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I watched all three videos, and have some feedback since I have a rusty 9 as well. These three words have gotten me by: scrape, rust converter, fluid film. My engine bay looks exactly like yours, the rust tends to form in the same areas. I am not as mechanically skilled as you, but can confidently say it is a long road ahead. Even basic jobs will be a royal pain as you have experienced already.
Forget about the front LCA bolts coming out like they did on your other car, likely seized.
Endlink nuts probably rusted solid
Rear toe arm area likely in really bad shape
License plate bracket rust will snap off the light holder
Assume any small bolt 12-14mm will snap on you, most recent one for me was trying to remove the clutch inspection cover.
I documented some of my struggles on IG, hopefully we can do our best to keep these cars going. If I was not so attached, I would have jumped ship already too.
Thanks for the reply. I've literally been spraying any nut or bolt i see with PB plaster daily. I also just ordered a magnetic induction heater tool.
Believe it or not, I was able to get the front lower motor mount out and that lower bar that holds it in place. Despite the bar being so rusty that is will not go back in.
When i searched rust repair/prevention, fluid film came up a lot. What has your experience been with it?
Last edited by DontStopMe; Dec 1, 2020 at 06:03 AM.
Yup, I have a family and full time gig, plus some side jobs. (Side jobs are the only reason i can afford this evo project)
The more i dig, the more i lean towards "Ugly/cheap/unique" evo. Maybe not so far as the example you've shown, but it will probably be something a bit different when all said and done. Leave the exterior rust, but fix rust where it matter. Maybe a retro rusty beater looking 500awhp monster
Thanks for the reply. I've literally been spraying any nut or bolt i see with PB plaster daily. I also just ordered a magnetic induction heater tool.
Believe it or not, I was able to get the front lower motor mount out and that lower bar that holds it in place. Despite the bar being so rusty that is will not go back in.
When i searched rust repair/prevention, fluid film came up a lot. What has your experience been with it?
Fluid film has one of the best price/performance, and is $10 or less. I originally tried POR15 in 2014, and unless prepped/applied perfectly it rusts through eventually. The drawback with ff is it leaves a greasy film that gets on you while working underneath and you have to re-apply it every so often, which I do every fall before snow. Oil and water do not mix, it's like cast iron cookware which is nothing more than raw bare metal. Keep an oil layer and it lasts forever, but once gone, it rusts like no tomorrow. For fasteners, I had the best luck with Evaporust. Attached a few pics, sorry I don't know how to re-size smaller.
Last edited by driven168; Dec 2, 2020 at 07:28 AM.
Wow a very challenging "undertaking" .......get it?
You must be a new age stem cell research scientist for Evo's. Good luck but personally if I had 6k burning a hole in my pocket I would have invested in Tesla stock or Amazon ....Lol
Very noble and will be interested in your cost per investment when is all said and done.
Good luck
Good luck but personally if I had 6k burning a hole in my pocket I would have invested in Tesla stock or Amazon ....Lol
I own some tesla stock, and yes, i agree, probably a better investment for the average person. But $$$ in the bank does not always equal happiness. Personally, i feel i have way more freedom to mess with this evo than i ever would on any other because initial investment is low. Good, Bad, Smart or Dumb, long term, I want to be one of the guys people talk about when evos come up.
Originally Posted by whtrice
Very noble and will be interested in your cost per investment when is all said and done.
Good luck
On the UK Evo Owners groups they are experts at Evo restorations. They deal with rust and corrosion more often over there so it makes sense that they have the knowledge on how to protect and repair the undercarriage. Maybe this will help give a price range on what it will cost to repair this Evo.
Links to the parts:
If anyone has Netflix, check out Rust Valley Restorers. After watching a few of their episodes, it gave me a rough idea of what it takes to bring corroded cars back to life. I don’t know what they salt with up there in Canada but geez it made my rusty Evo feel pristine in comparison lol
Well, she is a running, driving, racing evo again. Currently some interesting stuff happening with the Crossmember safety recall. (I plan to make my video in this series about this recall experience)
I'm really glad I found this thread. I've been watching your videos for some time now and unfortunately they've disappeared from my home page. Thanks for making such an interesting series.
Loved your ugly evo build videos, watching you work on it just kept reminding me that if you could dig through all that rust to replace parts, I should definitely be able to get through my clean(ish) evo
Finally drove the rusty evo again at the first ice racing event of the season. It didn't see much action over the summer since the dirt spectator races are no longer a thing. But this rusty thing is still holding up!
