I have 2 85 7's, I would like to know, what does one look for when checking out the rear wheel wells, for the structural strength of the Uni -body? Are those points where the watts linkage the most important? Can they be fortified? How much rust is too much? Does anyone have a method of gusseting or strengthening this area?
Thanks

 

The main problem is the upper links, where they meet the body.

The sheetmetal just forward of where the upper links attach likes to rust out (the infamous "bin rust", so called because the rust holes go into the bin area). When it gets severe, the area where the body brackets for the upper links attach to the main body channel can tear away from the body.

Another area to worry about is the brackets where the lower links attach to the body. It can look real ugly sometimes, and it was one of the reasons why I scrapped my '80.

The Watts linkage attachment points don't seem to have much problems, mainly because they don't see as much regular loading, and the loading they do see isn't as severe as the upper/lower links. I did however have one of the Watts links snap, dunno if that was rust-related or not.