Rust on your skyline

[foznice]

Over the last 24 hours or so, i've been looking at this skyline:

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/2729

everything seems to be perfect bar a few little cracks that don't bother me too much. I just called j-spec, and the guy I spoke to said that an oil stain/minor leak usually means that bits of crap have just been flying off the engine and that it dosn't imply that there's anything actually wrong with the engine itself, which satisfies me.

But the only problem is the rust, "minor rust in left rear guard". The guy said that rust on the rear guards and some other places (door seals I think) are quite common on r32's. He said that to have this repaired that it would cost around 1000 dollars as (I can't fully remeber the details but they went something along the lines of this) the rusty parts need to be cut out, scraped/sanded and bend back in... Its a bit of a downer....

So has anybody else had this problem with rust, how did you deal with it, (and if you don't mind me asking PM if needbe) how much did it cost to get repaired? Do you guys think that buying this car is worth the hassle of dealing with the rust??

I hope I can get something before the 15yr rule ends

EDIT: the j-spec server/database has crapped itself and isn't working at the moment... from what i can describe, the car is a april 1990 2DOOR r32gtst, stock as a rock: 1990 Nissan Skyline GTS-T Type-M

Built in Apr 1990

2.0L turbo

5 speed manual

white

159,200 km's

power windows

power steering

air conditioner

HKS turbo timer

stereo has been removed

oil stain or minor leak

scratch on front & rear bumpers

crack on left tail light surround

crack on lower left rear pod/skirt

minor rust in left rear guard

... 270,000 yen FOB .. around $6,900 landed excluding compliance

[cowie165]

Hey Rylan

As the driver of an R32 now nicknamed "Rusty", I (as politely as possible) suggest another R32. If you're happy to import a hangar queen, then it may be ok, but there's probably a lot more rust around. Hats off to Ben for being honest and upfront about the condition of the vehicle.

Imho save yourself the hassle and look for another vehicle - even one in Aus?

I haven't had my rust (sills) repaired as yet - the wallet needs to graze a while longer to fatten itself up.

Cheers

Mark

[foznice]

thanks mark, I can only just afford a car for about 7k max when you include compliance onroad costs and spare money for the rest.. so I can't really find anything in Aus at the moment because to my knowledge the cheapest 32gtsts in aus go for about 12k (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't really need the car on the road until december (when I'm 18) so I don't mind spending the time to rectify the problem (if i can). But I will definatly keep my eyes open. The thing that has me is the way that it says minor rust IN the left guard.. Does this mean that I can sand it down and not worry about painting it?? I'm pretty hazy on the process of cleaning up rust so if anybody can fill me on this it would be much appreciated

[foznice]

Sorry to go OT in my own thread but, the other thing that concerns me is that people will buy the car and THEN have it checked over by an independent mechanic. If the mechanic finds something terminally wrong and I have to sell the car, will I lost much on it? Or can it even be resold? Thanks again guys

[cowie165]

If you've got time on your hands, it may well be the way to go. Mine is barely driven at the moment whilst I do the 'standard' 89mdl repairs.

You could spread the cost out over the year but still take advantage of the 15yr rule. Did you notice J-spec has added another R32 that looked nice/straight?

Re: reselling - We are all buying cars at a fairly well inflated price, eg pre-15yr rule, 89 GTR's were around Y500k(ish) and now average Y1M. That means that if you buy the car, decide to sell it overseas then expect to sell it for 40% of what you paid, if you can find a buyer. Remember that noone is going to assist you with the sale though

Based on your budget, it could well be a goer (long-term)

Mark

[foznice]

yeah I've seen the other 32gtst (if thats the one that your talking about) with the massive dent in the bonnet (sliver coupe) for 6,800 which may also be the go but it says possible paint fade dents (we can see those) and rust hmmm same problem.. except there's less info on it. If your not talking about that then do you mean the 32-4door going for 7,700? That ones probably a bit out of my budget and I really can't get used to the look of the 4 door.

only 40% wow, I read somewhere else on here that if the car turns out to be a lemon after the mechanical inspection then they can resell it with very little lost.... so if I buy this car and I don't even know if it's mechanically sound and then engineer looks at it and says, and see's all this terminal rust on the chassis (am I being realistic? is this common) then im ****** because I can't really re sell it, and if I bring it here I'll have to spend an arm and a leg to rectify the rust (and possibly engine).

But what I still don't get (politely as possible) is when it says minor rust IN left rear gaurd.. Does this mean that it's on the inside where there's not paint?? I'm going to call j-spec and talk a little more about the rust.. thanks again mark.

[foznice]

well can't get through to j-spec phone rang out. I don't actually know exactly where the left rear guard is (stupid I know).. Is it that skirting type panel behind the left wheel, or is it the left side of the back bumper? If there is a bit of rust there... is it a cosmetic thing that I should be worrying about or is it something that can errode and cause hell to the chassis and the future wellbeing of the car?

[daler32]

the left rear guard to my knowledge is the panel from the back door to the back of the car. and when they say in i would imagine they mean it is past the stage of just surface rust and actually started to do damge to the panel. but id still do it try and get some pics of the rust and see how bad it really is.

[foznice]

heres a pic of the car showing the left hand side and the panel that dale described (thanks) but I can't see any rust on it... *scrathes head*

[daler32]

theres could possibly be slight bubbles in the paint. there is on my car. also just be weary of the side skirts. i took mine off a month or two after buying the car and there was a rust hole in the sill that you could fit a coke can through. cant afford to get it fixed as yet so i just hit it with a wire brush and sum rust paint and put the skirt back on lol. not game to go looking again. i just dread the day i open the door and the car folds in half lol

[cowie165]

Hi Rylan

Well the 40% is just my opinion. J-spec/Prestige have suppliers that are trying to offload cars, not sell more at a loss. Imagine if you bought a car from a dealer here then decided nope and wanted him to buy it back - chances are he'd only offer a pittance (ie. a fair loss on your part, so he can make money selling it again).

I agree with Dale about the rear guard. It's the one behind the door above the wheel. I also agree about the rust IN the guard. As it's a flat panel, it may not be too expensive to fix and then paint on top. Perhaps you could get it fixed first, then paint it when (if?) you buy skirts or a new front bar or whatever.

The other R32 was the silver one, but yep I forgot it said rust there too

If J-Spec can get you more pics, close ups, then that mightn't be too bad. MAKE SURE you get pics of underneath (chassis, sills) and inside the boot, under the carpet. Just a tiny bit of extra insurance that it isn't a total rust bucket. If they say no sorry too hard, then pass on the car. If the car is good to go, I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking a few more pics to convince a potential buyer.

Daler32: a coke can! damn! What's the best way to fix that you think? My car's rust is in the sills - looks like it has been forklifted or mounted a gutter or something and then rusted at the dock.

Mark

[daler32]

panel beater sed they have to cut out the whole sill and the one on my passenger side looks like it has been run against a gutter too. maybe it normal to run ur car along a gutter in japan?? lol

[froggy]

mate 7g thats not much... just think about how much more ur gonna hae to pay.. new tyres, there could be a million more things wrong with it other then rust, service its gonna cost you close to 10grand thats if everything goes well... i reckon you wait until december where u will have saved up more money and buy a car in australia... it saves you the hassle... thats just what i think anyway

[predator]

don't buy a car with rust..

don't rush into anything..

what froggy said... and that car will cost you $9-10k on road, if you are lucky there.

[foznice]

yeah point taken froggy, but when the 15yr rule goes out the door and SEVS comes in, who knows what might happen to the local prices.. I think that they will go up most likley as there is less demand for importing...

daler32: So the bubbles imply that moisture builds up under the paint somehow, and starts to eat into the actual panel? Also, in relation to the rust underneath your skirting, did you get the independent mechanic to inspect the car? I suppose the mechaincs wouldn't go to the trouble of taking off the skirts to check for rust so I suppose there is still that risk of unkown rust :S.....

Mark: Thanks for that.. what about entering your car in a japanese auction? Not nessacly a dealer? Do you think that minus the costs of entering in the auction I might be able to break even? You know how with the silver 32 jspec say that there is possible rust. Would this be info that they assume given that there is visable paint fading and denting, or would it be something that the dealer has told them? Thanks for the suggestion about the pictures also, I'll email j-spec about that.

Being a flat panel.. what's involved in fixing? Do they just sand the paint back and scarpe the rust out then fill it with something... then repaint??... How much do you think this will cost?

cheers

[foznice]

Thanks gordon, I'm trying to look at this at every angle... but is there anyway to be sure that your car is rust free referring to daler32's example about the rust underneath the skirting?

Now Im starting to think that it might be better to spend a little bit more money for a cleaner version, and then save up more money after it's landed to get it onto the road..

[daler32]

no way to find out if there is rust under ur skirts unless u pull em off

[slow13dude]

Speaking of rust... I had a little bit of rust on the rear quarter panels on my R32 GTR. But why do aluminium panels rust? I thought aluminium was a non-rusting metal???

[predator]

Thanks gordon, I'm trying to look at this at every angle... but is there anyway to be sure that your car is rust free referring to daler32's example about the rust underneath the skirting?

well the problem with rust is that if there is some rust, that is visible, there is quite likely to be other little bits of rust elsewhere, like under the panels and things which is the major concern. Usually if there is rust, its not just in that one spot, its starting to come through in a few spots for whatever reason. If there is rust in the rear 1/4 panel, then thats (more) difficult to fix up, as a section has to be cut out, new section welded in.. smoothed, painted, etc - its not a cheap process to fix a bit of rust in the actual bodywork rather than external panel (where u can just take it off and replace the whole thing). You could just ring up a panel shop and "theroetically" say your car has a fist sized bit of rust "how much to fix" and you'll get an idea of how much it might cost you to get fixed

That is why its a good turn off sign to go look at something else. Its not like you can take a drive and look at it locally, so I wouldn't be taking the risk personally. I do know that at the moment a lot of the "left" 1989/early 90 models are looking a bit more tired than 6-12 months ago... as there is less supply.

If you are happy with a stock car (and that one is quite stock anyhow), you can just wait a bit and save a bit more money - and you'll get a cleaner car than most of the 89 ones and probably higher resale. Under SEVS, any rust is basically disallowed i think. So no importer will take the risk of getting one with major rust.

[Fly By]

Speaking of rust... I had a little bit of rust on the rear quarter panels on my R32 GTR.  But why do aluminium panels rust?  I thought aluminium was a non-rusting metal???

Aluminium corrodes, it turns into a light grey powdery, sometimes flakey material. As opposed to the typical brown rust on ferrous metals.