Classic Alfa Forums

Found some rust on my Sud!

Hopefully Lou can post some pics.

Pics of Dave’s rust

Sad to see this Dave. That’s quite a serious rust problem. Being so near the suspension area I know the car is MOT exempt but to be honest I wouldn’t use it. If you did have an accident the rozzers could throw the book at you.

Lou

Lou,
Having found it , I won't be driving it!
Is it repairable?
Dave

Everything is repairable Dave. It’s just a case of time and money (if your not doing it yourself) that’ll be a fair old job but certainly not impossible

That's a real shame.
All the best for the repairs.

Rsfruitbat

Sorry to see that Dave, and to add to what Lou says, it is repairable but detailed work. If you remove the wings you will get more of an idea how big the job is and how far you need to go.
Good luck.

Me again Dave. As Keith Mentioned I’d also start by removing both front wings and then stripping everything from the service bay. Including the heater and as much of the wiring loom as possible. You may also want to remove the front struts. This will allow you to do a full and extensive survey of all the affected areas. I’d give the OS a right good poke and prod and If it looks like you’ve got a similar problem then You may also want to remove the pedal box assembly.

Thanks Lou, but its my daily transport!

The psychiatrist is some distance away.

What gauge plate is best for the welding?

Hi Dave. For most of the repairs you can probably use something like, 18s gauge. This is 1.2mm obviously different parts of the car are pressed from differing gauges of steel so try to use similar thicknesses where appropriate. TBH given the current state of corrosion you could probably use sheets of wet pasta and it would still be an improvement.

Another pic of Dave’s problem. attachment=0]IMG_5650.jpeg[/attachment] As I suspected the rot has spread across the entire service bay. Sadly there is only really one way to deal with this level of corrosion and my approach would be do it right or don’t do it. Doing right however this is likely to become a very big job as you’re almost certainly going to uncover further problems the more you remove bits. Start with wings to inspect the length of the wing mounting rails. I’d then strip everything out of the entire service bay.

Looking under the wings the outer section of the strut tops are quite corroded.........like you found Keith.!

Are repair sections available for this, or is it a case of fabricating them?

.........I think they were called wing rails?

Photo to follow hopefully.

Pics of Dave’s problem

Really sorry to see that Dave.
But as the other guys have said, everything is repairable.

RH side. Sadly more of the same Whichever way you look at it it’s going to be a big job.

i'm looking for a pair of wing rails if anyone has, or knows of anything?

Sorry to say wing rail repair panels are like hen's teeth Dave. Not sure where to look. Lets hope someone gets on this thread and can help.

The strut tops seem pretty solid.
Am I right in thinking the wing rails are non structural?

Simply, supports for the top of the wings?

Well to be honest they tie the strut top mounts to the windscreen base and bulkhead as they are a box section. The front bit is more to support the wing but it all adds strength. Can you do any fabricating yourself or do you know someone who could make something?

It's surprising knowing how notorious the suds are for rusting wing rails that someone on the continent isn't making replacements. We live in hope!

Rsfruitbat

Personally I’d say the top rails are most certainly structural as Keith said they tie the strut tops to the top of the bulkhead and inner wing. The repairs are relatively simple if you just want structural integrity however cosmetic authenticity that’s when it can become a much more involved and time consuming job.

Totally agree with Lou on that one. Like i said , not sure of your background Dave but structural repairs could be made relatively easily if cosmetics are not too important. flat steel sheet and a basic box section.

I have zero welding skills and equipment.
A local mate is an amateur welder, but the job has grown too big for him.
I hope to get a regular welder out to look at the job.

Looking at P3 of Alfastruts posts under Gallery, My sud project,
He seems to have done a very neat fabrication job.

I've tried several places for wing rails but no joy

I'm glad to report that John from Justsuds collected my car today, and will do the necessary welding.

Great to hear Dave. Fingers crossed