Festiva Rust Removal Project

[88nStillAlive]

Well, I've noticed my 88's gotten pretty rusty on its belly. So I'm gonna strip the car down and flip it over and start removing any rust or corrosion and replacing it with fresh steel. I know I'm probably gonna hear the whole (it's cheaper and easier to buy another car) but this was my first car and was handed down to me by my grandpa who served in wwII, and whom I have a great deal of respect for, and this car means enough to me to at least attempt it. So succeed or fail, I will be posting pictures of my progress if anyone is interested in fixing some troublesome spots of their own! Plus this won't be a total restore, but more of a "back to life" project. If anyone has any input on any of the repair, feel free to share! Thanks everyone. Also, very sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum topic.

[william]

Build one of these so you can set it on its side without damage.
Good luck on your project it will be a lot of work if it's very rusty
. http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-foru...sserie.841561/

[88nStillAlive]

Build one of these so you can set it on its side without damage.
Good luck on your project it will be a lot of work if it's very rusty
. http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-foru...sserie.841561/

I had something like this in mind. But this gives me more ideas. Thanks!

[ryanprins13]

Never even thought of someone building a wooden roticery. Wow... :p
Anyway, have you ever done rust repair before? Just a couple tips to make it last longer if you havent: cut out a lot bigger than the rusted area- bad rust always comes back, but if you try to keep you patches small it comes back way faster . sand/soda/glass blast everything.
If theres a rusted spot you dont want to cut out first sand blast it then use a rust converter then sandblast again. Use etch primer before regular primer or epoxy primer before paint. Dont use tremclad...Then if your doing underneath the car give it a good spray with gravel-guard on top. If you use bodyfiller anywhere use fibreglass first if there is any possibility it will see any moisture. Lightweight/regular bodyfiller soaks up water like a sponge and rusts the metal beneath it. When your all done get a product like wax oil and drill holes where you need to and spray it in your inner fenders, inside your rockers, inside the bottom of your doors, bottom of hatch... Anywhere where rust can start from the inside.


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[88nStillAlive]

Never even thought of someone building a wooden roticery. Wow... :p
Anyway, have you ever done rust repair before? Just a couple tips to make it last longer if you havent: cut out a lot bigger than the rusted area- bad rust always comes back, but if you try to keep you patches small it comes back way faster . sand/soda/glass blast everything.
If theres a rusted spot you dont want to cut out first sand blast it then use a rust converter then sandblast again. Use etch primer before regular primer or epoxy primer before paint. Dont use tremclad...Then if your doing underneath the car give it a good spray with gravel-guard on top. If you use bodyfiller anywhere use fibreglass first if there is any possibility it will see any moisture. Lightweight/regular bodyfiller soaks up water like a sponge and rusts the metal beneath it. When your all done get a product like wax oil and drill holes where you need to and spray it in your inner fenders, inside your rockers, inside the bottom of your doors, bottom of hatch... Anywhere where rust can start from the inside.


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Sweet thanks! Had contemplated getting the underside line-x'd when I was satisfied with the repairs. Do you think this is a good or bad idea?

[ryanprins13]

Sweet thanks! Had contemplated getting the underside line-x'd when I was satisfied with the repairs. Do you think this is a good or bad idea?

Its one of the better things you can do but its just as easy to do yourself when you still have it up on a stand. You can get shuts guns pretty cheap or even the spray cans are pretty good if you get a name brand and it isnt expired :p lol


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[88nStillAlive]

Its one of the better things you can do but its just as easy to do yourself when you still have it up on a stand. You can get shuts guns pretty cheap or even the spray cans are pretty good if you get a name brand and it isnt expired :p lol


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My grandpa had this car under coated when he bought it brand new, but most of the undercoating is peeling off. I hope that because he did that years ago, I will have less to repair. Right now they got me working 7 days a week, and all I think about is driving this thing again. I wish I was rich and could stay home all day and work on the car. But if I could do that I would probably do a 100% restore. Lol come on powerball! Oh wait, I gotta play it first!

[88nStillAlive]

Wow, the more I tear this thing down the more I'm realizing it's a lot worse than I thought! This is the first real good look I've gotten at it, and now I'm thinking I need a better tub. Jeeze this is bad... lol This picture is the front left drivers side, by your feet.20150929_021307.jpg

[bhazard]

They usually are a lot worse than they look. A lot of times its easier just to source a clean body from down south.

[skeeters_keeper]

Look under the rear where the rear beam connects to the body. It's probably all rotted out too, from the looks of the front, and it's a pretty critical strength area that is hard to repair. Also check the front radiator support, that usually rusts out quickly and the cross member will drop onto the sway bar. That's an easier fix but probably not worth it if the rest is really bad.

[88nStillAlive]

Look under the rear where the rear beam connects to the body. It's probably all rotted out too, from the looks of the front, and it's a pretty critical strength area that is hard to repair. Also check the front radiator support, that usually rusts out quickly and the cross member will drop onto the sway bar. That's an easier fix but probably not worth it if the rest is really bad.

All bad, the rear swing arm mounts appear to be holding but they look shot. And the front lower bracket is rusted out right we
Here the transmission skid plate connects. This body would have to be Frankensteined together to make it safe again. It's to bad they don't make reproduction tubs! And it would be super awesome if they made them out of aluminum! Lol

[ryanprins13]

All bad, the rear swing arm mounts appear to be holding but they look shot. And the front lower bracket is rusted out right we
Here the transmission skid plate connects. This body would have to be Frankensteined together to make it safe again. It's to bad they don't make reproduction tubs! And it would be super awesome if they made them out of aluminum! Lol

Yes, if those 2 mentioned points are rusted out they have to be fixed if your gonna spend any time fixing anything else. Surprisingly on my car those 2 points look good even though i have rust holes right through the quarter panels and rockers.
As for aluminum bodys it may be a great concept but engineers still somehow havent figured out that they need to keep steel parts away from aluminum! So frustrating. Nearly every vehicle over 10yrs old with an aluminum panel has had some steel part corrode it to bits. On my 7th gen honda civic (01-05) the engineers were still putting steel bolts/screws into the aluminum head, recessing the head of the bolt and only making it like a 4mm allen! And im sure youve seen all the aluminum hatches with steel wiper arm shafts driving/rusting around.


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[jfd64]

I had one last year that was a rust bucket.Shockingly the unibody was perfect and all of the bolts came out great doing the mechanical work.I dont know how that happened lol.

[88nStillAlive]

I had one last year that was a rust bucket.Shockingly the unibody was perfect and all of the bolts came out great doing the mechanical work.I dont know how that happened lol.

I'm experiencing the same thing. All the bolts are coming right out and everything is disassembling with ease...lol to bad it's rusted worse than I expected. Now I got some thinking to do. You'll get a look at it soon.

[88nStillAlive]

Fixnfestiva

Well, I'm finally getting some free time away from work, and I'm getting more done each week. My motivation is high, just gotta keep on truckin'.
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