RUST!!!! repair ideas needed

[Dirty Marty]

Greetings Pelicans,

I was working under my 70 T when I noticed some surface rust underneath the front pan on the cross member support between the front lower A-arm mounts. I started to prod it with a screw driver when to my horror I discovered it was rusted thru and crumbling for about 8-9 inches in the center of the cross member that's pressed into the front pan. From inside the trunk area there isn't any indication and it's solid between the battery boxes.

I know that there are after market pans that are available but that it would require cutting and welding the whole assembly out and then back. Is there an alternative to that?

Any suggestions would be appreciated,

Dirty Marty
Fallbrook Cal

[john walker's workshop]

Normal. Restoration Design has the beefiest, best fitting pan, tank support and longitudinals. Just did that on my '69 and done a lot more over the years.

[Mixed76]

You can cut out just the bad part and weld in new metal from restoration design, trim to fit.

You can also make your own replacement metal.

Restoration design pieces fit very well. Handmade pieces may or may not.

Doing it piecemeal means you have extra welds to clean up or live with (cosmetic).

Cleaning, prepping, and welding upside down is hard, and there may be sealer between the panels that interferes with doing it piecemeal.

With input from jimtweet, I bought restoration design panels for my 77. They fit great, was straightforward to do.

Best,
Dan



Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk

[john walker's workshop]

What you see now is usually the tip of the iceberg, as they say.

[pmax]

Is it rusted from the top (battery) or underneath ?
If the latter, I would prod and poke the rest of the car carefully.

Post some pics.

[Trackrash]

How long have you owned the car? I can't believe there haven't been some repairs done previously on one of those long hoods.

You should check the rocker panels, the floor especially around the pedals, and around the windshield. Good luck.

[Bill Douglas]

It can be a Dirty job Marty, but someone's got to do it.

With the car up on stands scrape away at any suspicious looking underseal, and what may be lurking underneath. And good luck.

[yelcab1]

Rule of thumb is the rust you see is 10% of the rust you have.

[Ryce Stallings]

I replaced mine and it rusted again in about five years. I drive it with the rust holes and it doesn’t seem to make much difference. If you decide to wait a bit before making the repair I suggest to clean the rust out, spray everything with cold galvanizing and consider the holes drainage.

[john walker's workshop]

And when the a arm rips off the pan in a hard turn and you run into some pedestrians.....

[Prsh356]

Seems like the battery acid is the culprit especially on a California car !

[Ryce Stallings]

Yes having the A-arm tip off would be bad but a few holes in the middle aren’t going to do that.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Prsh356

Seems like the battery acid is the culprit especially on a California car !

Or a Florida car?

Check out the difference in corrosion on each side of my SC (which FWIW is currently under restoration)....

Passenger:


Driver:




I think I will be needing one of those suspension pan kits too.

[930cabman]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

Rule of thumb is the rust you see is 10% of the rust you have.

True, rust repairs WILL be time ($$) intensive. Even if you can complete the repairs yourself it's still time with dirt/rust/crap/welding/.... I can speak from experience, it can be satisfying, but tricky. Whatever you do, make sure everything is properly aligned before welding new material in place. Don't ask me why

[930cabman]

Originally Posted by Baz

Or a Florida car?

Check out the difference in corrosion on each side of my SC (which FWIW is currently under restoration)....

Passenger:


Driver:




I think I will be needing one of those suspension pan kits too.

Sorry Baz, this is ugly

[Baz]

Originally Posted by 930cabman

Sorry Baz, this is ugly

No worries......I'm restoring this SC...and it will be a bit of a long haul but I feel a responsibility to save her.

For the area shown above - will start with one of these......

[Ryce Stallings]

You also need the gas tank support that goes with it!

Ryce

[john walker's workshop]

And at least the front sections of the longitudinals.