I am not really looking to buy but if a good deal pops up I will bite. I hate paying retail for Stuff I always am looking for a deal.

 

And not necessarily in that order...

That's a significant part of why mine was so rusty. It sat on a concrete floor in a barn for almost 10 years...

 

I can't believe i let you guys talk me into doing that pain in the *** but told you it is spotless under there looks brand spanking new i bet the i won't find a speck of rust on this whole sa. Is all that stuff in the pics suppose to be there for installation or can i get rid of it? There has been some things living in it i found mouse droppings and bugs and here is a pic of a mummified bug i don't know what it is but the face scared the **** out of me.

 

Sorry for the dark pics my garage is very dark i even opened the garage for the pics but still came out like ****.

 

Here i got some better pics i put a spotlight in the car for better lighting.

 

Well, now you know. And since there is no rust there it's likely that there is really no significant rust anywhere on the car. That area is prolly the MOST prone to rust over time.

Still, I'd bet dollars to donuts that there is some rust lurking between that inner wheel well and the reinforcing plate that is welded on the other side behind the wheel where the suspension arm bolts to the body. That plate is contoured outward on the ends and makes a nice channel. Even though the area is covered with undercoating, it's a thin layer that cracks over time and water gets in behind that plate when you drive in the rain, wash it etc., and moisture just sits there between that plate and the wheel well. You can see what I mean on my build thread, but on the "rust free" donor car I had, that area was thin and pitted from rust; however, I couldn't see that it was because even though from the inside of the car it looked solid (as your pictures indicate) because it was on the underside of the car. I had to fab up a new piece when fixing my rust issue.

It shouldn't be a big deal at all but if you keep the car I would keep an eye on it, especially if you drive it in the snow or on salty roads, which I doubt you would do. Just wanted to bring your attention to it.

As Reagan used to say, "trust, but verify". Now you know...

 

This is true! We kind of have to be. But now the secrect is out.

 

Can i vacuum out all the installation it is covered in dead bugs and rat droppings i even found i think rat poison but luckily no dead rat.

 

I do all the work of ripping the carpet off and removing all the plates to show you guys there was zero rust because you guys wanted to see it for yourselves and i get no replies back wtf?

 

Very nice Cody, you are one lucky Minnesotian. You probably have the only rust free SA in the state.

Yes, vacuum all that crap out, the rat poison, dead bugs and acorns will just trap humidity and promote rust.

Then take the car out in the sun, if it's come out up there yet, and take some good pictures of those wheel wells inside and out so we can be sure you got it right.

 

Well if the storage bin area is rust free i don't think there will be any in the wheel wells. I would of seen the rust if there was any.

 

The wheel well affects all first gens, but the SA's, I've noticed, have horrible hood and door rust. I just gave up and slapped an FB hood and doors on mine.

 

Not a drop of rust on my doors or hood

 

When it comes to rust, I got a lucky desert car with minor cosmetic rust on the sun roof, cody that is one clean car for up north I've seen cancer galore on some those are super spotless.

 

I think you're probably right, except for maybe some minor rust in areas you can't really see or get to without disassembling the car which is about as much as you can expect in a car from the rust belt (I'm not advocating going that far to see if you have rust). For comparison, you could look at LokiRx7.1's spark yellow SA that he picked up in Ohio from an original owner that, literally, had it stored in a barn. His thread is in the build threads section. It may be a fair comparison to this car.

That's good! As I said in my earlier post, my NY car was abandoned in a field, driven in the salty snow, and sat for almost 10 years on concrete in a barn before I got my hands on it and the underside of the hood and bottoms of the doors were very rusty.

My next 7 (SHHHHHHH!!! Don't tell my wife!) is going to be from the south or west and as rust free as I can find. I've learned poking around these that Mazda put the rust proofing tar inside the rockers only up to a certain point, leaving the bottom of the A and B pillars uncoated. Since these are unibody cars, if any of the many seams open up over time (and they will), they will rot from the inside out. I have my doubts that any that have survived up to this point are truly rust free if they've spent any time outside in a wet or snowy environment. If they have, the rust may just not have made itself known yet....

With that said though, Cody may just have found the nicest one in all of Minnesota, as Ray said, and will probably never see any rust in the near future.

 

Oh nasty i just got done digging through the left side and i found a dead rat must of been in there for years. I am just finishing vacuuming out all the crap and will seal it back up i don't have to replace the installation do i will it make a difference? Will probably look in the wheel wells for rust next weekend when i change my brake pads.

 

Make that two now thanks for making me check for rust gives me the creeps knowing i was in there with those things. Now time to scrub and wash underneath since i am under there then i will put it all back together.

 

AND, you found that chewed up wire! Hard to see from the pic tho what it is and what it goes to. I take it there wasn't an obvious other end to it that cld be spliced together?

 

no there are two one going to the passenger side door and one going to the driver's side door.

 

What color are the wires?

 

looks like green yellow and white and grey yellow and white.

 

Cody, if you're just now getting to the point where you're finding dead rats, how can you be so sure you don't have any hidden and potentially cancerous rust?

Especially on a car that's been painted? Paint, bondo and rust are very closely cousins on older cars.

You need to do some serious housecleaning, inside, especially the floorboards, outside, around the wheel wells and frame and in the engine bay before you can dismiss rust as a potential problem.

And once you get things cleaned up, take some high quality photos for us to see.

I'd like to see what a rust-free SA from Minnesota looks like.

 

Well i have looked everywhere for rust and have found none the only place left is the wheel wells behind the plastic molds. Do i need to remove the seats to and see the floorboards?

 

It's not a bad idea to give what's under the carpet and seats a good look, much surface rust can hide there and it's better to catch it when it's minor and only reqires minor repair. Rust lurking under carpet has caused the replacement of many floor pans.