As it says up there, i have a problem with really bad rust on my driver side strut tower. like really bad to the point where ill pay a crap load to have it fix if i dont fix it first. but i was woundering is there anything i can do to get rid of this? like there is one spot were it looks like someone scooped out the metal with an ice cream scooper.

right now i have cleaned it out as good as i can and i primered the hell out of it and use a clear coat on the primer to seal it but thats not helping it just is comping bad and either its just the rust chipping off or its comming thru the primer i dont know which. and i was woundering if i filled it with some mig welding and then grinded it smooth and the por-15 the hell out of most things in the engine compart ment would that help alot? i know welding on rust isnt good but i would prep the metal so i could.

or is it to the point where i need to replace the entire strut tower or the entire piece in there like the fender well and strut tower that one piece. ill try and give u guys a good pic of what im talkin about but if its no help ill take pics of it tomarrow and try and get them on here.

this is the best shot so far that i found that shows the entire strut tower but not up close and this pic was before i got the digital camera

 

heres a newer pic i took awhile ago but it doesn show that well but u can see the rust just under the strut tower

 

would duct tape help?

 

haha..no, anyone that can actually help or give me any tips or anything. i just dont need this to become a big hole and my strut brake thru there and smash my hood.

 

wire brush all the loose stuff off, use one step rust killer, you can get it at the local parts store, it will turn the rust black then primer then paint.

 

Por-15.

JamesC

 

I second the POR-15 recommendation.
That stuff is awesome. Used it in the trunk of my 70 Nova and it looks like new, after covering it with trunk splatter paint.
http://www.por15.com/
-Rich-

 

cool i'm gonna have to check that stuff out

-fly

 

Your car sucks

 

Shut up, banned foo

 

alright those 2 last *******s are just wasted space. but anyway.

yea we have that rust kilelr stuff at work but what would i do to the hole? should i fill it with fiberglass filler or lol should i just get some JB weld and fill it in and when its hard just grind it down? that thought just came to me right now, just an idea.

 

If the has rusted to the point of being pitted (scooped out), most likely it is staring to get thin(er)/weak.
The best thing to do would be to replace it.
Next best would be to section the rusted part and splice in a clean piece.
To stop or slow down the rust, you'll need to start at the source which is most likely under the strut mount. Removing the mount than using a wire wheel/brush, sand blasting or whatever available means you have to removing what loose rust can would be next. Then, you'll want to use some form of chemical 'cleaner' to remove the rest of the rust. Personally, I'd use something such as Oxisolve to dissolve and treat (Oxisolve leaves behind a zinc coating simliar to galvanizing) the metal. Muratic acid or things similar will also eat the remaing rust away but are not as friendly to work with and you'll still need to use something such as ZRC(cold galvanizing compund) to zinc coat the metal to help prevent rust . After treating the metal such as above then it would be safe to use something like Por-15 to seal the metal. Por-15 doe not actually treat rusty metal, it only encapsulates(sp?) it.
Somewhat my opinion.. take it for what you will...

 

so basiclly im screwed for noe until i find a good shop that would replace the tower or ill have to do a very long and hard process on fixing it? dammit this suxs ***. i think ill just for now bust out the dremal or diegrinder and clean all that crap out and then find something that will fill it in or find a shop to fill it in with some mig welding. i mean i would do that but i dont have am ig welder right now or atleast not until xmas is over , then here comes the Lincion Mig welder from Summit

 

heres kind of a better pic u can see the spot were the rust is on the tower and u can bearly make out the "scoop"


sorry if i knew how to crop and image i would but thats the best pic i got sofar but oh well, i guess im s.o.l. (****outofluck)

 

Well... it doesn't appear like it's a huge spot that's rusted/ing but, it is in a key area that needs (helps) to be structurally sound. Most likely (but not definatly) the rust started under that mount plate and crept out from there so until that mount comes off, treating what you can see is going to merely be a band-aid to the real problem. Also, while visually the rust is treated/"gone", it will still be eating away at the metal you can't get to under the mount plate.
I'd say (more of my opinion) if the area is isolated to small spot, I wouldn't sweat bullets thinking it's just going to fall apart at any moment but, would make it a priority higher on the list to take care of.

 

also i checked in the wheel well one day like i was just feelin right under the spot and it feels like its on the other side but im not too sure, id have to actually go under the car and look someday. maybe thats where it started, and its weird that its only on that one side and the other side is rust free (knocking on wood). and so far where its rusted its still pretty darn strong and whatnot, maybe i can worry alittle less but yea thats on the list of things to do on the car.