When a simple one day job turns into a week-long project… Bonus points if you can guess the model.

    • snooggums@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Pretty sure that is the top mount for a front spring based on the wide opening and the sloped side that is welded to the rest of the frame.

          • Hubi@feddit.orgOP
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            12 days ago

            Haha no worries - the spring looks like this when it’s installed:

            There is a lot of stress on the upper part because the entire weight of the car is resting on the springs. So over the years, cracks can form in the welds that attach the mount to the frame and moisture gets in and rust starts to form without being immediately visible. I just removed the underbody coating to treat the rust spots I could see, but it seems I was too late - it’s already rusted through.

            • TriflingToad@lemmy.world
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              12 days ago

              oh yeah I can definitely understand the meme face now haha. That’s not good! Thanks for the explanation.

  • sh4zi@lemmy.ca
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    14 days ago

    I learned this the hard way with my 1974 MG B. I test drove it and looked it over from all angles and there didn’t seem to be any problematic rust. But lo and behold, digging into the floors a little bit they are pretty much rotten and now I’m doing a big restoration project. The lesson I learned the hard way, rust is 10x worse on the inside of the metal than it looks on the outside.

    • DeathsEmbrace@lemm.ee
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      13 days ago

      That’s because it’s like food rot you only see it on the outside when the inside is so advanced unless it’s using a different coating on the outside.

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    I’ve had 5 project cars and the worst was a Mazda. Rust ate the support channels from the inside so bad that it looked fine but couldn’t keep the wheels straight.

    My most recent project is an old truck and it’s great. So. Much. Metal. Even if there’s rust you can easily cut it out and weld it up.

    • Hubi@feddit.orgOP
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      13 days ago

      it looked fine but couldn’t keep the wheels straight

      Damn, that’s pretty advanced rust. What happened to the Mazda?

      I think I got lucky, it seems that there’s enough material left to patch up the frame and weld a new spring mount on. The car is pretty solid otherwise but discovering this was not exactly a good feeling after driving it at 180 km/h on the Autobahn just the week before.

      • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Alignment shop was on their 3rd attempt before they figured out the issue. You could press a screw driver against it and it would feel fine, but a good strike would go right through.

        Engine only had 50k and the interior and body panels looked great. All new brakes and other items. It became a donor for a different car that some guy was restoring.

        Yeah that’s some odd rust, looks like sold metal around it. I’d be concerned about that area and keeping things in the right spot. Good luck!

        • Hubi@feddit.orgOP
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          13 days ago

          Thank you, though I think I’ll leave this one to the professionals. My guess is that a crack formed along the side of the mount and the previous owner just welded a piece on top. You can kind of see the spots in a few places. There was zero thought put into conserving the metal below, so it just kept rusting from the inside.

  • 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖞 𝕿𝖚𝖓𝖆@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    Cheap cars can be hit or miss. My cheap car has a lot of miles, but no rust. It also has no power steering. The pump was leaking bad so I just took the belt off. I can live with it for now. One day, I’ll get my ass in gear about it lol

    • Hubi@feddit.orgOP
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      13 days ago

      Ironically the cheapest car I ever bought was also the most reliable I’ve ever had. It was a 2002 Mitsubishi Colt/Mirage (not the ugly one) for just 200 Euros. Still miss it.