Rust, oh the horror...

[BadMojo]

So, I was replacing my battery after a much needed trickle charge (that's a different problem and story altogether), when I noticed something very disturbing on my S13.

There is a small break in the weld between the fender and the strut tower, about 1" long. There is, of course, the start of corrosion where the bare metal is exposed. A bit of poking and prodding both from the top and from within the wheel well, didn't seem to indicate massive rusting, but still...

Having a unibody car with a weak point in such a critical spot is disturbing. Has anyone else ever seen this? There doesn't seem to be any massive rusting yet, and as far as I know, the car has never been in a collision.

I'm going to get a local bodyshop to have a look at this, and hopefully weld it up, but I'm just curious if anyone else has ever seen this.

[skydragoness]

It's happening to my car in fact (on the passenger side strut tower) I poured in some rust stop/remover to keep it from getting worse. Hasn't gotten any bigger over the year and a half that i put the stuff on it. I've seen 240sx parts cars on Ebay were the strut towers virtually seperated themselves from the fenders completely! Scary stuff really, but should be preventble with a good weld job. I'd like to get mine stitch-welded or something--cause that would rock. Freaks me out more than any other rust spots on my car just because i saw that pic of that one parts car...

[BadMojo]

Yeah, mine is on the passenger side too. I guess I'll see if I can get it welded up and have a dent on my fender pulled out while they're at it. I'm just wondering if this is a symptom of the S13 fastback's chassis flex.

[skydragoness]

Hell, i have a coupe! It couldn't be that.. It's just our temperate area, it sucks.

[BadMojo]

Well, the body shop guy took a look at the car. He basically said that there wasn't any structural damage at this point, but there isn't much he can do without chopping up the strut tower.

I got the distinct impression that he felt that fixing the problem right now would do more harm than good. He estimated that it would be 4 or 5 years before it'd be a major problem.

So...I guess I'm just gonna let the car rot away slowly for the next few years.

[skydragoness]

I can only imagine how its affecting the car now, i mean it must be adding more flex to the chassis. Ugh, i don't like the thought of it. Are you going to get a second opinion/go to another shop? I don't see how he couldn't do some spot welds, i didn't realized the strut tower would have to be off completely for them to do that...

well i'm in the same boat as you, try applying some rust remover. I got a bottle of it at Pep Boys for 5.99, i painted it in the cracks and it dries up as a black primer. It hasn't gotten any worse since i did it 1.5 yrs ago. It should at least retard the corrosion some more.

[w1ngzer0]

Well, the body shop guy took a look at the car. He basically said that there wasn't any structural damage at this point, but there isn't much he can do without chopping up the strut tower.

I got the distinct impression that he felt that fixing the problem right now would do more harm than good. He estimated that it would be 4 or 5 years before it'd be a major problem.

So...I guess I'm just gonna let the car rot away slowly for the next few years.

there is rust under my battery holder. None of it is near the strut tower thank god. But i just bought some stuff to fix the rust problem. I'll let you guys know if this product works like it says.

[BadMojo]

I can only imagine how its affecting the car now, i mean it must be adding more flex to the chassis. Ugh, i don't like the thought of it. Are you going to get a second opinion/go to another shop? I don't see how he couldn't do some spot welds, i didn't realized the strut tower would have to be off completely for them to do that...

Well, it's not actually at the spot welds. The spot welds seem fine right now. There's a weld running parallel to the car, about an inch towards the engine, right next to the spot welds. According to the body shop guy (old school, honest guy) there's most likely rust underneath that's causing the bulge at the weld. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

I'll most likely let it go until spring and then try to find someone else to look at it. The body shop guy said he could sand (or media) blast the area and weld over it, but it would still keep rusting inside.

[slow s13]

the rust on the strut towers is too common, both my s13's have it.

[Onizuka]

Bad mojo, I have exactly the same kind of rust "lump" you have on my passenger side strut tower. Its about 3/4 inch on mine, if even.

[dres240]

me 3, but its about the size of half a CD case, and it looks like the brake line is starting to cave in just a little bit!! I also sprayed some black rust stop stuffs, and it hasnt got worse... how long is my 240 gonna live?

[BadMojo]

Bad mojo, I have exactly the same kind of rust "lump" you have on my passenger side strut tower. Its about 3/4 inch on mine, if even.

I'm not going to sweat it. Since it's not a structural issue, I'll probably just through some rust inhibitor in there and move on with my life.