frame rust not the usual. need opinions.

[zachkuby87]

Hey guys joined the forum a while back for a monte Carlo I was supposed to purchase. Well deal fell through due to a douchebag used car salesman. Well now I'm back and I have a small problem. Today I purchased a 1985 cutlass. Car is super clean inside and out. Bought it from an old man in Wisconsin he was the original owner. No dents scratches tiny bits of rust on body nothing serious at all. It's just beginning to bubble in like 2 places. 90, 000 original miles everything is 100% stock. Everything works radio a/c p/w p/l the whole nine. Well I drove it home about 90 miles she coasted fine the entire way with no issues at all. I got her home took a few pics showed her off for a minute then off to work I went. Well on the way to work there are a few bumpy roads which exposed a rattle in the front end I figured Hey its been sitting for three years I was pretty much waiting for something to break.. well I got bored on break and decided to go to the parking lot and find this rattle. What I found kind of worries me. I'm looking for options/opinions. I checked the rear frame rails when I bought it and they are just fine as are both sides the entire length of the car Except one spot on the drivers side where the sway bar bolts up there's a 3-4 inch hole and the sway bar hitting the frame is where my rattle was coming from. Here's a few pics of the car and affected area. If fixing it is an option without spending a ton of money that's the route id prefer since this car is as nice as it is. Id hate to part or scrap such a nice looking machine. Problem is I don't know where to even start.

Here's the car

And here's the rust. This is the only spot that the frame rusted through.

 

[pontiacgp]

That's a strange area for rust like that to develop. I'd remove the steering box and sway bar, cut the rusted portion out and either fab a new piece or get a front rail from a donor car and weld it in.

 

[86 Grand prix]

You will need to carefully cut that out and replace it. If I'm correct the two bolts you see on the side of the frame hold the steering box. That does not need to come loose.

 

[joesregalproject]

I've heard of rust similar to this, although normally by the steering box, and not on a g body. The theory behind its development is, the stress caused from the steering box and the suspension components cause a tiny stress tear in the frame metal (like bending pop can tab back and forth until it snaps) which probably is small enough that it goes unnoticed, and water seeps up into it and rusts. I'm not sure that is what happened here, but if I had to guess, I'd say so. I've never seen it in a g body, but there have been several cases which I have seen it happen in f body k members.

 

[zachkuby87]

The plan for this car is to do an ls swap over the fall/winter. Until then it needs to act as my daily driver. I'm thinking when the motor is out would be the best/easiest time to do proper repairs. Million Dollar question is do you think if I remove the sway bar to stop it from hitting and causing more damage will it be ok say another 4 months or so? I drive maybe 85 miles a week mostly Highway. Other than that I have no plans to beat on it. The stock 307 doesn't exactly excite me enough to abuse the has pedal. I'm not trying to cop out of the repair. It needs to be done I would just rather do it once and do it Right rather than rig it.

 

[RacerRick]

You will need to carefully cut that out and replace it. If I'm correct the two bolts you see on the side of the frame hold the steering box. That does not need to come loose.

Get someone to turn the wheel side to side while the car stopped but running and watch the steering box. If the box moves side to side, the frame rail is flexing and is most likely rusted pretty bad internally. There are tubes welded inside the frame for the steering box bolts to go through which can rust out and will cause the frame to flex at the steering box. This type of rust is very common on 2nd gen camaros,

If the frame doesn't move, then you can just cut out and plate the bottom of the frame and bolt the sway bar back up.

 

[565bbchevy]

If you have the capabilities I would cut out all the rusted area and fabricate the pieces for the repair and weld it in along with any possible reinforcements needed for the steering box and if not take it to someplace that can.
I personally feel this is a safety issue and would not waste any time getting this fixed and I would definitely not remove the front sway as any attempt to postpone the inevitable, you can remove a minimal amount of things to gain enough access rather than attempting to wait until the engine out.

 

[grandamman]

If it was a Pontiac I would suspect batter acid started the issue....but your battery in on the oppisite side..
I wouldn't patch anything or remove anything until you are ready to do the job corretly.

I would just replace the front frame horn, inner fender, steering box bolts, sway bar and brackets.
Before doing anything you should probablly put the car on a lift and check out the rest of the frame really well.

It dosn't look real safe to dive in its current state IMO.

 

[zachkuby87]

After giving it some thought I think I'm going to try a few shops and see what they can do. I can remove and put everything back together but I can't weld worth a crap and the frame isn't the right place to learn. As I said earlier I've checked the entire frame and as stupid/weird as it sounds that is the only spot in the frame where the rust had gotten that bad. The frame is pretty clean for the most part. There's one or two spots that require a little attention before they start to get that bad but no holes. Who should I speak to about such a repair? Body shop? Is there a such thing as a frame shop? Usually I wouldn't fuss with it i would slap a for sale sign in the Window and pass it to the next guy that would tackle work like that. but this car is unbelievably clean and runs/drives perfect.

 

[79wagonator]

Where are you located?
If your in Wisconsin this place is kinda far in Rhode Island
http://www.autorust.com/
But they specialize in that kinda thing..