Holy rusty rockers, Batman!

[sickfleming]

Man, you gotta love some rust. It's getting to the point where it is hard jack up the left side without the jack digging into the rocker and breaking off oxidized flakes.

Anybody else have this issue?

[WmWatt]

I clean and srpay the underside of the car with a combination of 25% paint thinner and 75% used motor oil each October to preserve the body. I cover the garage floor with several layers of newspaper and use a garden sprayer. Every 5 years or so I go over the body and repair any rust, removinging scale with a hammer, chisel, and wire brush, and filling holes with resin (epoxy or polyesther). Sounds like you need to remove the rust and weld on a piece of metal to reinforce where the jack goes, or switch to a hydraulic jack which can be put under where the axle joins the body. Good luck.

[georgeb]

The left rear jack point is the only rusty spot on my '89.

[KJ4YXY]

Yes I do!

[Bert]

How do you manage to find rusty Festivas in Texas? Do they use salt on dirt roads to keep down the dust or are you parked near the ocean?
My stuff has been out there in Ontario winters where cars turn white over the winter, if you don't wash them, just from the accumulated salt deposits. Matter of fact the Dall Sheep and Elk in Banff Nat'l Park (BC/Alberta border) are famously known to stampede over to Ontario-tourist cars because they're proven mobile salt licks.
As WmWatt suggests, oil every exposed seam and crevice whenever you're under the car. Even WD40 in spray cans is better than doing nothing.

[sickfleming]

How do you manage to find rusty Festivas in Texas? Do they use salt on dirt roads to keep down the dust or are you parked near the ocean?
My stuff has been out there in Ontario winters where cars turn white over the winter, if you don't wash them, just from the accumulated salt deposits. Matter of fact the Dall Sheep and Elk in Banff Nat'l Park (BC/Alberta border) are famously known to stampede over to Ontario-tourist cars because they're proven mobile salt licks.
As WmWatt suggests, oil every exposed seam and crevice whenever you're under the car. Even WD40 in spray cans is better than doing nothing.

Haha, everybody asks me that. Cars down here don't rust often (except some Fiats or someething maybe), this is true. Trixie was bought in Ohio and had two owners before me. Both older guys who kept her up. I bought it off the second owner when he moved here to Texas.

I used that stuff that turns the rust black. I thought about putting new metal underneath, but I don't really know how or have the tools

[WmWatt]

The stuff which turns rust black is phosphoric acid. You'll see it in the list of ingredients on the label most rust treatments like naval jelly, C-L-R, Krud Kutter, and Rust Check in various unstated strengths. I think it turns iron oxide into iron phosphate. I like to use it before painting over rust. I've found a couple coats of rust paint and a couple coats of polyurethane good for a few years.

[DriverOne]

SF, you should be able to get a metal shop to make you a replacement panel to take to a body man or welder.

[mckabe]

I wonder if miata patch panels would work...

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