Hey all, while pulling off my rear wheel well liners a bit ago, I was shocked to find my driver upper frame rail(and almost certainly passenger rail) is completely rusted out. This is something I really should have found when purchasing the car, but my nerves had the better of me with it being my first car. There were a lot of things i missed. Anyways, I plan to clean up whats left of the frame rail and fix it. I have a couple ideas for how to go about it, but would like to get the opinions of those much more experienced than I am.
This is how badly gone the rail is:
As you can see, the trunk is also starting to get pretty bad, but I wanted to keep the thread more focused.
My primary idea is to clean and square up what is left of the rail, and weld in a bracket somewhat like this:
(The blue cylinder is just a reference point of the strut tower)
Its just a rough example, but I feel it gets the point across. Of course I will be POR-15-ing everything I put in. If anyone has suggestions or better ideas I am all ears!
Some kind soul posted this a while back and it provides the dimensions for making a new frame rail.
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Not to be a party pooper... but are you sure it is worth the time and hassle? There are still a decent number of rust free Fieros lurking in the southern states. May be a lot easier to find another car than trying to fix up one that is so badly rotten. Your time has value too, remember that
If you can weld and do metal work then doing a repair is the most cost effective way to go. There really isn't that much metal back there. It's also nice to see another Fiero saved. If you're not a competent welder (or don't have a friend who is competent welder) then you'd be safer just switching to solid southern Fiero. Of course, where I live it can be extremely hard to find a reasonably priced rust free Fiero, and so saving what you have is often the only choice.
Not to be a party pooper... but are you sure it is worth the time and hassle? There are still a decent number of rust free Fieros lurking in the southern states. May be a lot easier to find another car than trying to fix up one that is so badly rotten. Your time has value too, remember that
For the meantime I am. I'm lucky enough to be in a position that this project isn't hurting me, and I really would like to keep this car for a good while. Still got a lot of plans for it
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Originally posted by PhatMax:
For me it was less time consuming to just fix it. The rest of the metal on the car is in great shape..
Unless I am vastly underassuming how long this will take, I can't imagine it taking that long really. I have the rest of michigan winter to get it welded all together, and that's just so I'm able to drive it in the spring/summer. If it takes longer than that, its not the end of the world
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Originally posted by Neils88:
If you can weld and do metal work then doing a repair is the most cost effective way to go. There really isn't that much metal back there. It's also nice to see another Fiero saved. If you're not a competent welder (or don't have a friend who is competent welder) then you'd be safer just switching to solid southern Fiero. Of course, where I live it can be extremely hard to find a reasonably priced rust free Fiero, and so saving what you have is often the only choice.
I'm confident enough in my welding that I trust myself for it. I've seen enough of my welds get bent and pass flawlessly while i'm finishing up my Welding Technology Certificate in school. If need be, I can make new frame rails with the specs Dennis shared. I would just prefer it doesn't come to that!
If you're getting certified in welding, then just look at this like practice.
The rust doesn't look *too* bad.
That's what I was thinking, it doesn't seem like a new rail is needed. I just wasn't sure if my idea would be strong enough, so i figured id ask on here if anyone knows for sure
I figured with it being pretty thin metal on the rail, what I put in would be plenty stiff to keep from bending. Looks like about 1/16" steel, and I was planning to use 1/8"
Don't get the upper frame rails too stiff. The space frame is stamped, shaped, spot welded as a laminate in certain areas specifically to crush in an impact to protect the passenger cocoon. The upper frame rails do not need to be that heavy, as there is not much weight being supported - the construction geometry provides the rigidity that is needed.
You don't want to get speared by an upper frame rail in a rear end collision.
I've replaced the rusted areas on several Fieros over the years, and continue to be amazed at the engineering of the space frame.
