No he lives in Rossendale, nowhere near the coast and this car has never had accident damage. He has owned it from new!

Is yours an import as they seem to suffer less probably not being subject to the crappy road salt we have to ut up with in winter?

 

Yeah his front and rear bumper bar looked just like yours Andy... in fact I was thinking of your post when I saw them

 

just been looking at those pics of unseen rust/rot in and around the rear arches, while im not too surprised that's its there, im a little concerned as to how high up the car has spread ( not just restricted to the arch, but further up the c pillar) there are patches higher up that seem to be separate from the main arch area. I've read somewhere about a design fault/ moisture trap, but has it been established where its getting in? the higher area of rust, is that likely to be moisture running down from above somewhere, or more a case of it spraying up from a small hole in the arch?
I'd be very interested on views, anyone that's tackled the problem as my classic his a bit of rust on back arches. its going for paint/repair in the next couple of months, but I want to be able to preserve it best I can.
I've had a look and cleaned all the crud away and the only perforation of the inner arch I have found is right at the very top of the inner arch on the nearside..

while on the subject of the rear arches I have found the bumper mountings have come away where it secures near to the rear arches. can anyone tell me or post up a pic of what it secures to/ how it secures

 

As it happens I am seeing my mate tomorrow so I will ask him what he thinks about your question and hopefully see how the restoration job is coming along!

 

excellent, my timing's usually not that good! I suppose the body shop will give some suggestions as to further prevention, but I was wondering what would be best to coat it with once repaired, cavity wax (spayed in from the inner arch side of the boot) waxoil? I just don't want it to start and disolve in front of me once done.

as said my main concern is where its coming in from so I can do something about it. cant wait for your update.

thanks

 

No worries, I have meaning to catch up with him for ages, but we have both been rather busy so never seemed to find a convenient time.

 

Its condensation that causes the rust.its not actually water getting in.the droplets run down to the seam sealant and stay there eventually I causing rot.I've painted the inside cavity with a Schultz paint using a lance. How effective this will be only time will tell.

 

condensation? that's got to be a problem on all cars then, particularly cold weather when the heater has been on

 

Stedee is spot on I'd say, I'm in the middle of doing mine currently so will get some pics up on this thread hopefully tonight as maybe useful to some

 

OK I saw my mate today and he has got on pretty well with the Scoob. Here are the latest pics with the new quarters all welded in and the car ready to be prepped for paint:











He has done a lot of patching and fabricating to remove and rebuild the rotten arches, suspension turrets etc.

The grey stuff is some expensive protection stuff for the 'hidden' parts of the car (£20 a sachet and 10 sachets have been used). I will find out what it is called.

All the areas that were rebuilt have been painted inside and out and will be corrosion protected before full reassembly.

In his opinion most of the rot has come from a mixture of condensation and possibly come water ingress in the boot area at some time. Road grime and moisture trapped have done for the rear arches. The main issue he believes though s indequate protection to the hidden areas when the car was built, a mistake he won't be making this time.

He did wonder about the rear screen, but that area was completely free from rot when the screen was removed.

I will get some more pics when the car is painted.

 

Did he buy the new arches? how much did he pay?

 

All mentioned earlier in the thread, post 20 New from Subaru dealer, £700 for the pair! Price has come down recently!

It's a big job labour wise though!

 

Lol I couldn't be bothered to read back through it.

 

No worries, I realised that hence the info

 

I meant to add that I am going to ask him for a cost of this project when it's all done as in what he would charge a customer!

 

It does affect all cars but some deal with it better than others with better protection venting and water channels

 

Probably be a ridiculous amount.

 

any photos of the repairs under the 1/4 panels and the inside turrets

 

Hi guys, a few pics here on mine as have just treated the arches, nothing too exciting as isn't very bad but some of the pictures might be of use to some. I need a good rust treatment I can spray through an aerosol or lance like what Stedee has done to get to the inaccessible areas down the front of the arches though

https://www.scoobynet.com/projects-4...l-project.html

Good to hear the rear quarters are coming down in price from Subaru, £700 for a pair isn't too bad at all, so hopefully will mean a few more people decide to repair than break/scrap.

 

That's quite minor tbh. Looks a lot worse than it is. 16yr old car and to be expected. Honda Integras go in a similar way between the two skins on the rear.

 

I'm back there next Wednesday so he should have it pretty much ready to go for paint by then so I should be able to get some pics of the inside of the boot area and I think he has plenty of pics of the patching/fabrication work on the turrets etc... I will ask him for some!

 

It will be interesting to see how many man hours have gone into the repair it looks a lot of work!
I have noticed the mid 90's imports dont seem to get rust on the rear arches like the UK Turbos.

 

I've noticed this too, but put it down to a few things:

a) some of them being imported a good few years after they were built so not exposed to our climate as long

b) being better undersealed as this is usually done on import by the first owner or supplying import dealer hence more thorough job done than in the factory.

c) Not having the rear arch lip protectors like the UK cars which ironically seem to cause moisture and road grime to be trapped against the arch!

d) being looked after by more careful owners than the UK cars most of which were just used as daily cars for the first part of their lives whereas imports tended to be bought by enthusiasts so they don't spend a lot of time ploughing acros our wet salted road system in winter.

 

OSR arch is rusty as **** on my WRX. NSR is starting to bubble.

Mine wasn't a daily driver, Chris. It is now.

The rust on the arch was caused by my car sitting on the street for a fortnight, with the road getting ploughed and gritted day after day. I didn't think anything of it at the time though. The mound of snow pushed up against it was nearly up to the filler flap.

Properly had to dig the car out to use it, well Lisa did.

Underneath my car is still clean as ****, considering it's 20 this year, it's just the rear aches really that let it down.

 

My Greenwagon wil be finally going for the arches treatment this year
They haven't really worsened in the last three years after soaking them in krust and priming them
Has anyone actually bought the rear arches from Subaru themselves ?
£700 doesn't seem too our of the way compared to other parts from Subaru

I guess it will be cheaper getting a bodyshop to cut their own metal and mould though ?

Or will the arches just fix straight onto the body as the old bits are cut away ?

.i want the job done right as I've had the car since new and want to keep it so I can drive it when I retire
Ive always had the vision of driving a thirty year old car and the Greenwagon is the one I want to do it in

 

The rear quarters are a big job. Yours is a wagon so will be different again, but if you look at the pics above the rear quarters are the rear wing, the rear arch down to where it meets the sill and wraps round the rear door aperture to half way up the C pillar.

Fitting them properly takes time and some careful welding to get them looking factory. On a purely economic basis it doesn't make sense, but there is sentimental value as well of course.

If yours is OK on the inner arches, turrets etc. I would look to go the fabrication route but remember welding steel in is good as long as you can get behind it to treat it once it's in as otherwise it will just rust again from the inside. I hear people saying they got theirs done for £300 - £400, but I don't think it's possible to do a log term job for that money to be honest! Just my opinion though!

The saloon quarters used to be nearly £1K each, but have recently dropped in price to around £350 a side from Subaru!

 

Yep I'm convinced that road salt is the biggest issue on our roads for corrosion.

 

Some more pics, inside the boot and the suspension turrets. A good bit of fabrication required to sort these, but all done now.

Next job is lots of rubbing down, cleaning and prepping for paint.

Please excuse the low quality of the pics, iPhones and dark workshops do not work well together.

 

I dread to think how much this is costing!

 

As I said Chris, he's a bodyshop guy with his own bodyshop so not a lot in financial terms, but if you were paying for his time... yep a lot of coin!

He is going to give me a ball park once the job is complete, but as he says many cars may not be in as bad a state as this one so may require a lot less work.

He's owned the car since new and bought it as a surprise for his wife so it is more than just the financial worth of the vehicle to him. Plus he says he has never driven anything since that made him happier.... he is quite a tidy driver too... competed in the Rally of Britain 3 times I think (not in this Scoob before you ask) and did very well for a privateer!