Car chopping

[TobyB]

I cut up another rusted- out shell last night.

It's kindo of traumatic- there's the

'oh, nuts, I'm killing another car'

and then there's the

'oh, wow, this thing is RUSTY- it's kind of surprising it held together.... wonder what my street car looks like in there?'

and then there's

'oh, my, GOD- what a MESS I've made! And it's already 11pm...'

But it's cool- the 2002's a pretty elegant design!

t

[Zenon]

Having just done similar, I feel your pain and share your sentiments.

This was a "freebie", already partially stripped when I got it but still looked pretty nice. I felt bad about killing it and initially thought I should try to put it back on the road it but then I had a closer look. This shell had rocker and rear quarter panels simply laid over the rusty ones and, mostly, not structurally welded in, either. Bondo in abundance. The rear spring perches/inner wheel arches were toast. The floors were no longer attached to the inner rockers.

Not really worth the effort for what I got out of it but I was also operating out of morbid curiousity - cutting it up gave me a whole new appreciation for how well made and efficiently designed '02s are.

regards,

Zenon

[bcthomas122279]

what did you use to chop it up? I have to do the same thing this spring.

[Zenon]

what did you use to chop it up? I have to do the same thing this spring.

Reciprocating saw. Use a really long blade, 12" or more - short ones get "stubbed" inside various sections and then break off instantly. Buy spares anyway. Ask me how I know. ;-)

[MatthewCervi]

what did you use to chop it up? I have to do the same thing this spring.

Reciprocating saw. Use a really long blade, 12" or more - short ones get "stubbed" inside various sections and then break off instantly. Buy spares anyway. Ask me how I know. ;-)

Yup, I used shorter blades and went through dozens of them. Kind of a fun process though once you get through the initial cut.

[Arizona02]

by trail and error. Long blade for the frame rail area, shorter for thin area, and check the blade for looseness after a few cuts, may have to retighten the allen bolt due to vibration.

[70roundtail02]

I totally chopped up a 79 jeep cherokee with a 12 amp dewalt sawzall reciprocating saw. It might just be my favorite tool.

[ToddK]

My interpretation of the car after chopping is quite different. I say what a flimsy construction, and look at all of the inaccesable places for rust to accumulate. I don't understand why the tub is so light and all of the bolt on stuff is so heavy. I hope that is a crash safety design. The doors and hood weigh a ton and don't even have structural beams in them. It does make me wonder what's festering in the dark recesses of my car. I guess I won't know until it pops thru or I wreck it. I'm glad I have a cage in mine.

[Brandon]

I've done that before. The cars do cut up very easily due to the rust and the paper thin sheet metal that BMW used.

[Gil]

Engineers usually only specify what is needed for something to work properly. The bodies on 02s actually have pretty decent metal thickness. If you want to see flimsy, cut up an old Datsun. They are like beer cans, and I am sure you could actually cut one up with a can opener. You can dent a lot of newer Japanese vehicles just by flicking a finger against the body. That is more than builit-in crumple zones, it's minimalist engineering.

What I think is poor engineering in 02 bodies, is the nooks and crannies where dirt and moisture can collect to promote rot. Like around the front turn signals, and in the rear shock towers. Why did they do that??

Now that you have got me going, have you ever seen the bumpers on newer trucks? Once upon a time, they were heavy duty thick metal, but now they are simply called "valances" and are just really thin sheet metal pretending to look like a bumper. A lot of them are just plastic too.

Ever seen an 02 that has been heavily rear-ended? They don't crumple, they fold around the weaker area in the body, which is the rear wheel well. It looks looks someone put one over their knee and bent it.

It's my opinion that 02s were built like the proverbial shitehouse. The fact that there are still so many around that we are able to cut up, is a testament to there quality construction. Most other vehciles of similar vintage have long since dissolved away or been sent to the crusher.

I once had a new car salesman (for a US car brand) tell me that the reason Japanese and European cars rust out so quickly is because of the high re-cycled steel content in the bodies. He went on to say that is because of all the rust that is still in the old re-cycled steel. Wow! I did not know that! And the salesman believed it too.

Having said all that, it sure is fun to attack a shell with a Sawzall. I used a cutting torch on a shell once. BAD choice. And I know it is depressing to end the life of an 02, but it is better for an 02 enthusiast to do the dirty deed rather than some uncaring person at a recycling plant..... Hopefully, you were able to salvage a bit of sheet metal to keep another 02 on the road. I have a stockpile of various pieces from about half a dozen 02s.

Gil

[bimmerboy]

ive never thought the 02 body to be flimsy

it may not be a volvo but then again its got about 500 lbs(lighter) on a volvo

[-=Charley]

jeez.. u should warn people b4 u post pics like that chopped up 02

[Eric_in_Alaska]

I'm going to cut up my retired and bottom-rusted '72 with sunroof. I want to save the roof for a potential swap onto a non-sunroof car -- or offer it for anyone wanting to do that. Where should I cut --- high or low on the pillars?

Eric Stice