mt Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Hello all- I just recently received a 1988 Starion as a christmas gift- the car has only 44,000 original miles!! but the body was not all that well maintained. There are numerous dents with areas of oxidation as well as a large rusted out portion of the front right fender. I am going to have the car examined by a mechanic to get an overall impression of what needs to be fixed, but when looking at the undersurface of the car I noticed a few large areas of frame rust. I am posting some pictures and would like some advice on how repairable you think this is. Are these the dreaded frame rails that I have been reading about?? How much do you think this would cost to repair? Thanks for your advice, Mark Please click url below for pics of the frame Photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mt Posted January 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Forgot one thing- Are the front frame rails also known as the "sidemember, front rear" as per the parts catalog found elsewhere on this site? Thanks, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 that rust on those frame rails is not that bad, there are about 6 layers of metal there, if you asked around I think you'll find at least half of the people on here are driving around in cars that are that bad or worse. Â not much you can do about it, grind it off and put some metal rust prevent something on it and undercoat it and don't drive anymore in the salt. Â that joint there is always the first to go, it is probably rusting from the inside out you mentioned the rust on the fenders, if you removed your front fenders, the bottom edge in front of the door, all that part will be caked with old wet dirt because there is no way for it to get out especially if that's a widebody. Â if you just removed the plastic splash guard and looked in there you would see some of it. you can't see it just by looking in from the door into the crack you have to take that plastic wheelwell guard off and look inside. Â You could try to pull the lower part of the fender off and wash it out but you should get the rust off the outer rocker panel underneath the fender so it will slow down the rot. Â You see widebody fenders with rust bubbles forming in the bottom back end where it forms into the side skirt and that's why, it's all full of MUD in there. Â I have some pictures of this I did on my 86 and I found this out by accident but glad I did: http://www.geocities.com/boybeyers/fender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Â Yep- Yours aren't too bad. mine were a little worse, but not as bad as some peoples. Here is mine http://server4.uploadit.org/files2/160104-stage1%20frame.JPG http://server4.uploadit.org/files2/160104-stage1d.JPG Â Just be glad your rear passenger side floor didn't look like mine: http://server4.uploadit.org/files2/160104-stage1%20floor.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mt Posted January 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Thanks for the replies. Wow- I didn't realize that rust was so pervasive in these cars. So Burton, did you replace your frame rails? And are the frame rails also known as "sidemember, front rear"? There are some parts in the parts catalog that are not labeled as "frame rails". SO would you guys order new frame rails ( or sidemembers) or just have a body shop cut and paste to fix it? -Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 allot of work to cut out though, I have one car that bad with the cheese holes and it's an 85 that I saved from the crusher the guy was driving, Â I think it was $175 and is automatic, digital and 2 tone brown interior and the car is black, boy is it a rusty thing but the engine is just fine. Â I think it has an after market sunroof and I do remember it has leopard fur glued to the upper half where the drak brown is all in the car, hippies I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 I haven't replaced em yet, but will cut the grappy stuff out and weld in plate steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 Yes the 'sidemember' is the frame rail. However Mitsubishi no longer has the drivers side rail. It is completely discontinued and no dealer has any left in the USA. The passenger side is available and I just bought two passenger side rails from Mitsu and will modify one of them for the drivers. I also have repaired them myself with just a piece of sheetmetal and a welder on my other tsi. Both repairs are pretty easy. THe worst part is the drivers side because the fuel rails run right along the member. You have to unbolt the lines and pull them back far away from the rail as you can go. I wrapped the lines in canvas and welded the rail in. You will need a MIG welder for the drivers side for this reason but any welder even oxy-acet will work on the passenger side. The whole job took me about 12 hours total. kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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