Bloody Rust - Options?

[giblet]

As you all know rust appears to be the major killer of our cars. My last one was beyond saving so when I purchased my current one last Feb I knew undersealing was essential. In July I went to visit a specialist in Doncaster, he was booked up and the earliest date he had for me was January of this year.

I dropped the car off and this is what it looks like after stripping down the extensions and the rest of the bodykit -

DSC_0844.JPGDSC_0845.JPGDSC_0846.JPGDSC_0847.JPGDSC_0848.JPGDSC_0849.JPGDSC_0851.JPGDSC_0852.JPG

This was somewhat surprising given that my car was one of the 200 or so "Ralliart" imports so was undersealed from new but I guess it shows you how bad things can get even with a basic underseal thanks to our salted roads.

I've been advised to try and source a pair of replacement rear arch panels, a pair of sills and both rear corner sections behind the bumper. This would then allow him to cut out all the bad metal, weld in the fresh clean metal and protect it properly. The chap works on a variety of metal including E types etc and is known for his high quality of work.

If the panels cannot be sourced and they have to be fabricated from sheet metal I've been told the final bill would be around the £2k mark. That is for fabrication, welding, paint and the undersealing and full protection with a 3 year warranty. That would be with Bilt Hamber products which are proven to protect and last for a long time.


If I can source the replacement panels then the quote will be around the £1.5k mark. No idea if those panels are readily available though and how much they cost. Not exactly flushed with cash right now either!

So folks, thoughts? I've not even owned the car for a full 12 months yet but I've already poured in nearly 3 times as much as I paid for it on upgrades and other work. Once the lifters are replaced and the turbo elbow/downpipe leak is sorted the car should be solid for a good few years mechanically. I've had a look on PH/AT etc and I can't find another car that I would want to replace this for in the same price range, well aside from a clean X308 Jaguar XJR but those would be harder to convert to LPG so I'm wanting to stick with this.

[Tam]

Hi Gib,
I'm not much of a metal smith or fabricator but I do get crazy ideas. I don't know if it plausible but for the money there are always galants on eBay and you could use the body panels of it and then crush it. They won't have skirts or anything so you will be able to see everywhere.
Makes me scared to look to deep at mine now. Hope she turns into a Phoenix

Marc

[giblet]

It's wiser to check the state of your car now and catch any rust before it starts to spread. The rest of my car is solid, boot floor etc are all good.

I guess my 3 options are either find replacement panels, have them fabricated or have a clean and fresh car imported. The last one is the most drastic and probably the most costly! It is also the daftest option given that my car has covered around 55k from new.

[swinks]

This was somewhat surprising given that my car was one of the 200 or so "Ralliart" imports so was undersealed from new but I guess it shows you how bad things can get even with a basic underseal thanks to our salted roads.

Ha ha ha... you are soo wrong...
Official imports were not undersealed! Not in real meanining of this job.
Spoken to Mitsi traders in Peterborough in the past and they said that Ralliart undersealing is just a quick thin lick of paint, not a real job. And this seems to be true, from all 3 official Ralliart imports I've seen (2 of them purchased by mike951), all of them were badly rotten underneath sideskirts, fenders and around strut towers.

Good luck with repairs! BTW, how did it pass the mot in the past with so badly rotten wheel arches?

[chugg]

Bloody rust! Always spoils a good motor. Tams idea ain't a bad one if you've got the time and space to strip a donor which is solid in the places you need to pinch. Sell the spares and scrap the rest and you'll get most the cash back you paid for the donor. But it'll be a faf and you unlikely you'll get your 3 yr warranty. The simplest and most reliable would be the advice of your body man and get the repair panels needed (if available) and he'll be able to cut off what he needs from them and let the fresh tin in. But as you know that'll cost a few bob. Fabricating the repair section from sheet steel is also a go er, but more time consuming than trimming down a pressed repair panel. So again, unless you do that yourself expect to shell out even more ££££. I don't know how handy you are, but another option would be to get yourself a mig and do it yourself. Granted it takes practice but when you crack it it's very rewarding and you'll wonder why you didn't do it years ago.
Whatever you decide mate, hope you get it sorted so you can enjoy it.

[giblet]

I didn't realise the protection applied by them was so basic! I'm guessing it passed due to the fact that the arch extensions and skirts hide the horrors.

[chugg]

Ha ha ha... you are soo wrong...
Official imports were not undersealed! Not in real meanining of this job.
Spoken to Mitsi traders in Peterborough in the past and they said that Ralliart undersealing is just a quick thin lick of paint, not a real job. And this seems to be true, from all 3 official Ralliart imports I've seen (2 of them purchased by mike951), all of them were badly rotten underneath sideskirts, fenders and around strut towers.

Too true swinks!

[giblet]

Don't have the spare time to learn how to weld myself. Easiest option is to get him to fabricate the bits required but at £2000 all inclusive it isn't cheap! I would need to source the panels for £200 or less for it to be worthwhile when compared to fabricating. Either way it won't be a cheap fix. I guess I should start saving now.

[adaxo]

OMG that's a nasty surprise (?) to find after removing plastic. I think I know how this can hurt after all that money poured in it to make it better and find this rust BUT no panic, IMO there's nothing to worry about, I mean yes its not pretty and it's stuck in your head now that is not perfect but non of this damage is even close to classify as scrap car. Apart from 1 picture I would not worry about it at all, they are just covering panels mainly and do nothing to overall rigidly or strength of car body.

How to fix it? cut out rust and replace visible parts by fabricated metal or good bits from scrapper, where not visible i would not bother changing panels al all as imo its pointless as they are not structural, just cut/clean rot and seal properly, will be good for ages.

Yes it may not sound like car/vr4 enthusiast way of deal with it but, as we all know, it will never be collectable vehicle worth spending 2k for doing rust parts properly, if this was an E-Type then yes it will be money well spend but this its still vr4.

Glad you catch it just on border line and you still thinking of sort it out instead of bolt back together and flog it on bay for someone else to worry about, heads up, it's no biggie. And thank to show it as it make me want to under seal mine ASAP.

btw ask @mcosworth as he may still have saloon Galant body ready to cutting bits (if they good) and scrap it.

[giblet]

Top advice as always Adam, thanks. I'll drop mcosworth a PM. Guess I need to get some welding quotes from a few different bodyshops.

[Louis]

Read arches and sills are available, not sure about rear corner panels, but as mentioned, there are a lot of later model galant estates and galants going cheap, (£500 ish).

[Louis]

Although American, certain parts will still fit (USA galant is not the same as Japan or UK), and there are European sites also with repair panels available

http://www.partswebsite.com/courtesy...arts&tpd=yes##

https://www.millsupply.com/96-mitsub...4r.php?p=39543

[bungle]

I feel your pain. Ive just had to spend close to that amount on my weld repairs. Was hoping to do it myself but its been a hectic month at work , (Im a welder.lol) 84 hour weeks since the 4th. So thought it was best to pay someone who was used to this sort of work as fiddling with tin is not really my thing. The guy has done a really amazing job in my opinion. I'll get the pics up as soon asa I get them downloaded and see what you think judging by the amount he did on mine I'd say the price would be quite a bit cheaper than your quote. Price included all rust sanded & thoroughly treated, rot cut out and replaced with new steel, multiple coats of primer and finished off with stone chip underseal. Have a look what you think and I can send you across his number or get him to look at the photos and give you a rough price.

[hardarse]

from the pictures ive seen that would only cost you around £600 to be sorted at my place. if you are close by sometime i ca have a closer look for you

[giblet]

I feel your pain. Ive just had to spend close to that amount on my weld repairs. Was hoping to do it myself but its been a hectic month at work , (Im a welder.lol) 84 hour weeks since the 4th. So thought it was best to pay someone who was used to this sort of work as fiddling with tin is not really my thing. The guy has done a really amazing job in my opinion. I'll get the pics up as soon asa I get them downloaded and see what you think judging by the amount he did on mine I'd say the price would be quite a bit cheaper than your quote. Price included all rust sanded & thoroughly treated, rot cut out and replaced with new steel, multiple coats of primer and finished off with stone chip underseal. Have a look what you think and I can send you across his number or get him to look at the photos and give you a rough price.

I'm interested. Whereabouts in the country are you?

from the pictures ive seen that would only cost you around £600 to be sorted at my place. if you are close by sometime i ca have a closer look for you

That seems a lot more reasonable and affordable! Only down the road in Leeds, could always come down on a Saturday?

[bungle]

Im in Scunthorpe, just past donny.

[hardarse]

my unit is called overhauled unit4 machell st hull hu2 8al if you wanted to pop in just give us a call on 07403826940

[giblet]

Im in Scunthorpe, just past donny.

Not too far. Do you any pics of your car and the details of the bloke you used?

my unit is called overhauled unit4 machell st hull hu2 8al if you wanted to pop in just give us a call on 07403826940

Cheers, I'll be in touch at some point.

[bungle]

Not too far. Do you any pics of your car and the details of the bloke you used?

I just need to download them off his ipad fella. I was supposed to go see him last night but I got told I was taking the missus out instead
Hopefully get them sorted today. I'll download your pictures and take them with me see if he can give you a quote. I'll inbox you his number later, sure it will be ok but just wanna check with the guy first before I go giving out his number online.