Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

This is the place to discuss restoration problems, post questions or projects-complete or partial.
Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:34 pm

I was poking around my engine bay and looked through the ports to see the inside of the shock towers. I noticed the rust on the inside layer of metal. It is rotting away in parts.

From what I can tell it has not perforated through to the outside of the shock tower. From the wheel well area the towers look intact. They do have a coating on them but from what I can tell there does not seem to be any rust though the shock tower.

The area that is rusted from the inside looks like a thin skin with solid metal behind...

the first two videos are of the lower area where the shock absorber passes through, the next three are of the upper area.
This is the passenger side..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhiPAKdYie8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RixIjtDG200

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zazr4k16Pf8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3x3BD7zu_o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Y2q76oC-M

Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:55 pm

Here are some photos:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image



Based on these photos and videos am I out of luck in that the shock towers need to be replaced?

Or if the rust hasn't gone through, can I pick and pull away that thin rusted metal layer and then spray the inside with something like Rust Cure 3000 to help inhibit any further rust development?

Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Sun Nov 01, 2015 9:27 pm

Feeling around the rust areas it seems like several layers have bubbled up....almost like layers of an onion skin, but not rusted through to the outside..

I fear the worst though in that I will need to have the shock towers replaced.... :(

User avatar
76124
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:40 pm
Your car is a: 76 124 Spider
Location: Everett, WA

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby 76124 » Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:38 pm

Frank,

I am in a similar boat though I must admit yours looks a bit worse off than mine. If I am not mistaken that rust inside the shock access opening is living in the heavier shock tower metal and something you want to address promptly. Maybe someone who has pulled these apart can weigh in more on that.

My drivers side has rust in the "pockets" on the outer layer, where the water and dirt pool, but and do not appear to be penetrating the inner layer, the heavier more structural element. In this case I am going to remove the outer skins and see what is really underneath. If it's not too bad I will grind the rust down and remove as much as I can. I may try to pour POR15 in any seams to keep further rust at bay. Then patch the holes in the outer skin and weld it back on. I know the outer skins are available but there are so many spot welds holding these on it might be easier to remove the entier tower than these outer skins. The passenger side is not so nice and I think i will just replace the entire tower with the version Casaba sells for $269. Finding good used examples is proving to be too time consuming. I would still have to remove them and clean them up from a downer car

My only question is getting the new one in the same place as the old. My plan is to etch around the old using a engraving tool so the lines are not removed during cleanup of the area. I will also measure from the front to the leading edge of the tower assembly in several locations and then again from the bottom of the spring seat to the floor, when the frame is sitting at a predetermined height from the floor. Floor slopes out so the car will need to be sure to be in the same location.

I have the advantage of having the engine out, so removing the many spot welds from inside will be a bit easier.

If your not up to this task, I can't even imagine the cost of all this labor at a body shop.

Rust never stops, so if your going to keep the car, I would invest in getting it repaired as soon as possible. Why add an accident or additional damage to the car to the overall repair bill. IMO.
Kraig
Everett, WA
76 Spider owned just shy 30 yrs and counting
69 Spider - Big truck ate it :cry:
74 Sedan special TC Auto..Died of cancer RIP

Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:21 pm

Thanks for the reply!

I'm going to clean up as best I can on the inside..

Once I get the front end up on jack stands I will clean away all of the black coating in the wheel well area to expose the shock tower metal and assess from there.

I'm thinking replacements will be required..

I can see all of the pinch welds in the engine bay where the towers are connected. Do these get ground away or can you drill the pinch welds out?

Do you have any photos of what you are dealing with on your car?

Thanks again

User avatar
76124
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:40 pm
Your car is a: 76 124 Spider
Location: Everett, WA

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby 76124 » Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:06 pm

This is what my passenger side looks like...the hole behind the upper bump stop has been there for a decade or more, so not progressing much in the cars softer life of summer driving. Unfortunately rust never sleeps and progressed outwards.

ImagePassengers side by Fiat Parts, on Flickr
ImagePassengers side by Fiat Parts, on Flickr

No surprise these creases only aided in the eventual rot by holding the water and debris for years.
ImagePassage side by Fiat Parts, on Flickr

I was able to make some progress on the driver side earlier today but stopped as I am not able to access the spot welds on the back side closes to the firewall without an angle drill. Might be cheaper to just remove the entire shock tower and know all the rust is gone and not have to patch and weld all the rusted areas. Like most I have less time than I would like, so what works fastest is usually the better solution.

There are just a few spot welds -
Image2015-11-04_11-20-09 by Fiat Parts, on Flickr

Without the bump stop...you can see the same hole forming here as is already there on the passenger side -
Image2015-11-04_11-20-26 by Fiat Parts, on Flickr
Image2015-11-04_11-20-42 by Fiat Parts, on Flickr

Very little force needed to push this punch through..not very promising -
Image2015-11-04_11-20-56 by Fiat Parts, on Flickr

From inside the hole the punch went through appears rock solid on the surface -
Image2015-11-04_11-21-11 by Fiat Parts, on Flickr

Decent right angle drill will cost me about $200, almost the cost of the new shock tower.

I am not sure rust in this upper are is as bad as if it were in the lower areas where the shock actually mounts, but to me without this area being sound it could collapse after a stout pot hole and the upper control arm would roll up under the fender...catastrophic to say the least.

Biting the bullet and ordering two complete shock towers seems like the direction of least resistance at this point, though my wallet disagrees.
Kraig
Everett, WA
76 Spider owned just shy 30 yrs and counting
69 Spider - Big truck ate it :cry:
74 Sedan special TC Auto..Died of cancer RIP

Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Wed Nov 04, 2015 5:42 pm

Thanks for posting those photos, I'll know more once I get the car set up for winter storage.
I will be able to get to the outside of the towers in the wheel well at that point.

Are you drilling out those spot welds or angle grinding them away?

User avatar
76124
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:40 pm
Your car is a: 76 124 Spider
Location: Everett, WA

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby 76124 » Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:27 pm

I'm using a spot weld remover from Blair. The metal is so soft it works very well. Only issue is the welds are often not round but more oblong, but you get enough the pop them off. It's about $60 for the kit with 4 cutting g heads. I think I will start a thread on the cimplementation towe R&R. I could find little complete info on the job. Does that mean most abandon it or take it to the local body shop???
Kraig
Everett, WA
76 Spider owned just shy 30 yrs and counting
69 Spider - Big truck ate it :cry:
74 Sedan special TC Auto..Died of cancer RIP

Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:52 pm

I'll look into that tool..

I wonder what most people do? I think if you have welding skills and are careful in the prep and alignment you can do it yourself.

I would imagine having the outline of the old tower would greatly assist in lining up the new tower..

Maybe some sheet metal screws to hold the new tower in place as you get things lined up and then add the spot welds from there

jlw35
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 7:18 am
Your car is a: 1975 spider

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby jlw35 » Sat Nov 28, 2015 9:39 pm

76124, were you able to remove the spot welds by working only from the wheel well as opposed to inside the engine bay?

Thanks
Jeff

User avatar
SLOSpider
Posts: 1140
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:10 am
Your car is a: 1973 124 Spider 2.0FI
Location: Lompoc, Ca USA

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby SLOSpider » Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:48 am

Finally found my old thread about the shock tower repair on my 75 if your interested:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9420
1975 124 Spider
1976 Mazda Cosmo http://www.mazdacosmo.com
1989 Chevy k5 Blazer
1967 GT Mustang Fastback

Frankd1
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Spider
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby Frankd1 » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:10 pm

Thanks for the link!

mohle
Posts: 58
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 12:31 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider

Re: Rust inside of shock towers..please look at pics and video

Postby mohle » Mon May 23, 2016 11:44 pm

Going through the same thing right now. Here is a little lesson learned. I ended up drilling them from both sides. Once I had the tower removed I cleaned up the holes. I used spray paint to mark the outline of the old towers. Then I drilled four holes in the new towers at the same place of some of the spot welds. I ran some screws and washers through to hold them in place while I welded the towers in place. In theory this should have worked prefect. Except now the bolt hole for sub frame doesn't line up with the hole in tower. I had purchased the new towers as one piece items. *** They don't necessarily match the contour of your towers *** You can buy them either pre-welded or as two piece assemblies. I will definitely go with the two piece assemblies next time. Had to drill out the hole. Hope that it won't mess with the alignment too much.
Image
Image
Image
1978 Fiat Spider 1800
2010 F350 6.4 Lariat 4x4
2012 Gulfstream 35qbh
2006 Smart Fortwo Convertible
2000 VW Beetle
1990 Saab 900 Turbo
1992 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible
2015 Jeep Wrangler Willys Unlimited
2014 Bayliner 175


Return to “Restoration Projects”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests