CAN OF WORMS? How easy/problematic to deal with well known rust areas. ADVICE WELCOME

[BartonStag]

Hi all,
Thinking of a Stag purchase which has some rust/rot in the usual areas, just wondered how easy/problematic and potentially expensive they could be.
1) Rot on inside rear lip of boot - I believe a repair panel is available?
2) Rot on inside bottom of door - I believe a repair panel is available?
3) MY MAIN CONCERN. Rust between rear wing and rear of door that runs along the seams of the sill and wing. Just how much of a problem is this area to attend to?
Any thoughts/assistance from those who have had similar problems would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance as usual,
Cheers
Gord

[Hettiherald]

Hi Gord
I had rust in those areas and a few more besides. So i started to sort it out, expected it to take about a month to sort it. That was over 4 months ago!! Still no paint on it yet but hope to finish in about a month or so. The moral of the story is that any rust that you can see has the posibility to be about ten times worse than you think. Not always the case , but at least you have the worst case scenario taken care of! All the panels you need in your list are available, are doable if you can weld reasonably well, but could cost a fair bit if you need to put the work out to a good bodyshop. Still worth it though especially if you can get the car at a reasonable price.
Have fun. Dave.

[BartonStag]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for sharing your experience!! Sounds though it may be do-able after all then
Much appreciated,
Cheers
Gord

[Motorsport Micky]

Gord,

If you like driving better than being involved in garage work then look for a better example.
The Stag is like an Iceburg lettuce, there's always panels interconnected and behind the panels you see with rust on, here's a clue, cars rust from the inside out. The panels inside have been rotting for many years and are normally far worse than any "blebs" or other outside and superficial signs.
Check out the excellent "Paint and rust removal thread by Paul" it's on page 2 of the threads at the moment but ongoing and updated regularly, it shows itemised photos of the build up of the construction on the shell but sometimes misleading if you judge on those only. You need to remember this is a shell which has been stripped by pyrolysis (heat) and then dipped and rust treated by dipping for removal, so this is in the very best condition, mine and your proposed purchase are about £3k behind that for a start ! But at least the photos give an excellent idea of the work you'd be undertaking even if doing localised repairs.
Buy as expensive a Stag as you can, you'll never buy a cheaper car

Micky

[Guest]

Unless this car is dirt cheap and/or you can carry out the repairs yourself it may be wise to walk away. I started off with a hole in the rear floor pan and ended up with 2 new sills, inner sill repairs,3 new floor, new front wing and new front balance along with a full respray (not bare metal) and an unhappy Wife!

[Hettiherald]

Hi all
Stag ownership is not straightforward, it will infuriate and please in equal mesures. If you have pleanty of spare cash you can get the best cars,but they can still let you down. Do it youself will present headaches but when sorted a great feeling of success followed by more greif! Its all about what you want as an individual. I have tons of enthusiasm very little money,and a yearning to learn, so a snot box of a car was the way to go for me. I still have had 3 years of great times in my car followed by a period of repair and improvment. You pay your money and takes your choice. Life would be boring if we were all the same!
Like i said before, enjoy and have fun whatever you decide.
Dave

[tonyh]

Rust patches are always worse than they look, this is my son's Stag, a wedding gift in 2001, that he left on the drive for seven years under a car cover, I took the Stag off him and restored it last year, there were several rust patches that didn't look bad but when the body shop started to investigate it just got worse and worse. So why didn't I scrap the Stag, it's a Stag that I looked after from when it was about two years old, same owner till 2000 when I bought it and put all the goodies on it, lowering kit, Spax shocks, Cibie headlamps, leather interior, walnut dash, Wilton carpets, fresh coat of paint, re chromed, refurbished wheels and the list goes on. The Stag is now back on the road and looking great with it's new panels and paint, maybe one day he will get it back, but not for a long time yet.

04 OS rear sill.jpg05 OS rear sill.jpg06 OS sill.jpg

[kev100]

I decided to buy a relatively cheap car, £2800, mechanically it is sound, but that doesn't bother me anyway because will be stripping everything and modifying a lot, and actually a lot of the body is sound, but it does also have some major rust issue's, main reason I bought a cheap one is because I wanted to strip it, replace anything that needs replacing, then get it e-coated for protection, and then get a good respray done .. thats the absolute best I can do to delay the onset of new rust in the future .. the e-coating gets in everywhere, inside all the box sections that would normally not be protected and still prone to rusting .. not saying it is a 100% cure for rust, but it's the best system out there ....

If I had bought a £12k car that looks good and doesn't appear to have any rust .. who knows what is going on in all those unprotected box panels, previous weld repairs that have not been protected etc, and when that rust would show through again leading to bodywork and a respray

As a previous poster says .. depends what you are looking for, how much time and cash you have to put into it .. I want mine to last 20 years + without touching the bodywork again .. but who knows .. at least I would have given it the best chance out there, expensive as it is ...£3800 to strip and e-coat (after repairs) over 20 years (£190 per year) .. not such a big loss .. will be saving 3 times that much a year on not paying road tax and having classic car insurance, and a couple of 0% interest balance transfer credit cards with .99% transfer fee .. could keep it bouncing between them forever ..

There are definitely a few ways to go ..

[BartonStag]

Hi all,
Thanks to all for your responses - have checked out the car but decided to walk away from it. Just didn't feel it was the right one for me.
All thoughts have been greatly appreciated, thanks for taking the time.
All the best
Gord