Rust experts...is this repairable? Old nissan... now waiting on pics of 3000GT!

The Running Man · 16 Sep 2020 at 18:45

hi guys, looking at a car but noticed pretty corroded chassis rails,

Does it look curable and what kind of cost are we expecting here?

Its an old nissan...but I have little experience of welding fixing this...

robj20 · 16 Sep 2020 at 18:52

Grind the loose off, paint it with a rust converter, then paint. Easy.

The Running Man · 16 Sep 2020 at 18:55

robj20 said:
Grind the loose off, paint it with a rust converter, then paint. Easy.

Isn't there cracks though? What would they do with that?

vanpeebles · 17 Sep 2020 at 07:57

Could be the underseal type coating has dried out and cracked.

The Running Man · 22 Sep 2020 at 16:28

Thanks

Any more opinions? The guy has lowered his price but he's at the other end of the country so popping round with a hammer underneath isn't just possible..

vanpeebles · 22 Sep 2020 at 17:15

Are you the type that likes rolling around on your drive way covered in rust and bits of black?

sigma · 22 Sep 2020 at 17:45

Two points:

1. Pretty much anything is repairable with enough time and money.
2. You won't know how bad it (it, as in the rest of the car) is until you start digging.

The Running Man · 22 Sep 2020 at 18:39

vanpeebles said:
Are you the type that likes rolling around on your drive way covered in rust and bits of black?

Er I'm more if a send it to the guy at the garage and let him sort

sigma said:
Two points:

1. Pretty much anything is repairable with enough time and money.
2. You won't know how bad it (it, as in the rest of the car) is until you start digging.

Thats what worries me a little bit.

Car in question is a skyline fwiw

Cookeh · 22 Sep 2020 at 18:39

Without getting loose rust and underseal off its almost impossible to gauge what the metal beneath is like. Until you do that you wont know if it requires welding or just treating.

sigma · 22 Sep 2020 at 18:43

The Running Man said:
Er I'm more if a send it to the guy at the garage and let him sort

Thats what worries me a little bit.

Car in question is a skyline fwiw

GTST?

The Running Man · 22 Sep 2020 at 18:51

sigma said:
GTST?

It is.

The car is in good condition, lots of great extras, low mileage. Price is decent.

Only issue is the chassis rails..

Lashout_UK · 22 Sep 2020 at 21:23

If that's what you can see, you can guarantee there will be more.

If you're buying it blind, only do so if you can effectively throw away what you're spending on it – because it'll potentially cost half the purchase price, if not more, to sort it out properly.

In the best-case scenario, where it transpires to be nothing but ugly surface corrosion, it'll still cost a fair bit to sort. These things rust like absolute troopers, too.

I would advise you to tread carefully but you are evidently doing just that!

vanpeebles · 23 Sep 2020 at 08:18

I think any car of that age will look like that underneath unless someone has tarted it over.

bobuk · 23 Sep 2020 at 09:04

It does look like they going to fall to pieces when you start grinding, Cost will depend what sort of job you want, what ever sort of repair you have done I would suggest you see the finished product before it has underseal covering it.

Nomisf · 23 Sep 2020 at 09:29

That's factory fresh for an old Nissan

and I have had a few.

As above, you won't know until you poke it - My S14a looked like the bottom of a swamp underneath but was solid, my S12 Silvia looked immaculate but the inside of the rails were toast

The Running Man · 23 Sep 2020 at 09:49

Lashout_UK said:
If that's what you can see, you can guarantee there will be more.

If you're buying it blind, only do so if you can effectively throw away what you're spending on it – because it'll potentially cost half the purchase price, if not more, to sort it out properly.

In the best-case scenario, where it transpires to be nothing but ugly surface corrosion, it'll still cost a fair bit to sort. These things rust like absolute troopers, too.

I would advise you to tread carefully but you are evidently doing just that!

vanpeebles said:
I think any car of that age will look like that underneath unless someone has tarted it over.

bobuk said:
It does look like they going to fall to pieces when you start grinding, Cost will depend what sort of job you want, what ever sort of repair you have done I would suggest you see the finished product before it has underseal covering it.

Nomisf said:
That's factory fresh for an old Nissan and I have had a few.

As above, you won't know until you poke it - My S14a looked like the bottom of a swamp underneath but was solid, my S12 Silvia looked immaculate but the inside of the rails were toast

Thanks guys, yeah on the one hand I thibk, a wire brush and a bit of kure rust and it will be fine. On the other I think omg replacing the chassis rails is a huge job..

vanpeebles · 23 Sep 2020 at 10:01

You wouldn't replace them, you/they would just cut out the grotty bits and weld some plate in. I did the same on my MGB.

Lopéz · 23 Sep 2020 at 11:55

10 seconds with an MOT corrosion assessment tool will tell you how bad it is.

The Running Man · 23 Sep 2020 at 13:31

Lopéz said:
10 seconds with an MOT corrosion assessment tool will tell you how bad it is.

Yeah sadly I don't have one and the cars near London and I'm in mcr

The Running Man · 23 Sep 2020 at 13:34

Meanwhile might go pick up a 3000gt for 6 grand just waiting for underneath pics