1981 GL rust!

[Silverbullet]

Hey everyone, just signed up here today and posted a hello on the new members thread, and I'm looking for some help/advice. I've just inherited the old family car (1981 GL wagon) from my brother who never looked after it or cared for it very much

Mechanically it's fine, and it runs and goes well. The problems are in the body, mainly rust! I've seen the thread in the Subie boys section where they restored a car just like ours and it had rust in the same places as ours, my question is can it be repaired without cutting the whole section out of the car? At the moment I'm looking for ways to repair it without welding (we don't have a welder). There are alot of rust spots that I know can be ground away with a wire wheel and filled etc, but there is one spot in particular that is structural (drivers side) and in the tailgate. Anyway have a look at the pictures and see what you think, any suggestions would be a great help!

The car


The main problem, it doesn't go all the way through, but I know it could be worse than it looks.


In the tailgate, I know this is likely to need welding, there is a perfectly round hole under that white stuff from rust


My main question is what is the best thing to do? can it be repaired at home or do we need to take it to a body shop? It looks like both the rear window and windscreen will need to come out to fix it That hole in the tailgate has leaked water into the boot space as well, the floor padding was soaked like a sponge, we took it out and it was dripping water for hours!

[fredsub]

have fixed much worse than that at home, but you need a welder,
best is a MIG welder that can do gasless and gas. Use disposable gas bottles - cheaper.

And its a very good excuse to buy a welder and learn to use it. The cost of it is quickly recouped on your first repair, your own labour is free, panel chop is $$$.
Whats more you can never be sure of their thoroughness.
You can take your time and deal with all the rust you find.

The front window bit shows its rusted for some time. The rust can extend down to the panel to where the door is hinged to.
Have also repaired rear tail door worse than that. Needs cutout, then shape some new metal sheet to replace, and weld in.
Need to take the glass out for the repair.

You have to ask yourself, you have this car out of enthusiasm and wish to restore it ?
or
its a vehicle to get you from A to B for a year or so and then junk it, in which case it makes sense to be superficial about it. Bit of grinding,filling and paint should hide it for about 1 year - been there done that, only to rip it all out and do it properly.

[Mick2642]

My suby has rust in the same places, except the windscreen rust is on the passenger side.

I also have a small hole starting on the rear tailgate, but I've already mostly filled it, and just need to bog.

The rust on the front is quite nasty. I have taken a quick look under the windscreen seal, and there is a fair bit of shit, aswell as a very nasty hole which was quickly found to extend almost a quarter of the way up the pillar, which is definitely a cut & weld job. Be prepared for the worst.

Mina as far as I know was well looked after for most of it's life, and undercover most of the time, so yours isn't looking too bad at all.

[last celtic warrior]

See here's the thing...

Bog is not your friend. Most people tend to think bog is their best buddy for helping cover some serious sins.

When (not "if" these days) you are in an accident, bog shows its true colours. It normally looks pink, but it's as yellow as you can get. You're not going to survive real good in a serious accident with a used tin of bog being your only real protection.

When it comes to the crunch, quite literally, steel (or aluminium) will bend and usually hold together pretty well, meaning the car stays together around you and you have some hope of not being cut up too bad. Bog on the other hand, along with bits of flywire, softdrink cans, cardboard that people tend to use as "something solid" for the bog to be applied over will all break up and part ways when something hits them.

When we SubieBoys weld a nicely shaped section of steel into the windscreen frame corner, it's not just us trying to do the smickest job that can be done. The simple facts are, that's a VERY crucial part of the car's structure, both in normal use and in an accident. Seam welding another piece in is the only way to make sure that area of the whole structure is as strong and flexible/bendable as it needs to be for the whole thing to still be a car.

Around the bottom corner of your windscreen, I can see the steel is very thin, with possible missing bits that are covered by the rubber. Have a pick at it with a screwdriver or something. You can't trust it if you don't know it...

[Silverbullet]

Hmm I see, so a cutout seems the best (safest) option. In which case it will have to wait a few months until I start the metal course at tafe so I at least know a little about metalwork. It's nice to know it could be worse, but also a bit disappointing that it got this bad in the first place.

Have a pick at it with a screwdriver or something. You can't trust it if you don't know it...

We have had a poke around the windscreen, and at the spot in the photo there isn't any flake rust and you couldn't put anything through it. It looks like there isn't a hole yet on the outside.

So I'll have to busy myself with the other minor body work first until I can get a handle on the major repair work, oh yeah then theres the interior but that's another story haha:rolleyes:

Oh and to fredsub who asked if it's worth the work keeping this car; We've had this thing since it was new, dad traded in his moke to buy it, it's been from Adelaide to Melbourne a few times, Port Lincoln, the Grampians a few times to Mt. Kosciusko and to the tip of the Yorke peninsula and back once or twice. It's been a bit of a long way and dad reckons it would be a bit emotional to see her scrapped

Thanks for all the tips and information guys, looks like it's going to be quite a major job.

[last celtic warrior]

Getting your head around it is the biggest part of the job really. Once you've made the decision and make a start, you'll find it can actually be fun, and it's certainly a lot easier removing all damaged bits before stitching in the new piece, rather that trying to attach the patch to the unsound rusted jagged edges. Just remember when you're doing the job, you're trying to fix the CAR, not the RUST.

[AndrewT]

One of the things that can make a big difference to a car at this point, especially if you don't want the existing cancer to spread, is try to keep it garaged as much as possible. Keep it out of the weather.

[maxxair]

You'll definately need to pull the windscreens out to fix it. ive just repaired the same section on my brumby, and theres nothing particularly difficult about that area. in the meantime, spray some ruct converter all over the spots, to stop it getting any worse, whilst you build up your skills and confidence. do it properly, then you know its good, and wont need to be touched for another 30 years at least.

[Silverbullet]

Yeah the car is under cover at the moment, but not in a fully enclosed garage, just a car port which means it is out of the rain at least. As for taking the windscreen out to fix the rust, we were going to do that anyway since it needs new rubber (front and back), and yeah also the plan for the moment was to get some rust converter on it to stop it getting any worse, same for the back window.

Celtic warrior I'm sure it will be not too bad once I get my head around it like you said, and it would be nice to have this car motoring for another 30 years hehe Thanks for the replies and tips guys

[maxxair]

im just putting up the photo's now here> showthread.php?p=151254#post151254

If there's anything you want help with, just ask.

[Silverbullet]

im just putting up the photo's now here> showthread.php?p=151254#post151254

If there's anything you want help with, just ask.

Ahh thanks, some good photos there they should help a bit when I get around to doing mine cheers!