1.How difficult would it be to repair rust on your own?
2.And how does someone even go about learning how and getting the torch and what have you?
3.If the rust is in the chassis, is it beyond repair?
Rust is scary. I hate my taste in older vehicles.
1. Depends on the rust, most older vehicles you can get entire replacement panels that you slap right on. Though if the rust is something minor or around the wheel wells then you can probably do it with ease if you have the proper tools and know how. The quality of the work is up to you.
2. Google should provide the base knowledge but if you want to do a nice job then ask a mechanic or a friend who is mechanically inclined for help or to show you. I don't know if you can rent a torch or not but you could probably stuff it inside a auto repair shop and ask them if you could use their welder.
3. Depends on what you mean in the chassis. I'll assume you mean the frame rails, the "it depends on how much" rule applies. Though say its rotted along the side and bottom, some people use old lawn mower blades and weld them in while you could go to a auto wreckers/Junk yard and cut a chunk of a frame rail out of a vehicle there.
The procedure should go about as: Measure the area you will cut out, cut out the affected area (make it square/rectangle for ease of repair) you can use a grinder for this or torch, grinder should be cleaner though and shouldn't affect any wires, though you should check both sides when using the grinder to make sure that you don't cut any lines. Then take your new panel and cut it to the dimensions you cut for the rust, whether the panel was cut from a parts vehicle or ordered in it shouldn't affect much. Place the panel in, making adjustments here and there to make sure it fits and you can either hold it in with some aluminum tape or clamps then tac it all around and make sure you like were it sit then proceed to weld it all around. When all that is done take a grinder and carefully grind down most of the weld, then take a sander and sand most of it down so it matches the lines of the vehicle. You can hand sand it with a finer sand paper for a better finish too. Paint is up to you but usually people fix everything else before painting it all.
Though take note I actually haven't done one but this should be pretty close to what you need to do, mine might have some extra details here and there such as sanding and whatnot. If you've never welded before you should fiddle with the machine and do a couple practice welds, 50-100 until your satisfied with you ability. You should have someone watch you and help you out though, thats a must.
Other people probably have differing oppinions on the subject but the main thing we will all agree on most likely is that you should have someone help you out.
Also, damn older vehicles, why do they have to be so much cooler than new ones. I have a 1991 Ram D150 I recently got and its going to need some rust work, but what do you expect from a car that's 20+ years old. What car are you planning on doing repairs to?
The idea with rust is you cannot cut enough out around the panel. If you have a 1" rust hole... cut out like a 4" by 4" square around it. When they say cancer they aren't kidding. Wire wheeling and sanding and stuff will never ever work if it's rotted through. Surface rust is ok to handle that way.
A good rule of thumb is to assume the rust is much much worse than it looks. Almost every single time, once you start taking away paint you'll find lots of underlying crap that needs dealing with. Once you get an idea of what you're dealing with, that's when you decide to chop it up and start welding or say screw it.
Obviously you're going to need to have a rudimentary knowledge of welding. Welding on a body panel is easy, since all you have to do is make lots of tack welds. Do a couple on opposite sides of the filler panel, let it cool, tack more, etc. Once there's a full bead of tacks then you hit it with the flap disk. Same thing goes here, knock it down a lil.. let it cool, knock it down, cool. Don't want to warp whatever you're fixing. Follow up with metal filler/ polyester filler and block as needed.
As for your frame rust.. how intense is it? Do you just have a rust colored frame because it's old? That you can wire wheel/ media blast, then seal prime and paint, or just do a healthy coat of POR15 rust preventative gunk. If you're frame actually has holes in it from the rust... consider finding a new frame and swapping the body/ engine over. If you absolutely must fix it, make sure you've got a 220V welder, little sparklers need not apply.
Thick steel is the key, brace and patch from good metal to good metal to fill the hole. Basically wrap the frame in thick steel and you should be good. That's one way to keep a daily beater on the road for a couple more years. Just make sure your beads have deep penetration and stuff, don't want a bubblegum weld coming apart on something as vital as the frame.
Pics of what you're fixing?
We have to have more information. I had to cut and weld a small bit of my floor pans due to rust. Depending on how much you need to cut and where, consider using a grinder instead of a torch. You'll also need a decent MIG welder. You can rent them or buy a good Lincoln Electric for around $700 if you don't mind buying used.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
