upper control arm mount area rust issue

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72dustervs

72dustervs

FABO Gold Member
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On passenger side mounting for upper control arm , have some rust issues , mainly bottom area , 2 places have ruts from deuteration from dirt an such , I cleaned out alot of dirt an gravel from 50 years , sides an upper area solid , thinking of welding in plates and reinforcing bottom area verses cutting off a perfectly good inner fender and replace the entire area with new mount from classic industries , just looking for opinions on the welding in plates and coating and sealing it from the weather vs replacement since its only at base , driver side is not as bad but will plate anyways , here are a few photos keep in mind I cleaned pieces of flaking rust and dug out so I know its thinner now but still seemed strong , had some very small holes in 3 areas ,

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It may feel solid with a tap of a hammer, but don't compromise on this. Remember, you've got a 3200#+ car hitting potholes and other road hazards at 70 mph or more, and that is where your suspension attaches...
Plates would be perfectly acceptable to me (provided the rest of the frame rail truly is solid), since that was our only option (or a donor piece) before reproductions became available.
Just be aware that even though it looks solid, once you open up the rail for repair it could get ugly quick on the inside.
And make sure you measure, remeasure, and measure again as you work.
 
Professor Fate said:
It may feel solid with a tap of a hammer, but don't compromise on this. Remember, you've got a 3200#+ car hitting potholes and other road hazards at 70 mph or more, and that is where your suspension attaches...
Plates would be perfectly acceptable to me (provided the rest of the frame rail truly is solid), since that was our only option (or a donor piece) before reproductions became available.
Just be aware that even though it looks solid, once you open up the rail for repair it could get ugly quick on the inside.
And make sure you measure, remeasure, and measure again as you work.
Click to expand...
Thats the only rust on frame rails anywhere on outer side ,they still show the original green paint on the outside of the rails , I have car stripped down now, I hate to remove the inner fenders but am very aware of pitfalls of the rust issues ,,also concerned about new metal not being as strong as the original if I were to replace the upper mounting area, its hard to get good quality metal these days , I thought of removing the inner fender and cutting out the areas of concern and plating it that way , I could possibly do that without removing the whole mounting area , and make it very solid ,,just got to decide the route to take , its not going to be a show car but weekend drives only , along with my 2 other classic cars they dont get loaded up in miles , less than 1000 miles in a summer
 
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