Strut top mount corrosion - chassis

  1. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #1
    So some of you may know Ive been doing some repairs/welding on the saxo. Its been going ok at a steady pace but I've just come across a big rust issue with the strut top mounts didn't realise how bad they were until I pulled all the undeseal off and stabbed a screwdriver straight through the top mount!

    Anyways, whats are your opinions on trying to swap these out/weld new ones in? is it worth it or should I just start looking for a cleaner shell?

    Kinda thinking I should just cut my losses with this one now and search for a less rusty example which is a shame after all the work I've put into it but these things happen I guess!
  2. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Jul 2010 South Wales Posts: 3078 ZX 16v, 205 GTI, 309 Goodwood, 405 MI16.
    #2
    they all tend to be pretty tired these days but you may be able to find a panel from a late base model and weld that in.
  3. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Dec 2002 United Kingdom Posts: 8390
    #3
    Hows the rest of the shell?
  4. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #4
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gabbastard View Post
    Hows the rest of the shell?
    The rest of the shell is reasonably good, ive already done the rear wheel arches and the boot floor is pretty solid, couple of bits on the sills I need to do. Both front inner wings are knackered but I was expecting that, I haven't yet worked out how to remove the strut tops, inner wings have already been cut out.

    How are the strut tops actually attached are they just spot welded in there I cant really tell with all the rust under there lol
  5. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Jul 2010 Morley, Leeds Posts: 8469 Civic ep3 type r powered by TDI NORTH
    #5
    They have loads of spot welds are are super strong, if your welds aren't great then it's deffo a job for a pro. Best bet would to be to buy a front cut from Europe where it's dry and they don't use salt on the roads and ship it over. Cut the tops off the weld them in and fit some sort of reinforcement. Personally i got rid of mine for the same problem I just couldn't justify the price of the work on a saxo and I can weld!!!
  6. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #6
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bedford126 View Post
    They have loads of spot welds are are super strong, if your welds aren't great then it's deffo a job for a pro. Best bet would to be to buy a front cut from Europe where it's dry and they don't use salt on the roads and ship it over. Cut the tops off the weld them in and fit some sort of reinforcement. Personally i got rid of mine for the same problem I just couldn't justify the price of the work on a saxo and I can weld!!!
    Yeah I would likely get someone to weld them in for me being a structural part, my welds are good enough for the thinner stuff though. I'd like to save it if I can but obviously comes down to money as usual. How much do you reckon I'd be looking at for a front cut? Well I'm gonna need both sides anyway. Basically I need both inner wings and strut tops, chassis legs are good.

    I kinda feel like I can justify doing it because once it's done it will be solid for a good while and you can't say that about many saxos now
  7. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Jan 2003 Scotland Posts: 3380
    #7
    sounds like looking for a better shell would be a good idea
  8. Established Member Joined: Aug 2012 Posts: 2009 Saxò VTS 16v
    #8
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ben_SaxoForte View Post
    So some of you may know Ive been doing some repairs/welding on the saxo. Its been going ok at a steady pace but I've just come across a big rust issue with the strut top mounts didn't realise how bad they were until I pulled all the undeseal off and stabbed a screwdriver straight through the top mount!

    Anyways, whats are your opinions on trying to swap these out/weld new ones in? is it worth it or should I just start looking for a cleaner shell?

    Kinda thinking I should just cut my losses with this one now and search for a less rusty example which is a shame after all the work I've put into it but these things happen I guess!
    Without pictures it's hard to have an idea of the amount of damage there is,where the actual strut sits it's pretty thick metal (maybe 4mm somebody could confirm this or not) so I would expect to get pitted at worse (altough it's worth noting that this small area it's just galvanzised and doesn't get near as bad as where the underseal is applied),the areas nearby instead can be pretty thin in places (1mm or less) and get damaged easily,surely the peeling underseal make everything a lot worse.

    Finding a better shell in my opinion mgiht not be a good idea as if standard cars and never be mainteined (and if maintenance work right products and application method must be used to prevent short time protection) will be in a similar state if not worse,unless you go in the direction of rally/track-day prepared cars which have been stripped and re-painted,bearing in mind that anything can be repaired rust wise the only thing preventing to do that it's you and wheter it's worth the time and money for you,atleast that's my line of thought.
    From this picture below can you quantify the areas that are rot trough? Is it both strut mounts?

  9. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VeiRoN View Post
    Without pictures it's hard to have an idea of the amount of damage there is,where the actual strut sits it's pretty thick metal (maybe 4mm somebody could confirm this or not) so I would expect to get pitted at worse (altough it's worth noting that this small area it's just galvanzised and doesn't get near as bad as where the underseal is applied),the areas nearby instead can be pretty thin in places (1mm or less) and get damaged easily,surely the peeling underseal make everything a lot worse.

    Finding a better shell in my opinion mgiht not be a good idea as if standard cars and never be mainteined (and if maintenance work right products and application method must be used to prevent short time protection) will be in a similar state if not worse,unless you go in the direction of rally/track-day prepared cars which have been stripped and re-painted,bearing in mind that anything can be repaired rust wise the only thing preventing to do that it's you and wheter it's worth the time and money for you,atleast that's my line of thought.
    From this picture below can you quantify the areas that are rot trough? Is it both strut mounts?
    Hi VieRon, thanks for the reply. I've not yet removed all loose rust and underseal but I will post back up soon when I get chance to clean them up to see the full extent. as far as I can tell the passenger side strut top is the worst and the one that I managed to make a hole in but both of them have quite thick flaking rust coming off and I believe they are a lot thinner than the original 4mm? I'd say they are 2-3mm at best. Will post some photos when I get chance.

    Originally I had planned to clean them up as good as possible and deox gel then weld on some strengthening plates to the top to keep them solid but unsure if they are too far gone for that now.
  10. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #10


    so as you can see they are pretty far gone, I don't think it would be worth trying to save them so I guess my only options now are to try and get hold of replacements or consider another shell. I did try to upload a photo from another angle too but photobucket literally kills my laptop and drives me mad with all the lagging
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  11. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Jul 2010 Morley, Leeds Posts: 8469 Civic ep3 type r powered by TDI NORTH
    #11
    Scrap the shell, there will be a whole lot more in the same condition.
  12. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #12
    Id like to try and find another shell problem is you cant really see what the underside of the strut tops are like when you're looking over a car someones selling
  13. Established Member Joined: Aug 2012 Posts: 2009 Saxò VTS 16v
    #13
    Deox gel will easily take care of that,mine was in a similar condition,PM me if you need any advice on using the gel.
  14. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2009 Stoke-on-trent Posts: 2640 Mk5 Golf GTTDI Mk2 VTR Project
    #14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VeiRoN View Post
    Deox gel will easily take care of that,mine was in a similar condition,PM me if you need any advice on using the gel.
    I'll give the deox gel a go to see what they come out like but they are pretty thin on that side where you can see I stabbed the screwdriver though it.
  15. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Jul 2010 Morley, Leeds Posts: 8469 Civic ep3 type r powered by TDI NORTH
    #15
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VeiRoN View Post
    Deox gel will easily take care of that,mine was in a similar condition,PM me if you need any advice on using the gel.
    It's fucked, delamination of the steel, pitting and a huge area of sub surface rot. Even if it could be saved there is no strength in the steel.