85 Corolla rust repair

[Metal Masher]

So my dad has this 85 Corolla that after several years decided to sell. it has always been in the family since new starting with my aunt, then my brother then my dad. it is fairly desirable being a last year rear wheel drive corolla and a 5 speed to boot but it was getting pretty rusty around the lower control mounts and wouldn't pass PA inspection.

I wanted to help him get as much for it as possible so i decided to fix the rust issues so it can get the sticker to make it legal.

Here is how it looked before i started.





I started by getting the car in the air and removing the thick undercoating to get a real good idea of just how bad it was.

This is the drivers side.







At first i thought i could just patch it but the more i looked the more i realized that wasn't going to fly so out came the interior to see how bad the floor was.





YUCK! i knew i was in for a lot of work but made the commitment to get it fixed the right way because that's just how i am.

Now it got more intense. the only way to fix the floor was to remove the whole lower mount so i zipped off the control arm bolts and pulled out the spot weld cutter. it didn't take very long to get the mount off.







i hope there is at least enough to make a template from!

now the rocker looks really good!



Next up I will need to clean things up to prepare for patch panels.

[Metal Masher]

now that i had clear view of the cancer it was time to clear it out. i cleaned up the holes keeping the sections removed for templates.





here is the passenger side






then i started digging around up front and found some more rot.



The frame "rail" had some extensive rust as well. that will need to get opened up as well i guess.





Next i turned my attention to the mounts. at first i was just going to plate them but the more i looked at them the more i realized i was going to have to recreate the shape but before that i needed to get the mounts off.



EEEKK! not much to work with but i think i'll be fine.

I began with a simple brake and rolled the top edge for some shape



I did the other side at the same time to keep them consistent.



Then it gets a bit complicated by pounding the indentation for the control arm mount





worked pretty good



then came the piece for the top



I didn't get a shot of it installed.

The other side took a little more work. i had to make a copy of the front flange to have something to work from



then the other side was made as a mirror of the first mount



then to make the relief for the end of the control arm i carved a buck out of wood



Then pounded the metal into the buck



finally it was cut to fit the top of the mount



next the control arm mount was test fitted



happy it was time to burn it all together



then they were ground down some



and the final test fit



here they are ready to go back into the car. now i just need to get the floor repaired.

[Sarra]

This thread makes me happy I live in a place where the roads don't get salted. D: My car never had cancer at all until I moved to Utah for a winter, now I've got some small spots, but nothing on the body (gas flap and hood prop rod have rust, nothing else).

[EeePee]

Helhedded, loon and hoopty are gonna pop boners when they see you take it out on Tsukaba and blow the doors off the record for a timed lap.

Can't wait, yo!

[BigSki]

Is this in your garage?

[Noll11]

Looking great so far!

I just picked up a '82 Lada Niva that's been sitting in a shed for 13 years (it has some bad rusty patches), and I've never done any 1:1 metalwork. Will be following this to see how your resto goes for ya and hopefully pick up some tips for myself!

[MattTheGenus]

Dayum that thing was a goner! I don't know what these are worth, but I have to think you could spend the time making sheet metal rabbit statues and make more money...

Nice work so far though!

[BJoe]

Damn, the '85 Lebaron GTS Turbo I scrapped back in '04 wasn't that bad, and it was bad enough that I scrapped it!

[helhedded]

'scribed