Can I save my 1990 Jetta's rusted underside?

More of an art than a science - discuss metalworking and welding here.



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PostPosted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:51 am
Hi,

I'm newbie here so please bear with me and correct me, if I do anything wrong.

I have a 1990 Jetta. The body is in good shape. But the bottom has a lot of rust. The car is parked and I'm not driving it. I know where I can order new floor pans and other such items online (fixmyrust.com, andysautosport.com, & topbananaparts.com). I also know a couple of autobody mechanics in my area.

There's a bulge right under the driver's seat because the area has really rusted.

Also, the back of the car's underside has really rotted out. I think this is an area that is not covered by floor pans. In fact, I'd love to know what the panels are called.

Anyway, I'd love to get some general feedback as to whether this is a doable project or not. I'm especially interested in knowing whether anyone has ever done such a job.

Any feedback will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!
Attachments
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Bulge under driver's seat



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PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:43 pm
Short answer, yes that type of damage is able to be repaired with a couple of caveats.

Is it worth it? Unless it's a collector car or has serious sentimental value it's not going to be worth repairing in terms of what it's going to cost and what it's going to add in terms of value to the car.

If that part of the car is damaged that severely you're going to need to look at other areas as well. Rust is often called a cancer because it spreads to other panels and can be difficult to find and remove. It looks like you may have unibody damage (damage to the structural integrity of the unibody chassis) in which case the car is a total. While it's possible to fix even unibody damage for this ride it's typically not worth it. You'd see this kind of restoration on highly desirable or rare cars, for example late 60s early 70s Mopar.

Other areas to check would but the lower quarter panels particularly the rear part of the front fender well and the front part of the rear fender well. If your floors are that bad off your quarters are probably dusted.

Assuming it's just the floors and potentially the quarters it's possible but even if you are doing it yourself it's going to be expensive. If you were thinking of paying someone it's going to cost more than the car is worth and even then if you add it what tools you need to fix it and your time plus material it's still probably more than the car is worth.



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:58 pm
vegasloki,

I really appreciated your response, even though it's not what I wanted to hear.

I know some local autobody mechanics who can weld new floor pans in. But the problem is that there's a lot of rust with other metals under the car (but some of these metals can be ordered from the same company that has the floor pans).

My big problem with getting another car is having to make car payments. I have a very good credit rating and can easily qualify for a car loan. But I've always been against getting a car loan. I just think a car loan is ridiculous because a car begins to depreciate the moment you buy it and start driving it.

I bought this VW Jetta in 2001. It's the only car I've owned.

There's one local autobody mechanic who told me yesterday that he could restore my car's underside for $3000.00. Is such a deal worth it?



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PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:58 am
I wouldn't spend $3k on a 90 Jetta. It's only worth about $500, if that. You've got some serious unibody rot. He'll likely find more once he digs into it. For $3k you could buy a newer used car that wouldn't need the work a 30 year old car will need. At this point I see it as throwing good money after bad.



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PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 4:42 pm
If you don't mind, if you only had $3000 what kind of used car would you buy?



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:15 pm
Depends on your market. You'll need to start backwards, see what's available in your area then decide which car in your price range is the best fit.



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 5:29 am
stripedbass wrote:vegasloki,
There's one local autobody mechanic who told me yesterday that he could restore my car's underside for $3000.00. Is such a deal worth it?

I don't have any idea what that should cost, but what he said isn't worth much, and if he put on paper it will almost certainly be an estimate---subject to change. And even if he does it for $3000, you still have a 27 year old car that could soon need other major repairs.

In Las Vegas you should be able to get a good solid car for $3000, look around and see what is available.

Edit: Oops, maybe you are not in Las Vegas, but you need to look around in your area to see what is available.



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PostPosted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 8:21 pm
I need to mention something.

Just out of genuine curiosity, I posted an ad at another website targeted at local welders (as opposed to autobody mechanics), regarding my car's rust. I provided a number of photos of the car's rust.

Basically, I wanted to know whether there was any welder out there who felt that he could fix my car and how much he would charge.

To my surprise, a lot of welders responded to my ad and stated that they could cut out the rusted metal and weld in new floor pans. And they asked for much less.

I cannot help but wonder whether a welder can actually install floor pans in a car or whether I can only go with an autobody mechanic. I made it clear in the ad that a welder needs to know what he's doing since I'd be ordering floor pans which are not exactly cheap. But this did not seem to faze them.

All this has me wondering... :)



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PostPosted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:30 pm
That car has more problems than rusted floor pans.

To do even a basic floor panel replacement you'll need to remove the seats, carpeting and deadening. You'll need to unplug and remove the PCU (aka "computer") so you don't inadvertently fry it with the current to ground during the welding. You should also drain the fuel and depending on where your wiring harness, fuel and brake lines are in relation to what you're cutting out those may need to moved and re installed during the process. Once the panel is in you'll need to prep, prime and paint the replacement panel, both sides. The cost in a job like this isn't cutting out rot and welding in new panels, it's getting to the point where you can cut out the rot then putting it all back together.

I'll offer this final bit of experience in that anyone giving you a firm price without seeing the car first hand probably isn't going to be qualified to do the job. You've been given some advice from people that have seen this sort of thing before. A bunch. At this point it looks to me that instead of forging ahead with a solution (which in reality is to replace the vehicle) you're looking for a justification to proceed with a repair that you intended to do anyway regardless of any information you may have gathered. The floor panels seem to be the least of your worries in terms of rust damage. From the pics you've got serious unibody frame damage, perhaps enough to render the vehicle unsafe. If you've had enough salt/spray damage to rot the pans through, you've almost certainly got other serious corrosion issues. It's time for a new car.



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PostPosted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:28 am
Where is the car located?

Do any of the rusted area have holes?

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