Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

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Damian
Posts: 142
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:50 pm
Location: Derby

Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by Damian »

Hello all

I had water getting into the driver's side footwell so I decided to investigate...

On removing everything I found the two little holes responsible but I also found that the body end pick up point for the front suspension lower arm is really badly roted with a huge hole!

http://s939.photobucket.com/user/damomr ... MK1%201988

(one picture is underside passenger side brace bar fixing with is also rotted!)


My question is, can this area be repaired or it it terminal? It's very close to suspension mounting, anti-roll bar etc... :-(

Any thoughts please?

Damian
PW@Woodsport
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by PW@Woodsport »

Having restored many Mk1s over the last 20 years I'm not afraid of encountering rust in any area of the car, sills, floors, door posts, roof sections etc can all be repaired easily.

Image

However that area in question has seen many a Mk1 off to the breakers yard, the reason being you need to cut the lower suspension mounting point out to repair it properly, as the rot is right in behind it. Now a quick plate up job will probably see you a year or two more out of it, but eventually the entire mounting point will rot out and is actually very unsafe well before that happens, imagine that lower mounting ripping off the chassis at speed.... it doesn't bear thinking about.

The problem trying to repair that properly means the mount needs removing, so you lose the datum point of where it used to be after repairing the inner chassis area, you would need to make a jig to catch that bolt hole before cutting it out, repair all of the rot and use the jig to weld a new mounting point in.

The cost of doing something like that outweighs the value of many Mk1s and they inevitably get scrapped. I normally call time on any Mk1 I see that has rot in this specific area as there is no easy way to rescue it long term.
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Damian
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Location: Derby

Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by Damian »

Hi

Thanks for your detailed reply. Your reply pretty much confirmed what I suspected although it's very sad to hear... :-(
PW@Woodsport
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by PW@Woodsport »

No problem, it's by far the biggest enemy we face as Mk1 owners.
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Damian
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by Damian »

I know... :-(

Anyone got any success stories from this area??
SonicSW20
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by SonicSW20 »

A proper repair as Paul has described will most likely cost more than a decent Mk1 shell. You're better off getting another one, rust proofing it, and transferring the good bits from your existing car.
jimzzr
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by jimzzr »

Damian wrote:I know... :-(

Anyone got any success stories from this area??


Not as bad as yours but worth mentioning for any with similar but less severe issues.

http://www.mr2oc.co.uk/know-your-2/mk1. ... kbartid=32

That said his repair won't last forever as there's almost certainly some rot remaining.
PW@Woodsport
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by PW@Woodsport »

Agreed, it's the internal part of that area that you cannot get access to unless the mounting point is chopped out, as I mentioned above you could plate up the external easy to get at bits and It will last a year or two, but you really do have a ticking time bomb on your hands internally.
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jimzzr
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by jimzzr »

Perhaps it would be possible to re-circulate/spray a chemical rust remover into the cavity, jet-wash out the debris and then flood with waxoil? Hand held boroscopes are quite cheap these day so could inspect to see if the removers done the job.

Anyone ever tried this?
PW@Woodsport
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by PW@Woodsport »

It's rotten in there though, the steel is too far gone and needs replacing.
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Damian
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by Damian »

A year on from this post the car has sat in the same state. Just put a battery on it and it started first time!

Think I'm going to have to admit defeat on it and let it go. It's just too big a job and I don't have the time to do it.

What's the best thing to do? EBay for spares or repair? Advert on here? :cry: :cry: :cry:
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Lauren
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Re: Front suspension lower arm body pick up with pictures - help needed.

Post by Lauren »

Sorry to hear that. You'll need to be a premium member to advertise on here.
2020 GR Yaris - Circuit Pack :lover:
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