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I hate rust and stuff

cbr900turbo

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Dec 6, 2006
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Adamstown, PA
I think that if you were to go the route of putting a quarter on the black one i would use a regular galant gsx or somthing rather than the other one you have cause they are both fixable.
 

toybreaker

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Apr 30, 2006
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Rich, your posts rock! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthy.gif

I've always felt that just about anything is fixable, but I've learned that somethimes it's best to walk away.

That said, I definately agree with running away from cars with structural rust issues...
 

Yeah dude, after 27 burned down....I thought for a second about turning it into a full out drag car...but, yeah I agree sometimes you just have to walk away from it.
 

fivestardsm

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Sep 8, 2006
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1,699
Location
Middle, Michigan
I have seen worse, and you really won't know the extent of the damage until you really strip it down. both of them can be saved if you have a lot of patience and some good know how. Sad thing is that there have been cleaner ones then that that have been scrapped. look at my #420 that 14u2nv had, it has a little bit of rust, which is tottally fixable. He was gonna toss it, and I rescued it from intiment death.

So tear it down and ask some one you know that might have some experience with rust repair, and make sure what ever you do, if you fix it, spray the repaired areas with POR-15!
 

14u2nV

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In my defense, I offered it up for others to fix before I scrapped it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif and the rust wasn't the issue I had with it.
 

fivestardsm

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No, I know that Ken, I didn't mean any offense to you by that. Just using it as an example.
 

chucklesas

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Feb 14, 2003
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Dayton, OH
Who brought this back? :p Anyway, I'm ATTEMPTING to put the white car back together... the rust is REALLY bad. I'll have to get some pictures if it ever stops raining here (pushed it out of the garage to strip paint and power wash). My roommate was suggesting I just go ahead and cut those corners out of the other shell, and try to weld the back in place on the white car. I was considering just getting a chunk of metal, tacking it in place, and drilling the holes for the fender to go back on. It's really pretty bad. I can't bring myself to buy ANOTHER clean shell though and try to give these to someone with the knowledge to fix. Anyway... gotta go PT. Later.
 

467

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Mar 16, 2001
Messages
919
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Fremont Ca
This is what I would do If I wanted to continue working on these models. Put the rusty one together without fixing the body. Use or sell it as a winter beater. Find a good shell without rust to start with.
 

chucklesas

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Since the fenders are off now you can see how bad it really is. I'm afraid to see what's under the side skirts. Any of the black areas you see have already been treated with some Rustoleum Rust converter. I used it in the bay; it's supposed to take 3 days to cure before I spray paint, which sucks, because I have a feeling I'll be dealing with some flash rusting in some bare metal spots.I guess if that happens I'll just sand it, wipe it, and go at it with the paint. LOTS of work ahead of me still.

I'll eventually start a build thread.




 

14u2nV

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I know it's not the best way, but if you want to get it repaired cheap, but long-lasting, you could wire-wheel/spot-blast that whole area as good as you can get, then fill the space with that expanding foam. Once it's dry, trim it down, then glass or bondo over it. Sand it smooth, paint it and you'll be good to go. I think that's the route I would probably take, as it's something you can do quick, with very few tools/skills and if you ever decided to have it done right later, it wouldn't be a big issue.
 

fivestardsm

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Actually Kenneth, I have done that repair before on the rockers of a probe just to make it look better to sell, well the foam is a moisture wick. It will draw it in and hold it against the metal and make it worse. Obviously I didn't care on the probe, but I would not suggest it on a VR4.

Sorry. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif
 

misterfixit

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Aug 4, 2004
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Location
Midlands, UK
do not do this it will set in the tinworm further...

Quoting 14u2nV:
I know it's not the best way, but if you want to get it repaired cheap, but long-lasting, you could wire-wheel/spot-blast that whole area as good as you can get, then fill the space with that expanding foam. Once it's dry, trim it down, then glass or bondo over it. Sand it smooth, paint it and you'll be good to go. I think that's the route I would probably take, as it's something you can do quick, with very few tools/skills and if you ever decided to have it done right later, it wouldn't be a big issue.



you'll need to get into the quarters to get at all the inner strengthening panels.. you'll be glad to know that the complete sills (middle inner and outer, and the pillars) are the same on non vr-4 and 2wd and vr4 cars. i had a pair of sills and about a foot of floor bulkhead and pillars for $10 a side here in the uk. if it's not got skirts on the donor then the sills should be very clean.

cut back to good metal, and overlap.. ie. if two panels join (pillar) splice/cross the joint, or inner panel in one place the cut and yoin the outer 3" away. you'll retain a strong shell for that.

Take off the door, and weld some angle diagonally across the openings to hold it all true as you chop the sill out. if you want the body manual sections jus shout..

Rich
 

chucklesas

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Feb 14, 2003
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My plan for the time being is to at least get a running car, I think at that point I'll be more inclined to fix the body issues. I started trying to straighten the sills and they are rotted to the point that as I tried to straighten them they just started to crumble. It was cracking about 1/2" out from the sill where the ground-effects snap into, so that's all rusted out as well. I recently bought a 220 Volt 110 Amp MIG welder, which I think should be good enough for the thinner sheet metal, so I'm considering doing the body work to remove that rust myself. While I was at it I was also thinking of taking some 1"x2" rectangular steel tubing and nesting that into the seem to help stiffin things up further. I'm also considering finding a few junk non-vr4 Galants and maybe restoring the white car as well as the black shell I have.

That's all I have for now.


Rich, if you could go ahead and send me those sections of your manual I'd appreciate it so I can reference them in the future.
 

misterfixit

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shoot me an e-mail addy and i'll get them over if you don't have a preference to having them posted here!

Rich
 

misterfixit

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Aug 4, 2004
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1,596
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Midlands, UK

misterfixit

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 4, 2004
Messages
1,596
Location
Midlands, UK

misterfixit

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 4, 2004
Messages
1,596
Location
Midlands, UK





















Posted here over mailing so everyne can use it.

That should cover it. i've posted the pillars, floor and rear rail structure as well as the panel joints are quite layered. You'll also see how the internal stacking of panels is made up. in the rusty holes you have you'll see 4 or 5 affected panels.

As i said in an earlier post you can cut back the layers, just make sure you stagger them as a butt weld is not as ductile as the sheet so you don't want them all in the same place (look at the guide for the b pillar)

rich
 
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