Rust repairs

[daverobev]

I have a friend who is selling their old car, a 2007 Focus. Mostly decent shape, needs a timing belt.

Under both rear doors, the.. I don't know what you call it. The bit of the car that runs underneath the door, outside, down to the end of the car underneath - where the metal ends, so from an inch or so below the door to underneath the car - is rusted. Maybe 6-8 inches wide a section with bubbling paint/you can push it and hear the rust bending/cracking.

Basically any bloody ten year old car in Canada. Eh.

Is it sane or sensible to cut that patch of rust out and weld in new metal? Not looking for a perfect finish but something that doesn't look like complete shit would be nice. Without harming the structural integrity of the car.

There is a bit of paint off behind the front driver's wheel too but that doesn't look like it's gone through. Sand and paint, I guess.

Thoughts? $2k-ish for a 10 year old car with only 160k km on it?

[Papa Mustache]

Yes, not too difficult for someone that is motivated to learn or has done it. Fortunately we have the internet.

That's called a rocker panel where I live.

You can use a basic 4.5" inch grinder and cutoff wheel (see Harbor Freight for examples) to cut off the steel. It will likely need an inch forward of the rust and an inch behind the rust.

Remove the rusty panel and then examine the remaining steel. The vertical backing plate might be rotted too in which case the repair will get much more elaborate.

A body shop can then bend flat sheet metal to match what was removed and MIG weld it in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUehclZVeIs

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525589&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20&sid=9aa55d7b1596f0643e660e306ef1a313

[daverobev]

Rocker panel, right.

Took that car to the mechanic and he said there was enough other work to not be worth it. He got me looking at a Lincoln LS instead... Which has the Ford 5r55s transmission. Which it would appear is a ticking time bomb. But man, the car is lovely. 100 k km, clean as anything.

[Papa Mustache]

Sounds like you need to tiptoe through the long term quality surveys at Consumer Reports. Or budget for a transmission rebuild and be happy. ;)

[daverobev]

Sounds like you need to tiptoe through the long term quality surveys at Consumer Reports. Or budget for a transmission rebuild and be happy. ;)

Yeah, the latter certainly. I've looked at a few sites. Thing is, the car is from 2003 and (for Canada), mint condition. I mean, it has working air conditioning. And it's RWD!

But yes, the maintenance is a concern. Trans rebuild yes. Factor 2-3k into the cost.

I don't know. It's a decent safe car, and in a lot better shape than pretty much anything else I've seen in the price range. No rocker panel rust, for example (which most Ontario cars of anything like that age have - often a lot newer).

*Edit* Pretty damning: http://longtermqualityindex.com/vehicles/Lincoln_LS.html

[Papa Mustache]

DANG! I thought they would have been mid-pack or better!

[daverobev]

This is what I'm trying to avoid! Very very few cheap cars round here that DON'T have that. So I'm in a quandry; get a newer or even new car (say, a Corolla), rust proof it, and keep it forever; buy something that is already rusting and will last 2-3 years; or buy something like the Lincoln which is clean as anything, but has... issues.

I'd rather buy a manual. I'd rather buy inexpensive. I'd rather buy rust-free.

Pick two.

The closest was probably the Civic I got, not long after getting here. I do look out for decent examples of it, but people know they are decent and they were the people that picked manual and rust-free, knowing they would get a good run out of the vehicle, even buying new.

[Le Poisson]

Dave - I think you can find what you are looking for if you you go hunting in some of the small towns outside the GTA. Driving through Belleville the other day I was amazed at some of the deals IO was seeing.

Not that an older car is ever a deal - they do need maintenance (my last was 1981 Mercedes Diesel which was frickin' awesome - but costly to repair.

A good rule of thumb for most mass produced cars is 50,000 km per cylinder. This means a 4-banger should get you about 200,000 km. Of course there are exceptions (the Buick 3600 engine just never dies for instance, but the cars will bore you to tears.)

Anyway, good luck on your hunt. Hope you find a winner.

[daverobev]

Dave - I think you can find what you are looking for if you you go hunting in some of the small towns outside the GTA. Driving through Belleville the other day I was amazed at some of the deals IO was seeing.

Not that an older car is ever a deal - they do need maintenance (my last was 1981 Mercedes Diesel which was frickin' awesome - but costly to repair.

A good rule of thumb for most mass produced cars is 50,000 km per cylinder. This means a 4-banger should get you about 200,000 km. Of course there are exceptions (the Buick 3600 engine just never dies for instance, but the cars will bore you to tears.)

Anyway, good luck on your hunt. Hope you find a winner.

Thanks. I'm near Ottawa, though. I guess Belleville is not too too far away.

The Civic we had was at 260 or 280k and would've been fine for a few more years except for "the incident". The Accord we had briefly touched 300k before the brake lines went and it just wasn't worth fixing that and all the other things. Both 4 cyl.

Buick 3600? I thought it was the 3.8s that were good? Boring I don't mind. The Lincoln I like the idea of more than anything. If a certain year-range of Buicks are good I'm more than happy to drive a grandpa car. No shame here. My wife, a long while back, had a Skylark with the 3.1 which was junk. She hates Buicks ha, so I'd kind've like one :P

[gooki]

Not that's I recommend luxury cars, but BMW and Audi galvanise the body work before painting. This greatly cuts down in the chance of rust occurring.