Rust Worx

Lunchmoney

The Torque Meister
Points
497
Location
Uk
Car
'98 JDM Impreza STI
Like a lot of classic imported Imprezas mine suffers from rust at the rear arches.

When I bought the car nothing was visible. Fast forward a few years and my rear arches now look like this:

Passenger side;
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Driver's side (which is far worse);
IMAG1367.jpg IMAG1368.jpg IMAG1369.jpg IMAG1370.jpg

Next week it's going into a welding shop and they plan on cutting away all the panels until the rot is gone, fabricate new panels, weld all back into place and respray. Looks to be a 3-4 week job and is going to cost me a few pennies.
 
However the one thing they said they couldn't do was the actual arch. Not a problem as I can those parts on the bay. And they arrived yesterday:
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Looking forward to be rust free (er) over the winter :)
 
The welders are going to photo document the full work; strip, removal, cutting, welding, painting etc. Hopefully I'll get some nice shots to share when the work is done.
 
Is that the result of salt on the roads in winter ?
That wouldn't help, but mostly the piss poor rear arch design of 90's Imprezas. The outer arch and inner skin had a way of catching and storing water. Which would sit and eat the metal.
 
She's at the welders and I feel sad I wont have my baby for a month :(
But happy that she'll come back with less infection :)
 
Is there some product /treatment that can be done to prevent the rust coming back again?

I spray any bare area and seams/joints with fish oil.
 
They tell me they will treat the entire car with rust proofing sealant. Plus the shoddy design of the inner arches, which causes the main problem, won't be there anymore :)
 
It's just now occurred to me that I never told them where the locking nut was for the wheels.... Hope they found it and didn't just drill out :rofl:
 
And the driver's side photos loaded....

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That's bad, but not as bad as I was expecting from the horror stories I've heard about other classics Imprezas.
 
Shortly before going in I found a puddle of water on my boot mat. So when I dropped it off at the shop I mentioned and they said they would find it when they explore for rust at the top by the boot lid hinges....

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My only concern is the paint at the back will look newer than the front :rofl:
Though I do trust them to do a good job of blending the paint and I'm sure when I pick her up on Saturday all will be fine :)
 
Reading through I notice I forgot to give the name of the place doing to the work. Forum boss types peeps, can I post a link to their website? It is advertising but I feel they have done such a good job they deserve all the props I can give :)
 
When I started this process I looked up and researched several body shops in my area. I met a few people and was impressed by only one. The one who I finally gave the work to.
I was very impressed when I visited them for a quote (and to scout out their operations). I was talking the man who's name is above the door, something that always impresses me, especially with a staff and workshop of this size.

I explained my predicament and straight away he knew what I was talking about and started to talk about how he would do the work. I had done my research, I was sure I knew what would be involved and he laid out the same plan to me.

He gave me a rough guide to what it would cost. I say rough guide as we were both aware that more rusty problems could be found once panels had been cut away (this happened with the leaking boot lid). He also said he would photo document the entire process, meaning any extra work that was needed could be shown to be legit, and the same the other way around - if there was less work needed it could be seen. This photo process was a USP and really sold it to me.

All this was before the summer. I was told they had several staff on holiday over the summer and he didn't want to take my car in until they could actually work on it. So we booked in for the first Saturday of September. Fast forward a few months and I rock up the shop. I'm instantly remembered and we start chatting. I leave my baby in full confidence they will take care of her :)

The rest can be read as above.

I should be picking up the Scooby on Saturday.

All in all a big thanks to Nigel Trickett of Trickett Welding. For anyone else in the area and in need of any work I highly recommend them.
 
IMO they have demonstrated the correct tradesman like way to remove and replace rusted body work and deserve to be named and recommended.|B|B|B|B|B
 
Looking good there. They are indeed doing a proper job.

Did someone really suggest fish oil? That is going to smell really nice in the summer? A friend sprayed fish oil on a mates radiator. It stank so bad they had to pay for a replacement radiator for him!
 
This morning I handed over a wad of cash (well, credit card, but that doesn't have the same ring to it) and got my Scooby back.

Very happy with the work.

Please excuse the bad photographer:IMAG1463.jpg IMAG1464.jpg IMAG1455.jpg IMAG1456.jpg IMAG1457.jpg IMAG1458.jpg IMAG1454.jpg IMAG1460.jpg IMAG1461.jpg IMAG1462.jpg
 
I may just my imagination but I didn't hear and feel so many clunks and bangs from the rear end when going over bumps and cornering. Probably perceptual bias as I want to see and feel where my money has gone :)
 
Looking good there. They are indeed doing a proper job.

Did someone really suggest fish oil? That is going to smell really nice in the summer? A friend sprayed fish oil on a mates radiator. It stank so bad they had to pay for a replacement radiator for him!

FWIW you can buy odorless fish oil,
 
Now you just need those rims re-coating and you'll be golden, pardon the pun :p
I hate those wheels. :rofl:


Actually that's not quite right. I love the wheels, hate the colour. Next thing is the brakes and suspension (or suspension then brakes, depends which are worse). As the wheels still work, getting them resprayed is low down on the priority list.
 
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