Rust Repair on Sills and Suspension on 85 GSL-SE
 

Question for the group ...I located a 1985 GSL-SE and am possibly going to buy it this weekend ...The current owner told me he had the sills and suspension area ( i believe he said the trailing arms that attach to the body of the car) repaired of rust .. he said he had metal work done by having the rust cut out and welded in new steel by a proffessional ....Do you think the car is worth looking at and possibly buying? Has the integrity of the suspension diminished because of this rust ? or do you think its ok ?? Please if anyone has had this type of experience ..shed some light on this subject ....Thanks Again .... he was asking 5500 for the car but will take no lower than 4500 because he has put alot of money into the car ..but still is taking a loss regardless ... other things he has done ..new hoses and belts..radiator has been flushed and boiled ..new wires and plugs and recent full tune up ..along with updated A/C to r113a ..car has 120,000 miles ( engine not rebuilt) he says runs strong no oil leaks ..all electicals work .even has original radio and the power antenna still works when u turn the radio on ! He is the second owner and it as a clean Carfax ....So what do you think ??is it worth to purchase ???? Any and all Feedback is much appreciated

I'd take a close look at the rust repair. That's a common area to rust out on these cars, and depending how well it was fixed it could be better than stock, or ready to break anytime, depends how good of a job it was. The price seems a little high, but if everything is perfect and it's what you want then it's not a bad deal.

Thanks Coldy 13 ...So what exactly should i be inspecting ??? And how will i know if it was done correctly?

If it was a real professional job you might not even be able to tell it was repaired. It's a hard area to inspect close without jacking up the rear and taking the wheels off, or pulling the carpet off the inside. There's so many ways to fix the rust, but only a couple I would consider professional. The bad things you don't want to see/feel are thin sheetmetal, the metal the rust was replaced with should be at least 16gauge(same as factory), or nasty looking welds with holes or if the welds are cold it will look like it's sitting on top of the metal, not melted into it. You also shouldn't see any plates laying on top of the sheetmetal, most of the time these are riveted on and will get moisture trapped behind them and rust away again quickly. Plates fully welded on top of the sheetmetal are okay, and will make it stronger than stock if done right. A true professional would grind the welds down smooth and re-paint it so you wouldn't even know it was repaired.

Rust repair on sills and suspension for 85 GSL-SE
 

oh ok ...Thanks for the detailed info ..i will look for these things when i fully inspect and drive the car ...He said it cost him 1700 in metal work to repair the rust ...does that price seem to have been done by a proffessional ???

You might want to talk with the shop that did the repair.

WOW!!!! 1700...I hope that's atypical otherwise the crusher awaits my just purchased SE.

^It's hours and hours of labor intensive work to do correctly, I would not be at all surprised if that's what it costs to have a professional do it.

Like Coldy says, if it's done professional enough you might not even be able to tell it was done at all. Honestly though even if you can tell it's there as long as it's welded and formed well I wouldn't worry about it. The "repairs" you want to avoid are the riveted/screwed/jb welded on patch panels that don't fit right and are sealed with caulk or some crap like that...

I agree. the car should be fine.