camaro_boy123

Ok, so i have torn my car down to nothing much a chasis that can roll. I have sandblasted the whole engine bay with the the engine and everything removed.
while taking the cars engine and tranny out. i noticed the bolts that hold the tranny cross member in place have started to rot. all the metal around the cross member is roted so im wondering has anyone every replaced these? is there somewhere i can order them for a full replacement or a partial replacement?

also, has anyone ever taken their car in ontario to somewhere that will just sandblast the while undercarriage and prime it for me? my paint shop is really not interested as said it will be to much for and a really expensive price.



thanks for the help

Douglas

GTA50

Pics???

camaro_boy123

i dont actually have any for the bottom of the car. But the unibody frame rails have roted out in 2 spots. around the bolts where the pressed buts are and also a little futher towards the engine bay at the elbow.

GTA50

I could think of some home-based fixes, but without seeing the actual extent of the rust, I would suggest that you take it to a true frame shop for an estimate.

okfoz

It is one of those things about these cars. By far they hold up better than a 2nd Gen, BUT when they start going they really go.

Personally I avoid rusty cars, it is a PITA and it never goes away even after you "Fix it". I would rather work on a non-running basket case of a car...

I know you have the whole thing apart and a ton of work into it, BUT you may be better letting it go, or using it for parts, depending on the extent of the rust... And getting a nice rust-free version of the car. Ultimately it may be less work than trying to chase the rust. Because where you do not see rust there probably is some starting.

Derth Deboblo

110%

The sad part of it all is that I find solid cars more in the 'yard then on the street. Maybe it's just me...i don't know.

L695speed

I've seen cars in worse shape in the Junkyard than on the street so maybe its location.

As for John's comment on rust I know a friend who is restoring a Chevy pickup. She and some friends tore the whole truck apart finding more and more rust to qoute her "every time I look at it I need to buy more sheetmetal". If the car is not too rotted out it might be worth saving. It is all part of the restoration process anyway. Personally I've seen cars in much worse shape than is the subject of this discussion being restored from the ground up. Eventually I think it is up to the person and how much they are willing to spend or do. The only major problem that I foresee on mine is going to be the doors where the W62 package is as I can see rust falling off the doors every now and then. Because of how the engine blew up my chassis is pretty clean.

okfoz

It used to be the case around here where I could find some reasonably nice cars in "the Yard" but not any more, Any 3rd Gen is in there for a reason... Most of those cars really deserve to be there...


John

camaro_boy123

thats exactly it. i need to get this rot fixed so i can take the car to get the whole undercarriage sandblasted and then primed.

the rot that i was saying is along the frame rail right where the tranny cross member bolts. i ahve already cut the old pemnuts out and just have a hole right now. im thinking about welding in a nice steel plate on both sides and maybe tap the metal for the bolt from the cross member. Because of the way the old system ones. water can sit on the nuts and just rust away. this way the 1/4 in metal will take a long time to break free.

you guys thinks that is a good idea? or you had this issue and done something else that worked really well?

I am with l695speed, i have already redone the whole rear of the car. the inner wheel wells were roted out and the drivers side quarter panel was roted so i replaced it and it looks great. even if the frame rails are rusted somewhere else i will cut the rust out and do even more. Once i am completely done i am going to send the car in for undercoating the same day

In canada they put a massive amount of salt down and some guy that owned this car before just loved to drive this thing in the winter and so now i am paying lol ah well, put alot of time and money into this car and im sure it will pay off!

Cheers

GTA50

Sounds like it should work, and you certainly sound like you know what you are doing. Obviously you would want to make sure that there is a solid weld bead all around the patch (and if you are doing a lap weld, on both surfaces) so that you don't trap moisture in there at some future point.

Regarding the undercoating, I know a lot of people really slam it, but here on the West Coast of Canada, we get a lot of rain of course and the odd bit of snow. I have had my '89 Firebird on the road as my daily driver for the past 8 years (since I bought it). It is undercoated and I have absolutely no floor pan rust!!

The key is to maintain the undercoating, so every summer or any time I'm under the car, I touch up any bare spots.