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Underbody rust - prolly on here somewhere

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Old 08-20-2005, 02:05 PM
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Underbody rust - prolly on here somewhere

i just bought a camaro well a few months ago and havent really got to be underneath it a whole lot or really see how bad the rust really was. I didnt pay a lot for the car but was just wondering if there is ways to tell if it is too bad to fix or what i can do. Is there any certain points under the car i should look at more than the rest. Any help would be great. Thanks. I will be posting pics prolly if that will help within the week.
Old 08-20-2005, 07:47 PM
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Even though this picture is off of http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#Dal_and_Jason this sites background, and it's fourth gen, it still gets the point across. The white arrows show all the places to look for rust. The arrows pointing at the roof are good places to look if you've got a t-top. but the two arrows pointing at the floor are the places you'll wanna look for rust. The one in the front is the place where the seams meet and it's right about where the pedals are at. Hope this helped.
Attached Thumbnails Underbody rust - prolly on here somewhere-camaro-rust.jpg  
Old 08-21-2005, 03:41 AM
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I'd also like to point out that you should check out the fire wall. It seems that there is a LOT of rust there on cars in junkyards over here. IDK why people don't mention it on the boards though...perhaps it's only a problem in Hawaii?
Old 08-21-2005, 09:32 AM
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Check the floor boards, the corners of the Drivers and passenger sides alot of the time along factory welds and you should also check line they build up alot of rust if they have been sitting,


Good luck with your bodywork
Old 08-21-2005, 02:47 PM
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how about the frame. I figured out that there is holes in the front floor boards. Passenger not bad at all but drivers is. How bad would be too bad for the frame. Im looking it all over to see if i wanna start a project with this car or not and trying to make sure its worth it. Thanks
Old 08-21-2005, 03:17 PM
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Originally posted by 1989karr
I'd also like to point out that you should check out the fire wall. It seems that there is a LOT of rust there on cars in junkyards over here. IDK why people don't mention it on the boards though...perhaps it's only a problem in Hawaii?
humid, salty air makes cars rust A LOT faster.
Old 08-21-2005, 03:31 PM
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Originally posted by jimp2001
humid, salty air makes cars rust A LOT faster.

ah that is true. But does anyone else have rust on the firewall? I was lucky and got one with just a little, but the cars i see all have a lot of cancerous rust all along the back of the engine on the firewall.
Old 08-21-2005, 06:08 PM
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Must be a Hawaii exclusive problem.... Just kidding. but really, i've never seen one with rust on the firewall....hmmmm
Old 08-22-2005, 11:56 AM
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yeah i dont think i really have any rust on my firewall either but the underbody def does. If there is any holes in the frame thats prolly a sign that the frame is bad?
Old 08-22-2005, 10:04 PM
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I've seen plenty of f-bods with rust on the firewall. Near the heater box and across the seam about midway down the firewall. No salt water anywhere around here but the roads get lots of salt in the winter.
Old 08-23-2005, 12:01 AM
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Quite a few of otherwise nice cars are rotted where the rear of the strut tower/wheel well meets the firewall, especially below the heater box where it seems like crud just gets in and doesn’t go anywhere. Also, check under the battery, the bottom of the pare tire well, and the rear seat foot wells if it has/had leaking t-tops.
Old 08-23-2005, 05:19 PM
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Originally posted by 83 Crossfire TA
Quite a few of otherwise nice cars are rotted where the rear of the strut tower/wheel well meets the firewall, especially below the heater box where it seems like crud just gets in and doesn’t go anywhere. Also, check under the battery, the bottom of the pare tire well, and the rear seat foot wells if it has/had leaking t-tops.
very good call. These are the exact spots i was going to mention.
Old 08-23-2005, 08:00 PM
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underbody rust was a standard option on 91-92 camaros, they all have it

i had the same problem, read this post https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...53#post2367853

take a drill and sand it down and POR-15 it. After that i used about 3 cans of rubberized underbody coat. I used clear POR-15 so that i can scrape away the underbody coating and check to see if the rust is getting worse. So far no problems


you are screwed on the side with holes, pull up the carpet and see if its rusted through

Last edited by DanTheMan_smlk; 08-23-2005 at 08:02 PM.
Old 08-23-2005, 10:42 PM
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Take off those plastic inner wheel well covers. Rust hides there. Car rusted where the long bracket from the fender attaches to the body. The rear 1/4's are famous for wheel well rust. I also had a lot of rust on my 86 where the frame in the rear connected with the rear floorboard. Just a stupid, stupid design. also got A pillar rust on my '86, I think because of the T Tops, yet no rust by the tops. Wierd.

My 92 has almost no rust except for the thing that holds the rear bumper cover. This car is pretty rust free underneath, so no winters for it (or my '86) ever again. Next summer I am going underneath and pors it to death followed by rust proof. My hood has a Rusty Jones sticker. I thought that stuff didn't work.

Last edited by 86NiteRider; 08-23-2005 at 10:46 PM.
Old 08-23-2005, 11:35 PM
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geez, as soon as this car rusts out im buying an 87-93 fox body convertible
Old 08-24-2005, 10:13 AM
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your car looks to be in pretty good shape to think about it rustin out now. Id keep a good looking car like that.
Old 08-24-2005, 01:45 PM
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thanks man, but i havent checked the wheel wells or anything

it was pretty but on the floorpans





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