Frame rust??? (Page 1/3)
Coffeevgirl MAY 02, 09:37 PM
Hey, I just bought an 87 gt and I’m trying to teach myself how to work on cars with it.

The rear frame has a ton of rust and is kinda rotted out on the passenger side.

I’ve been looking and I’m having a hard time finding a repair kit, I don’t know if I’m just not seeing it or if it just doesn’t exist.

Thanks I’m advanced for any suggestions or advice
olejoedad MAY 02, 09:48 PM
Could you post some pictures of the rusted areas?
Patrick MAY 02, 11:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by Coffeevgirl:

The rear frame has a ton of rust and is kinda rotted out on the passenger side.



If that car has spent its entire life in Michigan, it may unfortunately now be a parts car. At least one of the members here has done extensive repair work to rusted out upper frame rails... but it's not a job for the faint of heart.

Here's the perfect thread for you to look over.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-03-2024).]

gregr75 MAY 03, 07:08 AM
Hopefully your rust is confined to the engine cradle only… That is replaceable, you will have to unbolt it from the rest of the frame and separate it from the engine and transmission to install a replacement. That's what I did on mine.

------------------
87 GT Stock 2.8L

82-T/A [At Work] MAY 03, 04:59 PM

quote
Originally posted by Coffeevgirl:

Hey, I just bought an 87 gt and I’m trying to teach myself how to work on cars with it.

The rear frame has a ton of rust and is kinda rotted out on the passenger side.

I’ve been looking and I’m having a hard time finding a repair kit, I don’t know if I’m just not seeing it or if it just doesn’t exist.

Thanks I’m advanced for any suggestions or advice


Coffee Girl... are you a girl? I assume you're young... I wanted to send you a link to my daughter's YouTube channel if you're interested. She's also really young and interested in learning about cars... she's been doing a LOT of stuff, basically entirely on her own. In the background (what I don't record), I usually tell her what she should do, WHY she's doing it, and then she usually looks it up in the book and corrects me before she does it, haha.

https://www.youtube.com/@GenerationZGarage

But, I don't want you to be dissuaded from a rusty car frame. I mean that. One of the great things about Fieros is that the body panels sit on top of all of that. So honestly, it doesn't matter how nasty it looks. YOu can literally weld like crap, so long as you get it all repaired. It doesn't have to look good because no one will ever see it.

Cradles are easy to replace, but welding is NOT HARD, and you can get tons of welders (flux-core) that don't require any gas, and do all the work yourself. You'll just want someone to check your work to make sure it's safe.

Anyway, I agree with Patrick on most things car related... but I disagree here. If the car was actually too badly gone, it would have split in half. If it's still solid and on one piece, then there's enough metal there to reinforce that which has rusted away. You don't need original frame pieces, just steel tubing.

Try to upload some pictures, and we can help...
Patrick MAY 03, 05:37 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

Anyway, I agree with Patrick on most things car related... but I disagree here. If the car was actually too badly gone, it would have split in half. If it's still solid and on one piece, then there's enough metal there to reinforce that which has rusted away.



Todd, IMO you're supplying deceptive information. Repairing a rusted out hulk (like the one I linked to above) is not a job for someone "trying to teach myself how to work on cars".
1985 Fiero GT MAY 03, 06:12 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

Todd, IMO you're supplying deceptive information. Repairing a rusted out hulk (like the one I linked to above) is not a job for someone "trying to teach myself how to work on cars".



Doing it the "right way" that looks good certainly isn't, but like 82 - t/a said, the plastic covers all that, if I didn't care how it looked, and had enough welding equipment and time, I'm confident I could get it together enough to be safe to drive on the road (I've welded 2 small spots, to hold a broken bolt once, trust me, it was horrible). My pastor learned to weld to repair his rusted out Jeep, it is safe, but man does it look horrible, Fieros have clean nice plastic to cover the ugly mess created by that.
Patrick MAY 03, 06:26 PM

No disrespect to anyone in this thread... but having a novice welder/fabricator tackle a job that involves the structural integrity of a motor vehicle is a fool's game.
cartercarbaficionado MAY 03, 07:10 PM
let's actually see how bad it is. honestly as long as they can't hammer a dull Philips screwdriver through the rusty bit with minimal effort it might be ok. I'm assuming it was driven before purchase or at some point but clearly we have to wait and see before we judge anything or say immediately that they cannot fix it yet. it might just need a small brace or be a 150 fix at a body shop or nothing to worry about at all
82-T/A [At Work] MAY 03, 09:39 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

Todd, IMO you're supplying deceptive information. Repairing a rusted out hulk (like the one I linked to above) is not a job for someone "trying to teach myself how to work on cars".




My entire life Patrick, I've been told... "You can't do this... not enough experience, requires someone with super special skills."

You know what... I've renovated 3 homes top to bottom (tile, electrical, plumbing, drywall, carpentry, HVAC, cabinetry, flooring, etc.), taught myself to program, taught myself how to restore/rebuild mechanical Swiss watches, taught myself circuits & soldering, blah blah... you know how I did it? YouTube.

Please don't tell people they can't do something. *THAT* is like calling Marty McFly chicken. You know better than this.