A sad day for me.

[Xdisaster240sX]

I changed it about...3 months ago. Its due for one. While I have the motor out Im going to rebuild it and make it kaet

[bmike818]

When was the last time you changed your oil?? Jeez, cant believe you havent opened the hood in so long...

...that sucks

[r34 gtr]

Come get you a new shell from the South. Ain't no rust down here, I can ga-ron-tee it!!!

[krimsonviper]

I've seen your problem before. Definately not rare, and it's probably not gonna be worth it... Good luck!

[Dattebayo]

it's probably not gonna be worth it... Good luck!

The amount of time and money it will take to fix that is worth buying another chassis and swapping over any parts you have gotten since.

This is by no means "easy" or "cheap" to fix. There are tons of cheap 240s in the MD area.

[Tech_In_Training]

You really need to worry about the geometry of the suspension. You can't just cut out the rust and weld what's left back together. The car would be all out of whack. Especially if you're gonna put it on a track, the suspension geometry becomes all the more important at high speeds/lateral g-forces.

[Red coupe]

You really need to worry about the geometry of the suspension. You can't just cut out the rust and weld what's left back together. The car would be all out of whack. Especially if you're gonna put it on a track, the suspension geometry becomes all the more important at high speeds/lateral g-forces.

It is true...

But real world, probably wont be a huge problem. I would get it aligned after to see what is up, but if you got camber plates there is probably nothing too bad. If you got camber plates and adjustable tie rods you would have to f*** it up pretty bad for it to be a problem.

You probably wont be off by much more then a centimeter or two if your careful, and over the length of the shock I am not seeing that being too significant in camber or king pin inclination.

If you really want to do good get an angle finder, and try an match the angle of the shocks left to right the same. (as in angle finder perpendicular to center line of car). This is likely most important as the upper to lower ball joint defines king pin axis inclinations (the axis your tire steers about), and the distance from the center of the tire print to the intersection of that axis determines the moment applied to the steering from the drag on the front wheels. It would be nice to have this equal to prevent the car from pulling to one side or the other. matching the angles of the shocks parallel to the chassis is important too to ensure there is the same caster on both sides so that the self aligning torque is equal on both sides... I would guess this is not quite as big of a deal, but it will effect the steering feedback you receive in turns... and I am a stickler for having a left turn feel the same as a right. (it would also effect the camber gain due to steering angle, so that for a given amount of steering input your camber would be different in a right turn then a left)

[gnvarnadore]

save the cheerleader, save the world

[bobotech]

I was just thinking "weld it up" but then I studying the photo a little more. At the top of this pic, it almost looks like the tower has pulled away at least a full inch from the side of unibody, is that correct or are my eyes deceiving me?

If so, then thats really bad.

[numbnuts240]

it definitely pulled away. personally, i'd just part the car out and get rid of the chassis.

[Pieceofsand]

What movie is that from?

[numbnuts240]

probably a s***ty one.

[DrifterXRPS13]

It's from bring it on...or at least one of the many iterations of the film that are on abc family channel all the time...this weekend there is a bring it on marathon! i can't wait to look at all that jailbait a55!!!!

[Captain Slow]

Its not like my frame rail is missing or I can see the street form my drivers seat by looking down.

I can see the street from the drivers seat in my Maverick, so can whomever is riding in the back.

[AZhitman]

I was just thinking "weld it up" but then I studying the photo a little more. At the top of this pic, it almost looks like the tower has pulled away at least a full inch from the side of unibody, is that correct or are my eyes deceiving me?

If so, then thats really bad.

I went out and looked at mine as a point of reference.

If you look at the body seam sealant, that gives you an idea of where it WAS attached.

It's MORE than an inch away.

Any work you do on that chassis will be practice.

BTW, you can't weld rust, so you need a LOT of grinding wheels, wire brushes, and preferably a plasma cutter. Oh, and some metal to make patch panels - I recommend an old hood or door skin.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Oh, and some metal to make patch panels - I recommend an old hood or door skin.

Home Depot sells 16 and 18 gage steel (and even 20 & 22 sometimes). Its not that expensive either (although its not really cheap).

That rust is pretty bad... and that says a lot coming from me. The ratio of american to japanese steel on my 240 is getting closer and closer to 1:1 every day...

[Xdisaster240sX]

So...I decided to strip the car and buy another shell And the search begins...

[Dattebayo]

I'll shoot you any listings I see, broseph.

We'll get you into another car very soon, don't you worry!

[Xdisaster240sX]

lol. Thanks man. I posted this on CL...

http://baltimore.craigslist.or....html

I guess we'll see what happens.

[AZhitman]

Lemme know if you want me to look out here. No rust in the AZ, yo.

[bcar240]

Hopefully not too bad of a thread jack b/c it it's related to OPs problem. Say you have a car that is getting there, but the towers are not separating yet, maybe halfway rusted to the point of coming free. Is welding the best/only solution? Rust is starting on top and the middle of the channel is starting to go around where the brake hardlines feed though. This car is a designated DD because of this and some other issues, I will start my next build with a clean shell, but I want to keep this one trucking if possible.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah. Grind it out, weld it up. I'll be doing that to mine soon as well. You're going to want to get some new metal in there too (on top of whatever fresh metal might remain in there).

[hbpignosePA]

mine are rotted underneath where the brake lines are

that is terrible

but someone who knows what they are doing could make it structurally sound again.

i dont trust myself to do my own bodywork; but i dont want to practice on the car i want to keep for a long time; i have a family friend do all my patchwork

[bcar240]

Yeah. Grind it out, weld it up. I'll be doing that to mine soon as well. You're going to want to get some new metal in there too (on top of whatever fresh metal might remain in there).

Really kind of digging this one up from the dead a bit. But I have finally got around to trying to fix this problem on my car and was wondering why type of money I should be expecting to dish out for this fix. It's above my skill level and the only shop I've used around here doesn't do fabrication-type work so I am looking at a few different places, but would like to get some ballpark price suggestions for a shop to do it.

[Onizuka]

And people wonder why I keep my car high enough on the coilovers to keep the front wheel liners in...

[hatedinthemind]

disaster-budget-build-t447971-80.html

he fixed it

[Xdisaster240sX]

That I did

[bcar240]

disaster-budget-build-t447971-80.html

he fixed it

That I did

NICE! Gives me some hope!

[breadbox]

Saweeeeeeet!