Hi all,

A few of you may remember me mentioning a friend of mine who has owned a 1997 Impreza from new. This was a UK car and has had all its bodywork services (stamped in the book). He had the usual bubbling appearing on the rear arches so decided (being as he has a bodyshop) to cut the rear quarter panels out and replace them with new ones. On cutting them out this is what he found!









As he says this is a well looked after one owner vehicle with 100K on the clock and all its body services.... what are some of the others out there going to be like and also what is the point of people paying for new metal to be welded in to the outer skin if the inner one and surrounding could be like this!

Food for thought!

 

Wow bet it only had a ltitle bit of bubbling on the outer arch aswell

 

When it comes down to it, it's a 16 year old car that's presumably gone through 16 winters. The rest of our weather is fairly damp as well, so it's not surprising really.

Is he still going to fix it?

 

Yep, he knows it's not financially viable, but as I said he has a bodyshop so it is just his time more than anything else.

 

Glad i can't see that on mine, saying that i garage mine in winter and barely drive it in the wet so hope that helps

 

Exactly! How many vauxhalls ford rovers of that age are still on the road?

 

Hang on a sec, why are you treating this as a dig at Subaru?

The point is that lots of people want to keep their classics what they think is A1 and are spending money weldng metal into the outer skin and having it all sprayed up when the likely cause of the problem is behind it and hence it will only come back again in a few years... I couldn't care less whether they are better or worse than Fords and Rovers

 

Not treating anything as a dig. Its actually a compliment that they have survived and the others haven't!

 

Well stop banging on about Rovers, Vauxhalls and Fords then! Nothing to do with this thread!

 

When I had my UK classic I always paid extra attention to the rear arches. I owned it over 7 years and did not have any rust problems, I had the front bumper removed for paint once and had a close look and that area was clear and the best tip I can offer for the rear arches relates to that rubber stip fitted around the arch itself. The rubber strip goes just under the side skirt but I removed mine completely and cut them off where they fit under the skirt, this enabled me to remove them often and I would then clean them and then clean the lip on the arch as regular routine before fitting the strips back on. That is a damp area that will attract rust if the opportunity is given.

 

Banging on? I mentioned them once!

 

Unfortunately the words 'classic impreza' and 'rust' go hand in hand.

This was my inner sill after a little inspection. .....

 

Think you've missed the point, Chris.

How many of those cars, of a similar age do you see on the roads these days? I don't see many, maybe 1 or 2 a month, and I'm on the road all my working day.

Classic's I see everyday.

 

Sorry Micky, but my point is about stopping people throwing good money after bad and hoping they see fit to investigate further if they choose to address the issue and as a bonus maybe save a few classics from the inevitable scrapyard in a few years time when the rear suspension turrets/rear sills collpase completely!

Whatever fate befalls or has befallen Rovers, Fords and Vauxhalls of a similar age is not my concern tbh!

 

i thought mine was bad lol

 

Unfortunately the body services are only as good as the guy that's doing them, looking at that the car has never seen any cavity wax treatment at all, which needs doing every 5 years everything else is just an inspection.

 

Funny you should say that as that is exactly what the owner pointed out to Subaru.... who at first told him he was mistaken. When he pointed out his job they then told him to take it up with the original dealer who of course went bust many moons ago! When he pointed this out to him they said goodbye and put the phone down (metaophorically speaking)!

As he said he is not expecting any compensation but would like his money back for the body services that were charged for and obviously never happened!

Subaru built some good cars, but let themselves down with the UK dealers, IM and several major faults that they refused to acknowledge as design issues... now they are nearly gone from the UK! Serves them right to be honest!

 

man that is some serious rust!! i thought mine was bad. my arches are gone on mu ukturbo and ive got a holw going right through the arch that you can see through the boot lol

 

F1 - is your mate getting new panels through a dealer or somehow fabricating the whole quarter panel? The missing outside of the strut tower in your last pic I believe is the root cause of the quarter panel rust in most/all classics - there must have been something amiss with the undersealing process on that face of the tower. Whereabouts is your mates bodyshop? My car is disassembled in my garage while I try to find a welder to come to repair it (properly).

 

A bit of both. He is going to fabricate the panels where the holes/rust are, but has bought two new quarter panels from a dealer (£700 for the pair). He will also use genuine replacement panels if any area is too large to fabricate easily!

He is taking loads of pictures while he does the work and with his permisson I will post a mini project thread when the work is further forward.

The job will be A1 ... he is like that! I wouldn't have the patience!

 

Nah, that's a ventilation aperture mate

 

That would be great. And if he wants to do a second one and isn't too far from Sheffield give me a shout!

 

He's in Rossendale just north of Manchester. I will try and get him to sign up here, if nothing else ti will give a lot of information to those in the same boat.

 

Some other bit's to watch for.

 

Do not want this to happen to my car.

I really feel for your mate must have really made his heart sink when he saw that.

22Bs and P1s are changing hands for some serious dorrah would hope they have been checked out thoroughly by prospective buyers...

 

Yikes thats some serious rust, dont want mine going like that . What's the best stuff to be spraying inside the cavities to help prevent rust ?

 

i use quality underseal, ive never got on with waxoil

 

Anyone remember my threads about doing the front and rear bumper bars on my now sold classic?

****, dredd to think what other horrors are under the outer panels. I sold mine honestly (and cheap) and explained the rear arches were going so hopefully the next owner gets a good job done.

 

Which seems at odds with an earlier post of yours:

Dig a bigger hole if you wish..................

 

Does he live anywhere near the coast?

I work on a guy's van that lives near the coast, it's only a couple of years old and it's a mess with rust.

Good old salt from the gritters does them no favours either.

Not quite sure why my classic has no rust on the rear arches. I'd imagine a lot of these issues start with damage repairs, nearly every Impreza I look at has had paint. Mine is all original.