AkumaNoZeta Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I've been doing a lot of stripping on the weekends lately and I want to get people's opinions on what I should do about the rust on my front frame horns. It looks to be a little more than just surface rust but I can tap all around it with a screwdriver and it all sounds solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 That all looks like surface rust. I'd bust out a wire wheel and see where that takes you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndyAndTheSea Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Yeah that's solid. It'll clean up nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) That's after the wire wheel. With some residue left behind from the chemical stripper. Should I take a flapper disk to it and prime it or just throw some rust converter at it? Edited March 11, 2013 by Grim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndyAndTheSea Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) If that's after using a wheel. (I personally find brass wheels do a better job cleaning rust) Do you have access to compressed air? or a sand blasting gun? and or both? Because, that's what I'd recommend attacking the area with right now. Harbor freight sells real cheap sand blasting guns. Give it a blast. Knowing it was as clean as possible before you throw some paint over top of it will definitely help you sleep easier at night. And definitely prime the area before applying paint... ALWAYS prime. (bare metal) Edited March 11, 2013 by OldAndyAndTheSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 I don't have any air at home where the car is now, but I was hoping that after I get the big areas I can use the cheap blaster we have at work to get the harder to reach and worse off areas. I plan to put it on a rotisserie too. I know to always prime before painting, but I don't know if something should be used between the primer and cancerous area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morbias Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Some of the dark areas look like they could go all the way through, but still, not too bad to be honest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'm afraid of what could be on the inside too, especially since there's still a pile of acorns in each side that I haven't gotten to vacuuming out yet. I am planning on running a 1.5"x0.083" round tube from the 2x4 in the rocker, through the wheel well, directly to the top of the strut towers so even if it was/is thinner that you'd expect, should I really be too concerned about it? This is my first real car build so I'm always looking for advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snailed Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I've been doing a lot of stripping on the weekends lately and I want to get people's opinions I guess it's ok as long as you can stay away from the drugs and perverts. Doesn't seem worth it to me, but I'm sure you know what you're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 It's fun being able to tell people I can't help them because I have strippers to play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J240ZTurbo Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Grim how hard was it to removed the rocker panel? I will be taking that task here soon but iam a little scare any tips.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 (edited) Well, my car was completely gone in that area. One of the previous owners sprayed expanding foam in the rockers, shaved it down where it came out the rusty areas (about 80% of it) and laid down the bondo and paint over it. The floors were nothing but 22g sheet metal attached with sheet metal screws, and half of the frame rails were just missing. I was young and dumb when I got it but I can't get rid of it, it's part of the family. What I did was spend a good 8 hours with jack stands, shims, a modified screw jack, and a regular floor jack forcing the body to get as close to square and level as I could. I left the motor and transmission in it so the extra weight pulls the shell back together, I even left the doors on so afterwards they open and closed like new again so I felt confident with it. I used some 1x1 tubing to make an X brace underneath it connecting at what was left of the rockers. That's when I started tearing all the jerry rigged stuff out. I thought since I had nothing to work with I would start with the rockers. After I cut out the outer rocker I found I didn't even have any inner rocker left. At this point I'm shocked that the only thing I had to jerry rig myself, while it was my only car for over a year, was the TC bucket separating from the subframe. Before I started to remove my X-brace and start cutting the inner rocker out I laid two more braces attaching the door jambs to the transmission tunnel, front and back. Swallowed my pride and cut it out, took measurements again, everything stayed the same. I replaced the structure with a 55" long 2x4 0.120" tubing with a 1.25" wide strip of 1/8 thick steel welded on to replace the now gone pinch weld on the bottom, used a couple C-clamps and a jack to put it in place, lots of clearance, re-measure everything, the started tacking, re-measured, and lots of welding. For the areas that were spot welded together I just cut it close to the lap joint and grind it down flush, I got one of the spot weld busters from the tool truck. Pretty much just a funny looking chisel and with a big hammer it worked wonders for separating the joints. Didn't mean to rant, but it's been a journey for me. Edited March 14, 2013 by Grim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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