body and interior Rear Shock Tower Rust

[Utah02]

Hey guys,

So I got an endoscope the other day to poke around in my shock towers and it actually went better than I thought. Attached are some photos of the inside of my shock towers. I'm still looking for advice on whether or not to patch or replace the whole thing.

First photo is my right shock tower coming in from the trunk. Seems to be pretty decent.

Second photo is my right shock tower being viewed from the hole by the back seat. Really solid!

Third photo is my right shock tower looking right from the hole in the trunk. Some sort of plug on the right? Any info on that?

Fourth photo is my left shock tower. View from the trunk. This one seems much worse and will require some attention.

Fifth photo is similar to the fourth but more of the left side. Pretty rusty.

Sixth photo if a view is the right one coming in from the trunk but the backside of the back seat. Seems to be pretty good. Down at the bottom is the black opening to the inside of the car. Below is rusty and above is very nice.

Seventh is a photo cutting a little of the bad metal to see inside.

Eighth is a photo of the left one from the trunk

Ninth is a view from the inside.

Thanks for taking the time to give me tips and pointers. It really helps a lot.

Again I'd just like to know what you guys think would be he best way to replace them.

Utah02

Edited March 17, 2015 by Utah02

[Henning]

Jo Utah,

 

I guess that's a pre-74 car. Later cars don't have the plastic plug.

Go on by checking the left tower from below very carefully, the left towers start to rust earlier than the right ones- my experience. If there's just one single rusthole, as small as it may be- replace the entire towers both sides. This is what you should do anyway if the rest of the car is -concerning its body- in above-average shape.

 

Hen

[Mike Self]

The towers on my '69 were rusting through along the bottom edge of spot weld where the spring support is welded to the inner wheel arch--the rust line was visible in the trunk.  I took action when I noticed a stress crack working its way up from the rust line towards the upper shock mount (the cylinder atop the wheel arch).  First I welded up the crack--about 50 feet of MIG wire did the trick.  Then I cut all the rust back to sound metal along the rust line, and MIG welded in a heavy gauge plate all along the rusted seam.  Once that was done, I formed some L-shaped plates and welded them along the outside of the same seam, up inside the wheel well.  

 

Finally I primered with a damp-proof red primer (Sherwin Williams makes an excellent industrial primer meant for bridges and ships) and painted.  Final step was to take rustproofing spray (Bilstein 2000, Waxoyl etc) and douse the inside of the spring support, accessing via the two plugged holes inside the wheel well, and drilling two new holes, one in the trunk and the other behind the back seat.  Thah was in 1984, and no subsequent rust, even though it went through 16 more Ohio winters before becoming a summer-only car.  

 

Bottom line:  given what your pictures show, if you (or a friend) can weld, you can make a good, strong repair of what you have.

 

cheers

mike

[Utah02]

Jo Utah,

 

I guess that's a pre-74 car. Later cars don't have the plastic plug.

Go on by checking the left tower from below very carefully, the left towers start to rust earlier than the right ones- my experience. If there's just one single rusthole, as small as it may be- replace the entire towers both sides. This is what you should do anyway if the rest of the car is -concerning its body- in above-average shape.

 

Hen

Henning, 

 

There is no visible rust from below. it seems to be pretty solid. So maybe just patch it up like Mike said? 

Thanks for the input.

 

Utah02

The towers on my '69 were rusting through along the bottom edge of spot weld where the spring support is welded to the inner wheel arch--the rust line was visible in the trunk.  I took action when I noticed a stress crack working its way up from the rust line towards the upper shock mount (the cylinder atop the wheel arch).  First I welded up the crack--about 50 feet of MIG wire did the trick.  Then I cut all the rust back to sound metal along the rust line, and MIG welded in a heavy gauge plate all along the rusted seam.  Once that was done, I formed some L-shaped plates and welded them along the outside of the same seam, up inside the wheel well.  

 

Finally I primered with a damp-proof red primer (Sherwin Williams makes an excellent industrial primer meant for bridges and ships) and painted.  Final step was to take rustproofing spray (Bilstein 2000, Waxoyl etc) and douse the inside of the spring support, accessing via the two plugged holes inside the wheel well, and drilling two new holes, one in the trunk and the other behind the back seat.  Thah was in 1984, and no subsequent rust, even though it went through 16 more Ohio winters before becoming a summer-only car.  

 

Bottom line:  given what your pictures show, if you (or a friend) can weld, you can make a good, strong repair of what you have.

 

cheers

mike

Mike,

 

As of now this is the plan. I'll get some sort of patch from a junk yard or similar and weld up a good repair. 

Thanks!

 

Utah02

[Henning]

Here's what I found in a bare shell last year:

 

 

 

Before:

 

 

 

And after:

 

 

 

The opportunity to sandblast was great- but unfortunelately no equipment at hand. I think you'll get it like this or similar and this will last a very long time, if carefully protected against new rust.

 

Hen