Just how quick can the north can destroy a car. ( an autopsy)

[Mike7447]

In my case, 2 years living in Ohio.

I used to live in Omaha back in my early years, so I am no stranger to what kind of havoc exposure to salted roads can do to a car, but up until now never had a timeline.

when I bought the current CQ, the fact that it had lived the majority of its life in Arizona made me overlook the first 2 years it spent in hell.

( read that: Ohio)

This is what’s left of the left rear quarter apron.

This is the rough cut after removing the lower skirt on the driver’s side..

Annnndd..this is what had become of the wheel well lip, all of which was filled full of body putty in an attempt to hide this mess.

Ordinarily, this woulda/shoulda been on the passenger side of the car, due to its constant exposure of curb slush, but the passenger side of the car was “normal”.

The tale of the tape best I can see/tell was that the car sustained a small amount of front quarter panel damage that caused a separation of the inner wheel tub from the outer quarter panel, and dude drove it through a couple of winters in Ohio that way.

And give Ohio, Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana, or any other rust belt state two whole years to leave crud somewhere where a pressure washer will never get to it…

Sweet home Alabama.

fortunately for me is that I have modest metal fab skills, I feel confident that I can fix this….repair pics to follow.

Edited November 25, 2024 by Mike7447

[psu_Crash]

It's always worse than it seems. I know all too well how cars die in the north. 40 years in north PA. Being in TN now I just can't get used to what people call a "rust bucket" here. Both of my SQ would have been scrap metal in the south. My Starion has never seen snow and still has a large portion of pinch weld that evaporated. 

[Mike7447]

14 hours ago, psu_Crash said:

It's always worse than it seems. I know all too well how cars die in the north. 40 years in north PA. Being in TN now I just can't get used to what people call a "rust bucket" here. Both of my SQ would have been scrap metal in the south. My Starion has never seen snow and still has a large portion of pinch weld that evaporated. 

I’m 67, and I’m very familiar with what happens to a car doomed to life in a rust belt state. I should’ve known better when I was bidding to buy this thing. The listing stated the car had spent its first two years in Ohio and had “ surface rust” behind the two front wheels…..I figured maybe that’s all it’ll be….😒

That turned into complete lower front fender apron replacements.

Although I can “ manage” to do do this kind of repair, I freaking hate all of grinding after tediously tack welding a billion little spots, while  all the time worrying about warpage, and grinding the metal to paper thickness.

It is what it is when you’re a cheapskate like me…or a glutton for punishment, one or the other.

or both.

 

 

[psu_Crash]

2 hours ago, Mike7447 said:

 

Although I can “ manage” to do do this kind of repair, I freaking hate all of grinding after tediously tack welding a billion little spots, while  all the time worrying about warpage, and grinding the metal to paper thickness.

It is what it is when you’re a cheapskate like me…or a glutton for punishment, one or the other.

or both.

 

 

That's exactly how I feel about this kind of work! I'm also a cheapskate, stubborn and a glutton for punishment. If someone else can do it, then there's no reason I can't, has always been my outlook. Usually it works out... eventually. 

[Mike7447]

7 hours ago, psu_Crash said:

That's exactly how I feel about this kind of work! I'm also a cheapskate, stubborn and a glutton for punishment. If someone else can do it, then there's no reason I can't, has always been my outlook. Usually it works out... eventually. 

Ha ha…The one thing I remember saying to a friend that owned a shop was that I was amazed that he was in business. Thinking that all “ car guys” knew ( or would learn how) to do the stuff he charged them to do.

Turns out, there’s a lot of people that would rather pay to have one rather than learn how to make one.

Today I spent hours trying to figure out how to band-aid  the old factory wiring harness to where it’ll do what it needs to do, to control the headlights and AC now that I’ve cut the engine harness out of the system. The wife came downstairs and saw all of the “ guts” hanging out, and she said you’ll never get this going again…

Ive been married 40 years., I asked her when have I never got a car running again?

she went back upstairs.

 

Edited November 27, 2024 by Mike7447

[psu_Crash]

23 hours ago, Mike7447 said:

ve been married 40 years., I asked her when have I never got a car running again?

she went back upstairs.

 

Mine occasionally makes remarks too. So far I have always won the battle against stubborn vehicles, go karts, quads, snowmobiles ... etc. Did it cost more than expected and take WAY more time? ... 80% of the time! She knows I'm just too stubborn to give up. She has also learned that if the welder, tap/die set is out and/or the cut off wheel is running unexpectedly, now is not a good time. Come back with alcohol 

The amount of people I know who pay for silly repairs just blows my mind. Guess I just grew up with a good set of friends and family. I'll be forever grateful for the knowledge I learned on grandpa's farm and from my Dad as a kid. That kind of life experience is few and far between these days. Open a shop though? O HELL NO! I'd lose it on these primadonnas. 

[Mike7447]

Well, just like cancer, when you think you’ve got rid of it, the more you dig, the more you find. The rot I’m currently fixing revealed itself to extend all the way into the actual bottom of the door jam…,previously fixed with fiberglass reinforced filler. I don’t know whose work this was, but I suspect it was from the last guy that owned it. The guy who sold it as an original survivor, or the previous one.  And while my fix involves cutting out that rot, and replacing it w/20 ga steel, my level of metal repair skills and the tools required to fix it when it involves multiple contours, is woefully inadequate. 
it’ll have new steel there, it just won’t be anywhere close to perfect.

Body filler to the rescue.