hey guys just noticed this crack and when i tried to straighten it out the one piece broke off and created a hole. Whats the best way to repair this drill a hole to stop the crack from getting bigger and weld up the seams and place the piece back and re-weld it into place? or weld up the cracks and cut a square out and insert a new piece of steel?

You've got a lot of rust going on all around there, so you probably need to do more extensive long repair or replacement. I doubt that drilling holes will stop the cracks & damage at the longs, cuz now all the torsional stresses are being taken by the remaining solid metal, which itself looks to be compromised.



Tom
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Looks like there is a hole below the crack. Is all the metal corroded on the back? If so, all the bad metal needs to be cut out.

The hole below the crack is the floor and it's getting replaced next week with the passenger side. The outer longs are in great shape with very little surface rust, I've taken this type of rust down to bare metal on the other side with very little pitting

While I had the hole I peaked into the the long and poked around with just minor surface rust.

with cut and patch. Matching that curve for the e-brake indent is a little tricky but not horrible. Sounds like you've peeked in there enough that you might get lucky and find the compromised metal confined to that area. There's no double wall to deal with there so that works in your favor. I assume you plan to treat the entire guts with a rust converter/encapsulator while you have it open? Wait till you have the floor off to do the repair in case you need to wrap the patch down around the bottom of the long some.

yea that was the plan and remove the cardboard tube as I'm not going to need it. Feel like it just holds moisture like a sponge.

heres what the outer loo like on that side

If the crack is at the ebrake, it’s very common. There’s a thread on this issue / repair from mcmark.

exact location! after digging found this is pretty common. Just want to fix this, seems like every time i make progress on this car i find another part/panel that needs to be replaced

I had no idea this was common I need to check that area before I install carpet

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...51&hl=Crack

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...27&hl=Crack

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...93&hl=Crack

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...49&hl=Crack

Huh. I wonder if mine was cracked before it rotted away and had to be refabricated. Looks like cut and patch may not be necessary after all.

Read that first thread that Mark posted if nothing else. There's a post in there that will crack you up.

Hockeymutt, don't pull out the cardboard tube! You might not need the heat, but the next owner might. Don't ruin it. Jeez.

wow! now i have to check mine carefully asap

I've seen good cars with rust in the longs. Good luck with the repair.

+1 on keeping the heater tube, as long as you don't go driving through deep water it shouldn't get wet

about the cardboard tube. There's absolutely no benefit to removing it.

If you decide to remove, don't sweat it too much ...I have a few available

I had to perform this repair recently on a customer car.

Click to view attachment

Good discussion