I'm an original owner of a 89 IROC, and prolly one of the highest original engine milage cars on the board. Unfortunately with about 18 winters under my belt in this car, one of my strut towers is beginning to worry me (rust). Has anyone been able to fabricate a fix for this? Who would do a job like that, a body shop? Any suggestions would be appreaicated.

 

I am about to tackle this myself. I have a few sheets of 20ga mild steel, a new MIG welder, an auto-dimming helmet and a hammer. All I am going to do is clean the area (both sides) on the top and bottom, and weld in some formed metal (made from paper templates). I intend on welding the formed sheet to the existing cap on the strut tower to tie it all together. Basically, I am going to sandwich in the rust with a whole new tub. I don't care how good it looks, I just want security.

I'll try and get you some pics to help guide your shop of choice. Likely a body shop... someone who deals with front end damage claims.

 

340000 miles omg man that engine is a trooper u must take great care of her

 

Mine is rusting around the strut tower. It has already rusted a holw through too. I think the best way to fix it is to pull the strut tower off and the spring and strut and fix the rust from there. Should be easy with it all out of the way.

Now if I only had the time.

 

Strut tower rust is only difficult because you must realign the surfaces and holes for the strut. The actual repair process is no different than any other area

Yes any body shop can do it, since you are in a northern state, they should be well aware of the rust problems and be knowledgeable enough to fix it

BTW, Ive got an 89 bird with 328,000 on the original 2.8L

I would stop driving that car immediately
Having a strut collapse is NOT fun

 

I bought the car last june and drove it around as my daily driver until my former daily driver cam back from the body shop. I drove the camaro daily until mid december when it started to snow. Its in storage right now. What is a quick fix for my rust problem. I do not have the money to have a body shop fix it.
I have other problems with the camaro that I am addressing right now.
Leaking T-top bar, Leaking door weatherstripping, Coolant temp guage inop, Fuel Guage inop, putting headers on, new custom y-pipe and door poppers.

 

A simple patch may not fix that, you have to diagnose exactly how bad the rust is

 

Okay I finished the job. It took two 18hr days and involved more than I had ever hoped to do. Expect to payout the nose for a shop to do this job.

Pics soon!