Rust Concerns

[brian3724]

I have a few concerns on my 93 Cobra concerning rust. There is a small scratch on the front bumper that I am thinking might pose a future rust issue, but am not certain. There is also a bit of rust here and there on the undercarriage of the car. I don't know if this is anything for me to worry about or not. If it is an issue in the future, is there any way to get it off? I've been told it can be sandblasted off, but don't know the first thing about that. I loaded some pictures of my bumper and the undercarriage on image shack, and was hoping that you guys could take a look and share your thoughts. I'm thinking that some of the rusting might be due to remnants of salt left on the road from the fall and winter. Even though it only goes out in summertime, I'm sure some of that salt is still around. I appreciate your input, thanks.

ImageShack Album - 13 images

 

[WillyB93]

brian3724, The front bumper is no worry on rusting since it is plastic, probably wouldn't hurt to get some touch up paint though. The rest of the car looks to be about the usual areas on these cars, exhaust and rear end and drive shaft was common to rust a little. The underside does seem to be a little dirty wouldn't hurt to do some clean up on it.

 

[brian3724]

So do you think the undercarriage is anything I should worry about? If so, what's the worst case? Hopefully I just might need to replace a part or two way down the road. I'm going to give it a good cleaning this weekend as the South Dakota weather is finally warming up.

 

[WillyB93]

I wouldn't worried too much about it, just let it do its thing. If you was to re- paint things people would start really asking questions with such low miles.

 

[Farmer-Ted]

Looks fine. Just keep it clean. That smashed pinch weld would drive me nuts though. Might want to get it fixed.

 

[brian3724]

I looked under my car, and the pinch weld is smashed on both sides. What exactly is the purpose of that pinch weld, and do you have any ideas on what could have caused it? Is this something that I need to fixed asap, and what would happen if it didn't get fixed, or at least fixed right away? Thanks.

 

[93Cobra#2771]

Give it a bath underneath and let it go another 20 years...

 

[buddha93]

I looked under my car, and the pinch weld is smashed on both sides. What exactly is the purpose of that pinch weld, and do you have any ideas on what could have caused it? Is this something that I need to fixed asap, and what would happen if it didn't get fixed, or at least fixed right away? Thanks.

Easy. Somebody jacked up the car in that spot. There is actually a notch on both sides of the car to accept the factory jack somewhere in that smashed mess. Not that big of a deal if you want to pull them back down and straighten them out.

Overall, just looks like the car has never been in a climate controlled environment (99.9% of cars aren't) and it just developed some flash rust hear and there. And besides, once you drive them, this is what happens. A good detailing underneath will clean it up for you.

I wouldn't sweat the rust, as it's surface rust. Even if you go and knock it all down, it will just come right back unless you really prep the metal and paint it.

 

[brian3724]

Thanks buddha, that makes me feel much better. I was especially worried about the pinch welds developing rust since it's metal and some of the paint appears to have come off.