strut tower rust

[emmett442]

Obligatory:

Looks familiar. Ford Escort/Merc Tracer hatchback?

 

[zzyzzx]

Looks familiar. Ford Escort/Merc Tracer hatchback?

Yes. One of the reasons I posted an Escort was because someone here mentioned welding up their Escort's strut tower. 1991-1996 were bad years for Escort strut tower rust issues. Not epically bad like some other vehicles, but bad. I had one side that had some issues. It's one of the reasons why I junked the car for when it was 25 years old..

 

[D60]

Here's an, um, interesting fabricobble on a '99 GP. I'm not sure I'd consider this an example to follow, but I guess he gets an A for effort

 

[zzyzzx]

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.

True, but for some people it might be preferable to patch, then junk the vehicle when something else expensive on it breaks. There are some prefabricated aftermarket solutions made for some vehicles.

 

[andrew_j]

Smarter to find a clean southern example with a blown motor or transmission for $300 and swap the powertrain.

You call that smart swapping powertrains on 20+ year old vehicles? You skipped value proposition you previously mentioned.

 

[atikovi]

You call that smart swapping powertrains on 20+ year old vehicles? You skipped value proposition you previously mentioned.

Lot easier to swap out an engine then do welding like that. Especially when the rest of the car is a rust bucket as well.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Lot easier to swap out an engine then do welding like that. Especially when the rest of the car is a rust bucket as well.

For how much money a good used car is today, I think it would be worth swapping out the drive train!

 

[atikovi]

Exactly.