How bad does this look? I poked with screw driver, but nothing poked through.

Is this a commen rust area and is it diffecult to repair (and how do I repair it)?

Is this area originally not painted?

Please advise.

Thank you,

Levon

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Your car has about 3 years left to it. Maybe 4. Seriously, that does not look bad. Get a steel brush and some rust proof paint and you are fine. It's just rusty there because that is one area that did not get painted real well from the factory. When you read on this forum about people talking about rust, it is not that. It is more like this...



And even that is not that bad!

looks like a parts car

Agreed. Looks like surface rust. If it's flaking off and has holes, then you got trouble.

I have the same thing but it's adhesive for the carpet, not rust.

No Fred Flinstone braking in your future...

No worries. I would clean it out good, probably with a wire wheel, brush some Ospho on it (or other rust converter of the like), let it do it's job for 24 hours, and paint it with some Hammerite (or other tough paint).... Done deal.

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Here is another example (my car). I was worried about the surface rust and appreciate the fact that 1). I don't have a serious problem and 2). thank you for the rust treatment tips!

Thanks!

- Keith

Those cars are gone! There is no saving them, send me the address and I will come pick them up and dispose of them properly.

Rust.... that's not rust... good god you people are spoiled out there.

I wish my car had needed rust like that fixed

Just spray on some rust converter and then rustoleum it.

You guys ROCK!

I feel so much better now that I know it is not a serious issue.
I will clean and paint the area with POR15 ASAP.

Levon

Keith,
Definitely no problems that can be seen but if you are going to go in there with some POR or whatever you might want to a little more exploring. What is different on yours from Levons is that your rust is getting worse as it gets lower in the car suggesting the car has seen some dampness down low. You might want to see if any of the nearby floor tarry stuff can be scraped off. If it can scrape it off easily you will probably find a little surface rust there as well. If you can't get it to come off easily then you are good to go. Pull up some carpet and just check down near the floor and see if there is anything on any of the vertical surfaces down where they meet the floor. This is just one of those ounce of prevention things. Light rust under the carpet or tar can progress unseen. Best to stop it early.

Hey, Steve... Thank you for your concerns and advice on my car!

I've had the carpet off of both floor pans looking for rust. The worst thing that I perceived was the rusty, left bolt that holds-down the accelerator pedal. The left portion of the pedal was partially "fused" to the floor (as seen in photo).

I am definitely going to take your advise and check the integrity of the "black tar stuff" and search even deeper for any problems.

I had planned on installing a new accelerator pedal and leaving it at that. Now I am led to believe that the pedal assembly has got to come-out... and if it comes out, it’s got to be rebuilt... and then the rust treatment... and then...

Geez... I've had this car for a month now and haven't even fired it up yet! Just when I thought I was getting closer to taking a spin...

Enough venting... thanks again for your advice and I'll do the job "right"!

- Keith

Well that rust isn't going to get worse in a hurry - specially since you list yourself as being in the desert. Why not get her running then come back and do the preservation stuff. Having one that will move under its own power is great - keeps you motivated.

Redoing your pedal assembly is easy and fun. It's a really good idea to take it out anyway so that you can paint that floorpan underneath the assembly... that's the lowest point where the water pools. You can see in yours pics on the front firewall how the rust is crawling up from the floor. Mine was like yours... and I'm glad I caught it when I did.

You can follow Eric Shea's pedal assembly rebuild in the Classic Thread section link You just order the brass bushing kit for the assembly (like $20)... send the dissambled pedal assembly off to the platers... (another $20) then a week later when you get it back it only takes an hour or two to re-assemble.

Your old assembly which looked like this:

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with old cracking plastic bushings like these (not good when your dealing with your brake system!):
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can become brand spanking new like this with solid brass bushings:
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These are pictures from Eric's rebuild thread. Mine turned out well too. I think Eric also offer's a rebuild service at very good rates if you don't want to do it yourself.

Not any more but thanks for the pub. I do have the bronze bushing kits on the el cheapo though.

That's not rust. This is rust:

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*Tools ... check
*Penatrating oil:
. ('Liquid Wrench') ... check
* Blast cabinet ... check
* Bushing kits ... check
* POR-15 ... check

Plater ... where did you find a plater around here who works for less than a $50. minimum charge?

Please advise ...

That is definitely rust

'Rust is no bargain ... at any price' Roger Squires