ntomsheck

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys. This being my frist post, I will introduce myself. I am Neil and I drive a 1990 formula 350. I picked it up for $1000 and only put about $500 in work into it and she runs great. I recently discovered that my front left upper shock strut is rusting through. I took it to a body shop and they quoted me $2000 to replace both of them, so I assume ~$1000 for one. Another body shop quoted me $1000 to weld sheet metal patches in for both (so I assume $500 for one). I am a little tight on cash right now, being unemployed currently (I'm only 16). The last option I have is to take it to a friends place and do everything myself. Does this particular job require a frame brace or any other special equipment? If it does require special equipment, do you think it would be wise to patch the holes or just not drive it until I get enough money to replace the strut/wheel well.

ntomsheck

iTrader: (1)

By the way, I posted this in the body section becaust its a body related issue due to the uni-body construction and what not. I might not be using the right word though. Its the part that the top of the shocks bolt to, on the wheel well.

fb305svs

pics?

87CIZ

iTrader: (8)

you have shocks in the rear that bolt up on the side of your back seat and your struts are up front in the engine bay? which is it?

Dizturbed One

His front driverside strut tower

I'd cut one out of a junkyard, grind the edges smooth, and make a template with it. Do all the measuring you can.

Then disassemble everything from your car, cut the old piece out using the template from the new piece, and have an experienced welder weld the new piece back in.

I'd make the hole slightly smaller than the new piece, and pop the new piece in from the bottom with about a 1/2 inch overhang. Then weld the outer seam from the bottom and the upper seam from the top.

Do ALOT of measuring, and get the strut tower at the EXACT same center as the old one. The same angle too.

Then throw that sucker back together and go get it aligned.

ntomsheck

iTrader: (1)

Sorry I'm a little late on the pics:

This is the inside of the wheel well. You can see a couple places where its completely rusted through.


This is the top of said strut (again, correct me if I'm wrong on the name. This is just what the body shop called it.) For reference points, the very left is the windsheild fluid, and the top right is the brake cylinder. Notice the rust hole on the far right, I painted it with a corrosion inhibitor.


Here is a side view of the wheel well/strut. You can really see the rust here.


It was left outside for about a year before I bought it, but I can't understand why this side was rustier than the other side.

Dizturbed One

thats a pretty extensive job... leave it to a pro, or junk it

PLEASE don't drive that car around... I can see it hitting a pothole and ripping that strut tower out... you would lose all control and would wreck.

unless the rest of the car was immaculate and worth it, i would find another car

a roller would be dirt cheap

and rip everything off of yours and put it on that one

it would be cheaper, and you could address anything on the roller before you do it.

darrells3rdgen

what he said^

knowing that , and all that rust is what is left of the metal that supports the front of my car at speeds of 45-70mph and back home in one piec.

find someone selling a car thats needs engine,trans or has electrical problems.

trust me on this you do NOT! want to find out what happens when it breaks/ lets go.
I have had the strut on that side break and it rammed itself right through the fender and jamed there while I was going over a railroad crossing, it freaked my out, lucky me I was only doing about 15mph at the time.

ntomsheck

iTrader: (1)

Well I know what you guys are sayin, but I'd perfer not to get rid of this car. I can keep it in the garage until I get the money to fix it. This rust scares me, because its probably in other places such as the floor panels.

I've looked for rollers, as well as parts cars. They are all as far away from where I live as possible it seems. My friends brother does have a large trailer and a truck, but he is never home so that option is out of the question. I will just try to do a combination of working my butt off and selling some stuff to get the money to replace it.

fb305svs

i hate to say it, but if anything else on the car looks like that - which it probably does - your throwing a lot of money towards bad... It's just metal, it can all be fixed, but at what cost...

For the amount of cash (2k you said for both?) to fix them, you can find DECENT bodied car around here...

camarojustin

I doubt you would ever be able to fix that yourself, there is so much rust that there is barely anything to weld to not to mention what the rest of the car must look like. Do what everyone said and find a car with no engine or whatever, this one's a parts car! Like fb305 just said,To spend $2000 on it would be a huge waist.
Sorry man
The reason the driver's side is more rusted is because of the brake fluid.
When u check it or add some or whatever some brake fluid gets on the paint and ruins it and then you have bare metal which rusts.

darrells3rdgen

there is one thing you could do, take the time and learn to weld, buy a good tig or mig welder a metal brake and do it your self. the knowledge and tools/welder will come in handy at times anyway.

now this is just my view of the car, but lets say you had a 67 or a 68 then I would be willing to do a complete ground up resto on it but the car in question isn't that rare.

I dont have the time to spend on this forum as I would like because I have taken on a resto project a 1959 imperial, and its getting the frame off treatment. all areas that need rust repair will have to be hand crafted as there are not but a few of these cars left and almost no aftermarket parts avalible, i dont mind that at all, in fact that is one thing that turned me on to this car was the fact I would have to make many parts to restore it , that is where when it is done I can say I did it!

ntomsheck

iTrader: (1)

I'm actually planning on learning to weld, but not for this reason. Alright, I guess I'll hold off and try to find a roller. I was underneath the car today, ripping out a brake line (it had a leak in it, and was very rusted in many areas so I'm going to replace the whole thing) and the bottom of the drivers side is very rusty. In most areas, it gives that horrid "clunk" noise when tapped, instead of that more solid noise. You guys are right; the upper strut tower isn't the least of my worries. It has an excellent running engine though.

I will search, but does anyone know someone who is selling a roller in illinois, missiouri, indiana, iowa or wisconsin? Thats the farthest I'd want to go to get a roller, I'm sure theres a good lookin one in there somewhere.

BTW thanks for all your help so far guys.

Dizturbed One

good choice

just give it a month or two, you'll find one, these cars are everywhere

i'd use the time to strip the car and address motor problems if there are any, if not, maybe give it a good wash and some paint, a couple gaskets or something... Then do the same thing to the engine bay of the roller you find.

you can get a really nice roller body with decent paint and all the suspension on it for cheaper than the 2 grand it would take to fix that car

and if you do a lil work to the motor and the roller before you slap them together, you could have a REALLY nice car

turn your crappy day into a good opportunity, and a fun couple of months

camarojustin

maybe this might be worth checking out?
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cama...maro-sale.html

ntomsheck

iTrader: (1)

Actually I changed my mind haha. A guy I know from a long time ago said he'd take a look at the problem and maybe weld it as a favor. Hes a professional welder now, used to be a mechanic. Of course this would only be a temporary solution, but it is my best bet because of my current financial situation. Plus I know once I start swapping engines I'm going to get loads of crap from the computer and one thing after another is going to throw codes. I'll probably throw the engine in a different car once I have it carbureted. Again thanks for all the help.