stanger_mussle said:
The back bulkhead seems weird because I can't tell if there is supposed to be some more sheet metal behind the bulkhead. I haven't had the car in the air yet but I can see the rear control arm mount from inside the car. That seems... Not right.
Agreed. Is the mount you can see for the upper control arm, one of the lower multi links, or the subframe? There is a box section at the bottom of the bulkhead behind the seats on the subframe side (not the interior side.) Here's a picture of mine up the air, from underneath, with the rear subframe/suspension removed, looking from somewhere below where the diff would be up, slightly forward, and out towards the right rear wheel well:
The rear trailing link mounts just above the jack stand (behind the e-brake cable in this view) and the subframe mounts to the shiny spot left of the jack stand. The box section is the black bit lower center above the rear subframe mount point, and the shadowy spot above (behind the fuel lines and the e-brake cable clamp) is the bottom of the bulkhead behind the driver's seat.
I finally crawled under the car to inspect the extent of the rust. I tried taking photos of the major areas but it's hard to hold the light and operate the camera in my phone at the same time.
Passenger side rear bulkhead.
Driver's side rear bulkhead
Driver's side above where the rear subframe attaches to the floor. This is a rather large hole. I feel like this is a critical area and should get repaired the correct way.
Passenger side where the rear subframe attaches to the floor. It's pretty scaley here and warrants further exploration. I'll probably have to drop the rear subframe so I can really get in here.
Passenger side rocker. It's a little crusty.
Driver's side rocker.
Super crusty Tanabe muffler. I thought this was a complete cat-back system but it doesn't fit right and it looks like someone just welded it to the stock pipe.
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:
stanger_mussle said:
The back bulkhead seems weird because I can't tell if there is supposed to be some more sheet metal behind the bulkhead. I haven't had the car in the air yet but I can see the rear control arm mount from inside the car. That seems... Not right.
Agreed. Is the mount you can see for the upper control arm, one of the lower multi links, or the subframe? There is a box section at the bottom of the bulkhead behind the seats on the subframe side (not the interior side.) Here's a picture of mine up the air, from underneath, with the rear subframe/suspension removed, looking from somewhere below where the diff would be up, slightly forward, and out towards the right rear wheel well:
The rear trailing link mounts just above the jack stand (behind the e-brake cable in this view) and the subframe mounts to the shiny spot left of the jack stand. The box section is the black bit lower center above the rear subframe mount point, and the shadowy spot above (behind the fuel lines and the e-brake cable clamp) is the bottom of the bulkhead behind the driver's seat.
It's the mount for one of the lower multi link. Here is a shot looking through the hole rearward and you can see the link end:
If you don't want to weld this stuff, what about making all the patches and prepping the metal? Not sure what timeframe you're looking at for getting everything done, but if it were all prepped and ready to go by, say, October, then I have a feeling one of the many people going to/from the challenge could stop by and zap it together for you.
How about converting the rust and making panels then attaching them with panel bond? It isn't cheap and you need to buy the applicator gun but it would be a good way to do it.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-08115-Panel-Bonding-Adhesive/dp/B000PEW4MI
The $89 Harbor Freight flux core welder with good wire would be the way I would go. I restored my entire 64 El Camino with one. I did the AMC with one. I seen welded my Miata with one. That may be the cheapest and best solution for this.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
If you don't want to weld this stuff, what about making all the patches and prepping the metal? Not sure what timeframe you're looking at for getting everything done, but if it were all prepped and ready to go by, say, October, then I have a feeling one of the many people going to/from the challenge could stop by and zap it together for you.
That's not a bad plan. My buddy came over a couple of days ago to pick up some of his household items I was storing for him. He checked the car out and mentioned that the floorplans would be easy to cut out and replace because they are basically flat panels.
The front seat mounts could be cut out and 2x4 steel tubing welded in.
I could also have additional cross bracing welded in to help stiffen the chassis.
EvanB said:
How about converting the rust and making panels then attaching them with panel bond? It isn't cheap and you need to buy the applicator gun but it would be a good way to do it.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-08115-Panel-Bonding-Adhesive/dp/B000PEW4MI
I've thought about going this route too. It's a better version of my terrible plan of patching the holes with aluminized roof repair patches, then bedlining over it.
I'll have to further investigate this method as I dig further into the rust mitigation.
Dusterbd13-michael said:
The $89 Harbor Freight flux core welder with good wire would be the way I would go. I restored my entire 64 El Camino with one. I did the AMC with one. I seen welded my Miata with one. That may be the cheapest and best solution for this.
I have thought about buying that welder everytime I go to my local HF. I have literally *zero* welding skills though.
None of my friends here have any fabrication experience either.
I learned to weld at a local community college class.
Well, i tried.
Tue nohome method is what actually taught me to weld. The pulse,move,cool,pulse...
If it was a Dung Beetle, I's cut the worst rust out and rivet old license plate metal over the holes. If it was my 914, I'd put it off for a year or so, then weld custom (self) fabricated pieces of sheet steel in to repair the floor. That back wall should have a repair with some structure rather than a cosmetic patch.
FWIW, some of the UK enthusiasts use Miata floorpans (apparently available as a repair panel) trimmed to size for Cappuccino repair, since Cappuccino ones aren't available new.
I took a non-credit adult education Metal Fabrication class at the local community college about 15 years back and it was one of the best things I've done. While welding isn't easy to get good at (I'm still learning every time I weld) a class is really helpful for getting a useable baseline because it can teach you what problems to look for, and how to try and correct. Getting better through pure trial and error would take a lot longer and has the potential to be really frustrating because you aren't sure what you might be doing wrong...it just isn't working. Once you get a little practice, a small affordable home use MIG opens up a world of exciting new project options...cars, home items, garage/tool items, etc. You can fix things that are broken, build custom parts that don't exist until you make them, and you can build/modify tools. Game changer!
