FMJ

iTrader: (2)

I would agree that cutting into that part of the car and welding would never be as good as the original. I would also agree that for that amount of rust it's a massive job. However good luck getting to the cause of the rust with sand paper, a wire brush or anything else. You can only just see it let alone get to it to prep it. If you don't treat it all then the rusted area will spread to the stuff you have repaired all over again.

N/A power. If you get a scraper with a small triangular tip this is best to pull it all out. Also if you heat with a heat gun (not a hair dryer) the sealant will scrap off with no effort. You can then wipe the still hot resident off of the metal. But don't heat it up too much of the painted side will blister.

N/A Power

Nice fat update, been poking around the rear arch area and just find more trouble.
This is the gap that's seam sealed on the other side, nicely opened up and lots of rust including a hole.



Pulled some mud around the bottom and tapped it...nice hole.



Didn't seem to be that bad. Im happy to cut and weld now as it doesn't cost me much todo, but I need to remove the fuel tank (I wont weld with it on) are they hard to remove?

FMJ

iTrader: (2)

Yeah easy, just remove the back box, disconnect the drive shafts, disconnect the prop shaft, drop the rear diff, remove the rear diff mount and rear cross member, remove boot carpet and remove inspection hatches, dissconnet fuel hoses and wiring, remove fuel tank straps and possibly brake lines... I may have forgotten some stuff but thats about it.

Actually it's not easy at all!

N/A Power

Sounds fun lol

FMJ

iTrader: (2)

Yeah its doable but a pain and the metal is so thin I kept blowing holes through it with my lack of skill and cheap mig welder .

N/A Power

I hate when that happens lol, my old arc welder use to act like a plasma cutter. Ive got a nice little 25amp to 150amp gasless mig here which ive had good results welding as thin as 0.8mm steel. 1kg of gasless welding wire is about £12 so I can get a good amount of weld done cheaply, just a shame they don't come out like a professional using a tig haha.

N/A Power

Looked at dropping the tank today....to much effort. Instead im removing the filler pipe and blanking off the tank with a bung, just so I can get me welds done.

Should have it all done this week.

N/A Power

Here's what ive been upto. I opened the ''seam'' right up and removed as much crap as I could. Then I just cut most of it off as I was sanding the rust off and finding holes.


Welded it back up like this, the weld goes right up under the arch. I kept doing it in spots to keep the panel from heat warping and trying to save the paint. Im no pro but its done the job.





Bit of light grinding and then coated in rust remedy before a coat of primer and then a thick coat of waxoyl.



Same job done on the other side too.


The gaps in the welds were sorted after these photos, there's now no way water can get between these seams. Not the prettiest or the best work but I didn't warp my panel or damage my paint so its job well done lol.
Hoping I don't need to ever touch these arches again.

N/A Power

Cut more rust away from this hole.


Random picture of inside the sill, can see where the water was running down and starting to rot from inside out.



New bit welded in and all covered in remedy before I primer and then cover in waxoyl.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Mine is getting worse (quickly) as the rust bubbles have turned orange.

N/A Power

Ouch lol, there on the outside I take it?

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Yeah mate , don't know what path to take.

N/A Power

The most cost effective way of doing it tbh is reshell, a lot of them out there nowadays being stripped so you could get one for pennies.


That's how I would go about it and derust everything on the way.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Never gonna happen mate ! I'm after an easy life.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

N/A power , is it just the bumper you removed then all the cutting/welding is hidden behind the bumper and inside wheel arch ?
I'm taking mine to a bodyshop to discuss options and will show them your pics to let them see what they're in for. I assume if I did the same as you , all I'd need is a patch on the outside and repaint (as well as the cutting and welding of course)

N/A Power

Yeahs its all hidden when bumper is back on, I removed the bumper and everything in the boot for access.

Have you looked inside your arches yet? you can just looked through the jack hatch for ease.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Yeah mate , its my thread in the link at the start of this thread. Pics look similar to yours , though I haven't looked at passenger side.

N/A Power

O yeah lol, yours is what mine was turning into. Do you have rust under your sideskirts to? I have a old rust patch which il upload inasec, its an area people wouldn't really look at.

Major Subaru fail, my sill area was rotting due to the "seam" leaking. The seam goes right around the arch to but luckily most of it comes with a protector.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Havent noticed any , but hopefully not.

N/A Power

Rad support....Rotten, also subframe rotten.

N/A Power

This is were the boot seal goes, was rusted all the way along the top and then on the bottom corners.

N/A Power

Well car been on the road for awhile now, no water coming through the boot seal, inside the arches are dry and rad support still on solid. All my welding also passed mot even the box section rad support lol.
Shocking that I got a advisory for having undersealed the car and having side skirts fitted.

Has anyone done what i've done to the rear arches? or got any other fixes? I believe doing this has saved the shell for a couple years maybe even for life.

Couple pics that I had forgotten to show.....

N/A Power

FMJ

iTrader: (2)

I am rebuilding a classic and restoring from the ground up. My front subframe was rotted too so I did much the same as you by adding a bit of box section. On mine I picked a bit I could force inside the ends so that it extends about an inch or two into the chassis either side. Then hammered the thin metal around it to make it a tight fit and welded. Seems rock solid. I replaced the upright bar with another bit of small box section which is welded top and bottom.

N/A Power

That's what I done on the underside of the box-section , worked pretty well. If I was todo it again I would remove the whole piece and weld from the chassis legs and have box section all the way with decent 90degree angles each end.

mikejenkins

On the subject of arch rust:

I washed my classic yesterday and one of the bubbles on the passenger arch has turned orange (mild bubbling only), so I decided to experiment with "rust killer" to see how effective it can be. I have already covered the inner arch section (where you have the seam sealer) with rust killer and Dynax cavity wax as it had gone a bit orange.

Note: none of the following would be considered good practise.

As finish isn't important to me at this point I cut a circle into the paint with a stanley knife around the bubbly area- about 1.5 inches. The paint in this area peeled off with no resistance and apparently solid but clearly pinholed from behind (slightly blackened in places) steel was revealed. This was sanded and then painted with Hydrate 80, then primer, paint and lacquer. It looks rubbish but I will see how long it takes for rust to come through.

Turbovin

iTrader: (2)

This thread got me worried but couldn't find any signs of rust on my Type R around or under the seam sealer (there's no rust anywhere on the car besides some minor surface rust on the diff carrier and such). The car is pretty close to mint though and at least here in Sweden it has not seen any winters with road salt and myself I have barely driven it in the rain. The sealer felt quite solid and not spongy at all? Surely in my case it feels a bit wasteful to scrape it all off to replace it with something else?

FMJ

iTrader: (2)

If the car is all good I would get some good quality cavity wax and a long lance and get it in all the seems. Especially the sills (accessed through the skirt mounting holes) and the inside of the rear arches (accessed through the boot). A nice thick 360 degree coating should stop any future issues. Redo it every couple of years.

Turbovin

iTrader: (2)

Removed some more of the sealer today and I did find a little bit of rust now. To be honest if feels really pointless to fix this issue when you're only able to access perhaps 20% of the arch, the rest is hidden and impossible to fix. With my use (or lack of use) of the car it will probably last 15-20 years more before it would be a problem.

Right side


Left side: