in the right place. Then proceed with cutting all the bad **** out, but don't lose your reference marks.

This advice is worth exactly what you paid for it, maybe less. It's your call.

[Dualie]

I gotta go with joker on this one. find a donor from a junk yard and hack a piece way bigger than you think your going to need then get it back to the house and trim it to line up with what good metal you have on your current car.

[G-son]

I'm not quite sure why so many people on this forum seem to be so hellbent against repairing such damages. I live in sweden, where salt is used to melt ice and snow off the roads in the winters, and that leads to the rust death for many cars - when they fail the yearly inspection and it just isn't worth spending the time or money to patch them up to keep it on the road another year.

There is no problem getting a well done repair through the inspection, the basic requirement is to rebuild what was originally there, and weld it in good. You rarely see any problems with those repairs, at least not before the rest of the car is too far gone to keep patching up.

Simplest way to repair something like that would most likely be to cut the right piece out of a rust free car. The downside is, if one car has that kind of damage in one place, usually all cars of that model that has been driven in that area will have the same kind of damage to various extent. Might be hard to find a good piece locally.

[blasphemy000]

Originally Posted by Joker11

Zap,

Some of us have waaaay more time than money. With enough time he can overcome the burden of it.

I am sure if he had cash he would buy a new car or something.

Which made me think of another solution. Go to a junkyard and find the same car. Cut the section out and splice it in. The Mercedes dealer I worked at did that all the time. I was amazed at what they did. I never thought you could do that with a high dollar car and make it like new. They did.

+1 My first car was a Dodge Omni. One day while driving down a bumpy road, both rear coil-overs(stock) came up through the trunk. I went to a junk yard with a set of torches, found a car with a good back half, cut out way more than i needed. Came home, cut mine out back to the good metal, trimed the new ones to overlap a bit and had my grandfather weld them back in. It only took one weekend and I put 30,000 more miles on it until the engine blew at 233,xxx miles and I scrapped it.

[BrianC]

[QUOTE=G-son;1487131]I'm not quite sure why so many people on this forum seem to be so hellbent against repairing such damages. I live in sweden, where salt is used to melt ice and snow off the roads in the winters, and that leads to the rust death for many cars - when they fail the yearly inspection and it just isn't worth spending the time or money to patch them up to keep it on the road another year.

There is no problem getting a well done repair through the inspection, the basic requirement is to rebuild what was originally there, and weld it in good. You rarely see any problems with those repairs, at least not before the rest of the car is too far gone to keep patching up.

Same here in eastern Canada.
My shop does this type of work on a dailly basis,since 1984. It's not all that difficult,but as someone above mentioned watch out for the gas tank and fuel lines, which are plastic if it's a late 80's and up GM.
Brian

[Swamp rat]

May not be the easiest repair but it is doable , find a donor if possible , if not remove as much as possible around it to make more room. Make a good template and cut out from 14 ga. or as close to as you have and shape to fit, the more time shaping and fitting the better and easier the repair the repair will be. Mig if at all posible , if not it is doable with stick but you will have to be on your toes and taking your time . Make the repair peice as big as possible to have acess to metal that isnt rusted away. Post some pics ...
As far as letting your insurance company know what you are doing ????? do you have to tell them each time a tire is replaced, oil changed , etc. A correctly made repair is not a liability - if it was we wouldnt have any repair shops working or customizing being done on a daily basis.

[Deve]

this would be a good excuse for me to get a plenishing hammer and english wheel but dammit it didnt happen to me!

[BlackGT97]

so what should I do about the seam that runs along the unibody? You can see it in the second picture above the rust hole.

[VPT]

I hate rust! Much of my work is rust repair! Like mentioned cut, cut, cut, grind, grind, grind, clean, make new and weld in. At the body seam I would personally make it up again like it was originally. Some people don't, they just hammer in some metal and weld wherever the new metal touches the original metal.

[Llundberg]

Originally Posted by puddytat

Hi, welding in the boot area you say!!!!!....stand by for the next episode.......how I put out the fuel tank fire that blew up the house, the barn and anything else nearby....me too.....LOL.

BTW, your insurance company will be interested to know why you are doing this job without consulting them first.....are you also a qualified automobile repairer?...better have a red flag on the bonnet when/if you ever get back on the road again to warn the other road users that a potential hazadous load is approaching.
Ian.

For being from south of the border, you're making an AWFUL lot of assumptions.
How do you know he will have a fuel tank fire?
How do you know he will blow uip the house and god knows what else?
How do you know what his insurance company wants to know? Its nothing wrong with reparing your own car without telling GIO or whoever first!
Why would he have a red flag?

Perhaps ask questions first; get facts right; less egg on your face?

[BlackGT97]

yeah, I don't get that ^^^ either lol. Fuel lines are on the other side. There's no way sparks can even get to the tank from where the strut mount is. Precautions will be taken none the less. A proper repair will be stronger then what is there anyhow.

[BlackGT97]

The biggest thing about this repair was getting the equipment I needed to do the job. So I had to go out and buy a mig welder, ended up getting a Hobart 140 which will do what i need around my house ( I have a stick welder for the thick stuff)

Got her all put back together today and took it for a drive. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Here are some pictures for you.

[WeldingMachine]

did you finish welding it, or just leave it tacked like that?

[BlackGT97]

Originally Posted by WeldingMachine

did you finish welding it, or just leave it tacked like that?

Oh no lol. I finished welding it. I didnt have any ER70S-6 at the time so I tacked with flux core.