Rust Spots - R33: How Stuffed am I?

[BigDogRB]

Hello all,

R33 Skyline has a bit of rust. Never really noticed it, as car hasn't been driven in a long while- but there is a lot more rust than I expected.

These photos are mostly of the portion of the wheel arch toward the front of the car, in front of the strut tower. Usually where the air filter sits- hence haven't noticed them as there was an airbox in there.

Basically, is this repairable?

In the wheel arch it has not penetrated through, but it doesn't look good to me- and I don't know if it's even repairable.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing? I'm quite worried.

Cheers

Passenger side underneath near air filter location (photo flipped)

Drivers side between fuse box+strut tower

Next to import vin plate below strut tower

Passenger side seam weld, strut tower to the right side of picture (airfilter sits here)

 

Passenger side next to strut tower

[GTSBoy]

That's all repairable, but no such repair is particularly cheap. Somewhat total dismantlery required. Possible remaking or theft of replacement panel sections required.

33s and 34s a re a bit shit in the tower area. They have multiple layers of steel that get wet and rot. The middle layer rots completely before you see anything on the outside.

[FiXtUrE]

The aliens have landed…. Superficial?

[BigDogRB]

  On 27/03/2023 at 8:13 AM, GTSBoy said:

That's all repairable, but no such repair is particularly cheap. Somewhat total dismantlery required. Possible remaking or theft of replacement panel sections required.

33s and 34s a re a bit shit in the tower area. They have multiple layers of steel that get wet and rot. The middle layer rots completely before you see anything on the outside.

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Damn.

So not an easy or cheap job.

This car is so damn expensive as is, I can barely afford it 😭

[BigDogRB]

  On 27/03/2023 at 8:32 AM, FiXtUrE said:

The aliens have landed…. Superficial?

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I don't know if i'd call it superficial. Looks pretty crap

[Murray_Calavera]

  On 27/03/2023 at 9:27 AM, BigDogRB said:

I don't know if i'd call it superficial. Looks pretty crap

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Correct, it's not superficial. It's very common unfortunately

I just went crazy with the fish oil in my car and am doing lots of fingers crossed nothing gets worse. 

When the time comes I'll start hitting up workshops like this - and have everything restored better then factory. When it comes time to pay I'll just close my eyes and give them a credit card. 

http://olschoolgarage.com.au/

[GTSBoy]

  On 27/03/2023 at 8:32 AM, FiXtUrE said:

The aliens have landed…. Superficial?

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Ignorance is apparently bliss.

[FiXtUrE]

Gtsboy removing rust from his coin collection ( and getting paid for it ).

[joshuaho96]

  On 27/03/2023 at 9:26 AM, BigDogRB said:

Damn.

So not an easy or cheap job.

This car is so damn expensive as is, I can barely afford it 😭

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Unfortunately a pretty big job to fix. And if there’s rust there I bet you have more waiting under the plastic cowling  near where the wipers sit and the A pillar drains.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

pretty big job, but not impossible!

Just wait till you build a 745.7kW car, then repair/respray the engine bay.

[BigDogRB]

  On 27/03/2023 at 10:15 PM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

pretty big job, but not impossible!

Just wait till you build a 745.7kW car, then repair/respray the engine bay.

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When the stock 25DET goes pop, i'll be pulling it out and redoing the bay then.

I hope the rust repairs are doable DIY. The cost some places apparently charge is way, way out of budget.

[BigDogRB]

  On 27/03/2023 at 3:10 PM, joshuaho96 said:

Unfortunately a pretty big job to fix. And if there’s rust there I bet you have more waiting under the plastic cowling  near where the wipers sit and the A pillar drains.

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I hope not!

Car was rust free when I bought it 2-3 years ago. Guessing it had some but never got up to the surface.

I made sure to buy a 'rust free' example- lol.

[BigDogRB]

Probably due to living 3km from the beach. Paint has faded too- at lot in the past 2 years, despite it being in shade regularly. Especially for a white car- paint fade is odd.

I'm guessing the rust and fade is related to salty air. Any solutions to prevent this occuring?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

  On 28/03/2023 at 12:17 AM, BigDogRB said:

When the stock 25DET goes pop, i'll be pulling it out and redoing the bay then.

I hope the rust repairs are doable DIY. The cost some places apparently charge is way, way out of budget.

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You will need to cut into it, rust converter and weld up, add seam sealer, etc. then respray.

Not impossible, but not fun either lol.

I went in for a basic "respray", nek minnit.............. yeah could have just bought another car with that money LOL.

I had the same issues.

[GTSBoy]

  On 28/03/2023 at 12:21 AM, BigDogRB said:

Any solutions to prevent this occuring?

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Yes. Make distance from beach >> 3km. I live 20km from beach and never take my (also white) car within 10km of it. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't have these problems. OK, it also lives under cover, but it does get driven in the rain all the time. So it's no garage queen.

[joshuaho96]

  On 28/03/2023 at 12:19 AM, BigDogRB said:

I hope not!

Car was rust free when I bought it 2-3 years ago. Guessing it had some but never got up to the surface.

I made sure to buy a 'rust free' example- lol.

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There is always rust on those spots for R33s. The only question is how much. Somewhere between surface rust and a hole forming. Salt spray especially is kryptonite for these cars so I don't really know what to tell you there.

[GTSBoy]

  On 28/03/2023 at 4:09 AM, joshuaho96 said:

Salt spray especially is kryptonite for these cars so I don't really know what to tell you there

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Salt spray a la salted roads in snowy parts of the US is substantially different from just being near the coast in Oz (ie, much much worse), but broadly speaking bathing the car in salty air does them no favours at all.

Many R33s came to Oz with rust already well established from Japanese roads, and then the rust more or less stopped progressing in many of them when they got to a dry climate. But, once rust is there, it is only a little bit of trapped water or sea air away from starting to move again.

It didn't ultimately matter, as most were drifted into telephone poles before they rusted away. It's only the survivors that we have to worry about now.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

  On 28/03/2023 at 4:20 AM, GTSBoy said:

It didn't ultimately matter, as most were drifted into telephone poles before they rusted away. It's only the survivors that we have to worry about now.

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LOL

[ACTIVE-LSD]

Normal for R33 and R34. If the original owners in Japan didn't have a lockup garage then they were all parked on the street exposed to the elements. Rust starts inside out from the intersecting metal sheets.

Mine came from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka a region where it rarely snows and still have the same problem.  Best you can do is a band aid solution and wait until you fix it properly. Australia is essentially sub-tropical so rust shouldn't develop too fast.

[GTSBoy]

  On 28/03/2023 at 10:30 AM, ACTIVE-LSD said:

Australia is essentially sub-tropical so rust shouldn't develop too fast.

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The good parts are even drier.