Is it worth it?

[Ghost Rider]

Hey I was wondering if I could get some advice and info. I recently purchased a 93 SE and was really getting the itch to modify it, the thing is I am not sure if it is worth it because there is some rust in the engine bay, right by the strut towers. its not bad yet but its there. My question is, is this something minor that I can sand down and repaint, or is this part of a much larger problem and therefor making the car not worth putting money into. The car has 115K miles on it and is an Auto(yuck) I would really like to switch it to 5speed (anyone in NY know a good place for that??) and then go SR. I also really want the Sileighty look as I hate pop up headlights, and I think those triple projectors would light the road nice (got a little problem with night vision)

So what do you think? I know its hard to say without actually seeing it, but .....

Oh, yeah is this common? I know I already have to swith out the damn hatch (water getting into the trunk now )

tahnks for any info

[BadMojo]

My question is, is this something minor that I can sand down and repaint, or is this part of a much larger problem and therefor making the car not worth putting money into.

Well, since I can't actually see the car, my answer is...probably maybe.

Seriously, the rust could be just on the surface or could be the tip of the iceberg. However, I would be concerned about rust anywhere near the strut towers. If you've got some major rot in structurally important areas, it's not worth your time. S13's aren't super easy to find, but they're in no way rare. Unless you want a serious project car on your hands, you don't want to take on a major restoration.

Leaky trunk and rusty strut towers don't bode well, especially for a car from the NE. If you're getting a really good price on the car, ask the seller to let a *good* body shop take a look at the car.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth.

[Ghost Rider]

well, I already own the car, my dad was nice enough to buy it for me after my beater blew up (that and it was like payment for helping completely gut and renovate his house)

The water leaking in the trunk is from the craptastic stock spoiler. The car has no ther rust on it aside from the stock muffler. The rust on the strut towers appears to be only surface rust

[Blackstar]

I have the same exact problem. A little surface rust in the engine bay by the strut towers. I also got the infamous rusted hatch (which I have yet to get fixed, but I'm not getting water in the trunk yet). Just buy some of this "naval gelly" stuff from autozone or whatever. Sand off the rust and apply it, it will stop the rust and keep it away for a few years.

[Ghost Rider]

cool, thanks for the tip. Yeah my hatch is a *****. From the outside it looks perfect, but when you open it pieces of rusted metal actually fall out of the latch hole! I am going to scour the junkyards next week for a hatch. I want one without the spoiler or wiper. I plan on removing the rear washer fluid squirter and putting an new antena there seeing as how some previous idiot saw fit to cut the antenna wire when he put his deck in instead of buying an adapter. bastards

[Blackstar]

the problem w/ finding a used hatch is finding one w/out a spoiler or rust. Just about every hatch w/ a spoiler has rust (at least from up north). Also, if you find one from a junkyard, often the wires are cut too short and hard to splice together. I plan on just going to a shop and having them take the spoiler off, fill the holes and paint it, not that cheap (2-300 bucks) but at least you don't have to jerk around trying to find a suitable hatch that you'll still have to have painted anyway