rcklipz

Anybody have the solution to the rapid spred of rust around the wheel wells of the 04 rx8. Rest of the car is great ive owned it for 2 years and have read more about the wankel and how to care for it then anything else in my life. Heres the deal, i want to keep the car because i like the car considering a body kit would love to know what other rx8 owners have to say. Remember im here in Toronto if there is somewhere here i could trust to bondo this car or whatever needs to be done. Without flooding the car because they dont understand to start and shut down procedure because seldom do they get a rotary in there body shops. Anyway i dont want to sink thousands into it because of the resale value which makes my stomach hurt just thinking about. Any body anybody at all.. What does a young man do in this rusty situation?? Thanks peeps..

rcklipz

Mysterion

Well, what you DON'T do is "bondo it" All that does is hide the damage rather than repair it. Your ideal bet, if possible, is find an experienced body man and have the rust cut out and replaced with fresh metal, preferably as an after-hours sideline job. It might take a bit longer, being a part-time deal, but will probably cost you less if he can do it on his own time at home. A body shop will rape you on their labour rates in order to cover all their shop expenses (lights, heat, beer and pizza lunches, etc). You may have to look outside the city where the housing is a bit cheaper and such a professional might have a garage workshop set up but, if you offer to help out with simple stuff like snading and buy the beer, you might just get a good job for a good deal.

rcklipz

Understood, i know 2 people that live on the other side of the lake that might be able to help.. Kinda far for car repairs.. let me tell ya this story.. I took my car to lakeshore auto last week and the guy told me to get it off his property.. As he yelled something like how do you expect me to bend the metal.. I only went there because i was told to get them to quote me.. Never again!! Thanks for the reply

T_Mags

Grab some pictures. I've battled rust plenty since I owned a jeep for 3 years before I picked up my rotary a month ago. Outside of replacing the whole panel, you'll need to cut or grind out ALL of the rust. You need absolutely clean metal. Then shoot it with primer and paint . If it's just paint bubbling then you, a good heavy primer might be enough to fill it in. If it goes all the way through you can do a pretty neat fix with wire mesh and bonds. Can't say I've worked with curves or metallic paint though, so I'm not sure how the fix will blend.

rcklipz

Im so disappointed with mazdas rust issues i cant even find the words to say about this

rcklipz

T_Mags

Ouch. That's pretty extensive. The potential problem that stucks out to me is if you do get it to bare metal, how much of that edges is going to be left? And the bigger concern is that rust doesn't just show up in one spot. I'm not super familiar with all things Mazda yet, but I would strongly suggest crawling underneath and tapping along the subframe with a 1 lb hammer and/or a punch/screwdriver to make sure you don't have any other problem areas.

CptnPicard

I live in the GTA and use to work at a car dealership the only place I know personally and trust with body work is "Elliot's collision" in Newmarket. The dealership used them for all their body work and they do a really good job. I also got a whole door reskined there on my own car. If you want the issue to be gone for good fix it right and spend the cash.

rcklipz

I will be sure to check out elliots allong with several others i have on my list. The frame of my car is not the issue the body is rusting right off the frame. Ive been under to inspect. Looking for the perfect sulution for a fix. Surprised the 4th largest city in north america doesnt have someone hard up for cash that has the know how. Why would i spend 2 thousand dollars for a car that apparently is a give away. 1000 bucks a side no way. They sell a bag of chips accross the street for more then i could get for mazdas Rust x 8. I doubt even the scrap yard would give me 5 bucks. I'm really disappointed, sorry for my attitude. Would like to strangle whoever choose to use ford medal or whatever ruined a body like this.

rcklipz

May i add. I have read enough threads about compression, head gaskets etc etc etc etc. i would have to be one stupid person to sink a large amount of money into the Rust x8. I think id rather spend a grand on a body kit which would change the looks of the car in a good way and let it continue to rust underneath the kit at least ill get a couple of years out of it.

Mysterion

OUCH! That a-hole that chased you off his lot must have really soured you on the car. If he was 1/2 the professional he fancied himself, the answer would be to research repair panels and, failing that, quarters off a wreck. I haven't personally researched repair panels for an 8, but I know that a lot of companies have access to such panels for a great number of cars for restoration jobs. Odds are, with the 8 having a rusty quarter issue, panels are probably available if one just looked hard enough.

As mentioned above, it would be a matter of trimming back the quarters to clean metal (near as I can tell from the photos, that would be about 3 to 4 inches up from the lip edge) then mig weld replacement metal into the opening, coating the repair from behind then prep and paint. Don't get me wrong, it won't be cheap but, once done, you will have restored a big chunk of the car's resale value so it would probably balance out in the end. Best of all, even a lazy c**t like the one you encountered would be able to do the job (assuming he knew anything about body repair). your experience with him just proves what I have been saying for years: there are no real mechanics now, just parts fitters.

Sato Tatsuya

Sorry for bringing back an old thread... But I really want to find the answer to this question.

I am also getting the same kind of issues on my two rear quarters. I want to learn how to fix my car on my own, because I want to learn these things. Does anyone have any suggestions on where, and how, I can get started learning?

Where can I learn more about wielding, and shaping metals?

Christopher