strut tower rust

hardheaded said:
I have a 2000 pontiac bonneville and the right rear strut tower is rusted out. Anyone know of any repair for this or is the car junk ?
I got a new trans, tires ,brakes and alot of other new parts on this thing. HELP !
Click to expand...
Pictures? I dont know of a repair kit per say but I have repaired them with sheet metal over the years.
 
hardheaded said:
I have a 2000 pontiac bonneville and the right rear strut tower is rusted out. Anyone know of any repair for this or is the car junk ?
I got a new trans, tires ,brakes and alot of other new parts on this thing. HELP !
Click to expand...
Your best bet is to have a metal shop who does welding and fabrication take a look at it , if you can get it there. I never heard of a repair kit and you need something more than sheet metal to repair it SAFELY as the vehicle's weight is supported there. I knew someone who had the same issue with a Ford Escort. Some new steel and some welding kept that car on the road for several more years.
 
You're going to need a rust free donor car and the entire section. This is going to be a laborious project to do right being a unibody car. I'm sure someone can fabricobble a panel, but it will never be "right"

I essentially junked a car due to a similar issue. No real way of safely repairing without major work on a car that isn't worth money.
 
Get a buddy who welds to look at it? If there's enough good metal nearby he might come up with something that will be solid enough.
Isn't the spring riding on the control arm and the shock is just a shock? So its not holding the suspension aligned and carrying cornering or braking loads. That could be why there is/was a kit for it, just bolt a solid bracket on good metal to hold the top of the shock.
Have a good look around at everything under there though, sub frame etc... usually once one part is that rusted that bad there will probably be others
 
Delta said:
You're going to need a rust free donor car and the entire section. This is going to be a laborious project to do right being a unibody car. I'm sure someone can fabricobble a panel, but it will never be "right"

I essentially junked a car due to a similar issue. No real way of safely repairing without major work on a car that isn't worth money.
Click to expand...
On a '00 Bonneville is this the worst thing? It's not like it's a rare "survivor" or worthy of a concours restoration? Seems like the time for a fabricobble ;)
 
I've repaired strut towers before. It is possible to cut out the old one and weld in one from a donor car. As long as access is made easy by removing the necessary parts.

I even used a HF spot welder to repair some sheet metal in a piece-meal way. It worked really well. Just did a small section at a time, and positioned the spot welds in a "bead" fashion.
 
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If you're up for it, spend the money on a decent entry level 240V MIG welder and an angle grinder. You can reinforce the strut tower with plate steel, then coat everything with paint or even rubberized undercoating. You can practice your welding skills on this area as it is completely covered and your ugly but hopefully strong welds won't be visible. I did this with a Ford Escort that lasted several more years before I got tired of patching the frame rails and decided it was time to move on. I have used my welder countless times to repair rust damage on older vehicles.
 
I do have 2 mig welders and a stick welder too. So that's not the problem.
After taking it apart yesterday to get a better look at it the top spring perch are all but gone on both sides. Along with the shock towers. Not much keeping the wheels off the body.
Shame the car is a good ride still, but everything is getting really rusty underneath it. Can't weld to rust. At 160,000 miles i do think it's done.
 
Obligatory:
165504.jpg
 
A co-worker had a Ford Escape, and the rear strut tower (one or both, I don't know) rusted out and the shock was just rattling there in space. So we looked online and found several aftermarket replacement solutions and quite a few how-to videos on Youtube. Evidently it is a super common issue. The issue is probably not as prevalent on the Bonneville but who knows, look into it and there might be an easy-enough fix you could do.
 
hardheaded said:
I do have 2 mig welders and a stick welder too. So that's not the problem.
After taking it apart yesterday to get a better look at it the top spring perch are all but gone on both sides. Along with the shock towers. Not much keeping the wheels off the body.
Shame the car is a good ride still, but everything is getting really rusty underneath it. Can't weld to rust. At 160,000 miles i do think it's done.
Click to expand...

At that point it may be time to move on, safety-wise. Perhaps an undercoating regimen might help prevent such extreme damage going forward with the next vehicle.
 
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