Big MOT Fail!

Discussion and technical advice for 84-89 AW10 & AW11 MR2. 3A-LU, 4A-GE, 4A-GZE.

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goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Big MOT Fail!

Post by goodfella »

Big problems....

After just having all my arches made mint the cars failed the MOT on corroded supspension mountings. This is the test sheet.....

Offside front (floor) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Offside rear (floor to sill) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Offside rear (outer sill) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Nearside rear (outer sill) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Both sides brake pipes corroded

Offside and Nearside front sills corroded


Is it game over?? Iv just forked out £450ish to sort the arches and i really dont know what my options are now. I love the 2 but could this cost stupid money to sort??

Any advice would be great thanks
foxy-stoat
Posts: 2072
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: Hellingly, East Sussex

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by foxy-stoat »

Well if all the rust cant really be seen, i'd buy a mig welder, some metal and clamps and take a pop at it myself !

thats what i did years ago.....i couldnt weld neatly when i started....and STILL can weld neatly now !!!!

but after you have burn holes threw your clothes and got burns all down your arms from the little bits of red hot metal that flys everywhere, and finished the job yourself you'd saved a packet and you get keep the welder for the next job.

:thumleft:
We ALL make mistakes !!! :)
firstmk1
Posts: 752
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:18 pm

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by firstmk1 »

I had a similar problem last MOT and it turned out to be quite a cheap fix. Replacement sills are available to make the job easier.
flippin'eck
Posts: 414
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:16 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by flippin'eck »

I'm with foxy-stoat on getting a MIG, if you feel handy. I went that route & saved a packet, reckon it possibly saved me £700 or so.

Was intending to sell it again once I'd done the '2 but I wouldn't be parted from it now!

Just get a decent MIG that takes the large reels of wire, & get a proper gas contract with BOC etc. from the outset as the disposable bottles turn out to be a false economy.

There's a guy in Erdington sells some good basic welders and plasma cutters pretty reasonable on ebay, Skippys machine tools, might be worth checking out
goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by goodfella »

intersesting.......excuse me if i sound like a doofuss but as its around the suspension mountings does that mean I wont have to drop the suspension or anything like that??
flippin'eck
Posts: 414
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:16 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by flippin'eck »

Mine had failed on 'suspension mountings' but the MOT guy told me that all that meant, was that the corrosion he found was within 30cm of a suspension mount.

When I got it all opened up, wheels off etc it turned out that some of the rot was really quite close to various parts of the suspension mounts, but I still managed 90% of the job okay without removing the struts, springs and major arms. With a bit of practise it's amazing just how intricately you can weld in relatively tight spots with a MIG. Orders of magnitude easier than a stick welder. It's almost like very hot, violent soldering.

The most involved it got, was when I took it for it's retest, and it failed because I hadn't seen some rot above the front radiator hoses.

For that, I found it easiest to remove the front struts and suspension 'cradles', but they came off okay without having to meddle with the rest of the suspension. I'd imagine they could be a bit of a pig if you went in half-assed with make do & mend tools; but IMOC forewarned me so I went in with a decent set of heavy duty tools & it was a cinch.

The main thing to watch out for is fire. Can't stress that enough, despite reading repeated warnings I still nearly managed to incinerate the whole car through pure thoughtlessness. Just keep all burnable stuff well away & don't, as I did, think it's a good idea to waxoyl a panel before welding the hole shut :oops: It's safe as long as you keep your wits about you 100% of the time & avoid silliness.

I started the whole welding job with scrap bits and bobs of steel and tin snips for making the patches, but there turned out to be quite a lot of patches needed to do a good, rather than just scrape-it-through, job so I ended up buying a plasma cutter off the aforementioned guy up by spaghetti junction. That plus an old Nova bonnet bought for a fiver from a local scrappy finished the job off in short order. A tin of paint stripper was handy for getting the old paint off the patches.

Plasma cutter by no means essential though, tin snips would suffice for most jobs.

You start off buying a classic sports car on a whim, you end up opening a garage business LOL :roll:
HT
Posts: 2296
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 12:17 am

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by HT »

goodfella wrote:Big problems....

After just having all my arches made mint the cars failed the MOT on corroded supspension mountings. This is the test sheet.....

Offside front (floor) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Offside rear (floor to sill) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Offside rear (outer sill) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Nearside rear (outer sill) SUSPENSION MOUNTING EXCESSIVELY CORRODED

Both sides brake pipes corroded

Offside and Nearside front sills corroded


Is it game over?? Iv just forked out £450ish to sort the arches and i really dont know what my options are now. I love the 2 but could this cost stupid money to sort??

Any advice would be great thanks


Why not get a quote from the person who replaced the arches?? £450 sounds very reasonable, and probably many times over the work involved to perform a few repairs underneath. For anyone here to make any realistic suggestion some pictures outlining the degree of rot involved is necessary, so if you can post them up :wink:
goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by goodfella »

Yep will get a quote on Monday Morning,

I suppose it just depends where the rot is in relation to the suspension mountings.

cheers guys
sadako
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2005 7:43 am
Location: Izu Well, Waterlooville

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by sadako »

Damn tinworm has cost me about 700 each MOT so far. My current car is getting pretty crusty around the rear. I'm beginning to wonder how fixable it is... I'll have to get someone to look at it as I have no idea how bad it really is...
goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by goodfella »

ok guys iv had a quote and its guna cost £400. The doors and possibly even the front wings will have to be removed in the process but Im going ahead with the work anyway. The one thing I should have to look forward to is the car will be A1 mint by the time this is all done!
HT
Posts: 2296
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 12:17 am

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by HT »

goodfella wrote:ok guys iv had a quote and its guna cost £400. The doors and possibly even the front wings will have to be removed in the process but Im going ahead with the work anyway. The one thing I should have to look forward to is the car will be A1 mint by the time this is all done!


Think you best to stick with it - looking at the garage photos it looks worthwhile :wink: Also sounds like you've got someone decent doing the work if the're stripping it out, unlike the typical backstreet bodgery :thumleft: I take it most of the rust is the bottom A pillar, if so once its done have a good session with the waxoyl,and all should be well for a long time!!
SuperRedMR2
Posts: 5494
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 8:40 pm
Location: Wickford, Essex

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by SuperRedMR2 »

Hiya,

Mine failed really badly, on pretty much everything you had, except the brake lines.

Its a pity you dont live in Essex, i got all my welding (6 points on the floors) for £200. Its not that expensive if you look around.
goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by goodfella »

bloody hell thats cheap.....i think cus the doors and carpets etc etc have to come off its a big labour job. Suspension mountings may have to in parts as well but well done non-the-less.
Chunky Monkey
Posts: 428
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:56 pm
Location: Boston
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Re: Big MOT Fail!

Post by Chunky Monkey »

defently worth the repair, you could buy another 2 & find it to be the same if not worse.

Lets face it that metal is probably around 20years old so its not done bad & a good job will see another 20 years before you have to go back to it.
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