Snafu-Si

My CR-V has some rust spots that are really starting to come through. I honestly haven't been using my CR-V in some time now. Less than a 1000 miles past 2 years.

I'm hoping that these areas won't be too difficult to repair. Or if its even worth putting up with, I hear some bad things about rust.

Three key areas are showing rust. Both rear fender areas both on driver and passenger side.


On the passenger side its a little worse, when I put my hand behind it, I brushed out a bunch of rust flakes as you can see some fell on top of the tire. If I had wanted to, I could probably have poked my finger right through the rust. The rust has gone completely through.




The Driver side isn't quite as bad but I was still able to brush out rust flakes as its definitely gone completely through.



Last but not least is the hood. Pictures speak for themselves.







The underside of the hood you can see the rusty parts on both the left side and the right of the latch. The latch is still strong and okay. That had me worried if the latch was rusting.


If I had wanted to I could have poked through the left side of my hood more.

Again the latch area still seems strong for now. I don't know if that section is of a different material but when I tugged on it, it felt pretty sturdy, no flex.

Snafu-Si

I hoping to find out exactly what repairs are going to be need to be done.

I assume, and please correct me if I'm wrong, or if there are alternatives.

That the rear fender areas, the rust sections will have to be "cut out" and have new plates of steel welded into them. and the repainted etc.
How much does that cost roughly? D: I suppose I can get some estimates.


As for the hood, is it even worth fixing? Wouldn't it be cheaper just to replace the hood? I found a CAPA certified hoods online for $98. Primed and ready for paint, although I actually had something else in mind for that I wanted to ask you guys about.

OneBadTurboCRV

Why wouldn't you just call local body shops or better yet DRIVE the car to them and get a FREE estimate? Every place across the USA has different prices... this is an EXTREMELY lazy thread.

Snafu-Si

I am planning to go a body shop and get an estimate.

I appreciate the suggestion though. I'm trying to learn about the actual damage potential that is on the vehicle itself so I can know what to expect. I didn't want go in "blind" and say "this is broken fix this", rather understand what it is that is exactly wrong and what needs to be done.

I thought just going in there would be equivalent to saying "my check engine light is on". I rather have a better focus on exactly what I needed.

When I had my brake lines done, I didn't go just in and say, "I'm losing brake pressure". Rather I came to the forums and got actual help and researched exactly where I needed repairs and narrowed it down to exactly what had to be replaced.

I wanted to gain some information of what can be fixed, and what can be replaced. If just buying a new hood would be a better suggestion and not to bother with getting the hood fixed at all.

I've always gotten good suggestions and advice. What to expect when I do go to a shop, what they might say, what they might overlook, etc....

I find that yours was also helpful. Although I was expecting somewhat more than a laconic and pedantic one. It would have been extremely lazy for me not to try to learn a little more about my situation and looking possible options that I could consider.

OneBadTurboCRV

The pictures don't work for me. Post up working pictures for more of my awesome insight.

Snafu-Si

Whoops I apologize, I didn't know the photos were not coming through. I've fixed this issues hopefully its coming through for everyone.

I was told on another forum, that the body shop might offer to "fix" the hood but it would be expensive and not worth it to fix. That it would be more cost effective to just purchase a new hood.

mike_1212

Yes a body shop can fix your rust issues.... and yes they will need to cut out the affected area and weld in replacements.... as for the hood would be cheaper to buy a new on and have the shop paint it along with the new panels to be welded in... as for cost.... you will have to get estimates..... every shop charges a different amount for these things.... but ask around friends and others what kind of work was done on their vehicles by whatever particular shop.... sometimes the quality outways the cost.... hope this helps you...

Snafu-Si

Yes very much so! I especially wanted to confirm that it was going to be more cost effective to just replace the hood, rather than get it fixed. That definitely sounds like the way to go and save a little money on that part.

I was slightly afraid of this "terminal rust" I heard some people say. But was told if the rust isn't "too" bad and not on key structural safety areas like A, B, C etc pillars, or on rocker panel, that it should be okay. I figured I'd come here and get some opinions. I appreciate it.

I'll look up some hoods, so far, CAPA certified hood was one of the least expensive steel hood at less than 100. ALuminum for $420, and carbon fiber for $525 :p I think I'll check the for sale page to see if anybody might have a hood for sale. :D

lostforawhile

where did this come from? it says you are from Texas but rust like that typically isn't from the south, if this was a CR-V from up north somewhere, then it's probably got a lot more rust then you can see, and isnt worth fixing.

Snafu-Si

I lived in Michigan for 25 years. It spent a majority of its time up there. I had brakes lines rusted through a while back where a portion of line went bad. Thanks to the good people here at HT I was instructed on where to look in the braking system to make sure there wasn't any more damage that could be more severe.

Luckily it was just that section line but accessing was an issue.

There is more rust under the vehicle and when I had the portion of brake line replaced, the shop was a little worried that some of nuts and bolts might be too rusty and could break. They said the actually all came off just fine and nothing broke.

But you're right, which is why I'm posting this thread is that I'm unaware of other potential risk my car might have that I cannot see.

As forementioned on a above post, I will get an estimate to see how much it would be to fix the issues that I know it has, I.E. the rear fenders, I also notice some tiny little spots of rust on the hood but it looks really minor.

My major concern is HOW bad it actually is. If the car is still relatively safe to drive. Driving the car itself it seems fine Engine and Trans wise. But if its falling apart somewhere else I do not know how much money I want to invest in fixing it.

My goal is right now, I MIGHT (fingers crossed) be starting a new job soon that pays pretty well, (at least by my standards) I'm hoping I can get this little CR-V to last another 2-4 more years in good operating condition so I can save up the money and replace it. Even if I can get to last 1-2 more years would suffice.

I will crawl under the car and take some pictures of the underbody, maybe I'll spot something that needs to be addressed or somebody here will see something.

lostforawhile

it's probably got terminal cancer if it lived in Michigan, that road salt gets into everything, usually they rust from the inside out. You'll just have to have it looked through, I grew up in northeast Ohio, and I hate salt cancer, most of the time when it's to this point, it's far worse then you can see

Snafu-Si

I will try to access more this afternoon. Try to look at spots I haven't seen yet. If I find something "terminal", or heading toward terminal, I might not even fix the rear fenders, I might just let it rot out and save the money from fixing and just put it toward a new .. new something.

I've contemplated maybe selling the EM1 which has been entirely garaged and only driven on sunny days, and getting whatever I can for the CR-V, and looking into the new 7th Gen 2015 VW Golf GTI to replace both of my cars.

lostforawhile

it's not so much one particular thing that you are looking for it's if it's to the point of so many rust spots that it just doest make sense to sink a lot of money into it. Hondas and salt don't get along, I've been down this road with an early civic from Indiana, you think you know where the rust is, then you start removing paint and undercoating, and just keep finding more and more of the stuff. the salt ends up as dust mixed in with dirt, during thaws and it seeps into everything, then when the temp changes or there's a sudden increase in humidity, the stuff turns into corrosive damp dirt inside of all your body panels, seams, etc.

OneBadTurboCRV

You made it sound really bad in your posts. I personally wouldn't mess with it. It is just a beater car from the looks of it anyways. If you wanted to get involved purchase some quality rust converter and follow the instructions exactly. If you don't it won't work at all. Then tape off the area and spray paint it. This will slow down the rust somewhat and will need to be repeated once or twice a year. It is a very cheap fix with some elbow grease required. A body shop will probably want between $1,000 to $2,000 to fix it all and is not worth it in the slightest.

If you want to spend a little bit for some awesome product the get the POR 15 that is made for direct sunlight. POR is absolutely the best on the market and actually stands for "Paint Over Rust". We use it on every restoration and undercarriage. You could also purchase a bug deflector to hide the hood some. They are pretty cheap as well. If you wanted to get really involved just remove the rust and bondo or fiberglass it and spray paint it.

Snafu-Si

This is some great tips for me to look into!!

That's my dilema is that as stated, I'm not sure if the investment is even worth the investment to try to fix anyway. But the budget fixes you mention I'm definitely going to take a look into.

I've considered the idea of other budget fixes like you mentioned sanding down the fenders and bondo fiberglass it and paint over it. That would be the budget me.

This POR 15 stuff I'm going to check out and apply to the ares if I decide to budget fix.

The hood I might probably just replace, its only $100 and unpainted, its already dull black. I don't see a real need to even paint it because my CR-V is already dull black. If I painted the hood it'd look even more weird. :p
My fear is the the rust is both on the left side and right side of the latch. Though the latch SEEMS strong still I'm kind of worried it might break down and while driving on the highway, the latch could give way and I'll have a hood smash into my windshield, or even worse, fly off and hit somebody else.

It IS my beater, but I still want to make sure its in SAFE operating condition. I'm just hoping I can get it to last me another 1-2 years.

If I don't get this new job, I hope the car will last 2-4 years >.<

Runnerdown

Just let it go. If the sheet metal is that rusty and had michigan winters with salt it's too far gone. Everything under the car will be rusty and difficult to remove without destroying. Too much hassle and other parts are surely on deck to fail or rust out.

Snafu-Si

Here are some pics I got when I was under the car.



Yeah this part was the worst from what I saw.



Passenger side, whatever this bar is. Looks like some kind of reinforcement. I grabbed a hefty hold of it, gave it as strong as I could tugs, slapped with with a rubber mallet, it SEEMED really sturdy. I don't know if under body parts are using different types of metals that Honda might used but as bad as it looked, that bar *seemed* to still be pretty strong.


That pieces does look like its replaceable though. Not sure what part it is, or how much it cost.

Same bar but on driver side doesn't seem in nearly as bad shape.


Cat shot


Underbody length shot



Passenger rear side brake shot. Yes the endlink on the sway bar is broken. Luckily, that endlink is cheap. Found a replacement endlink at Rockauto.com for about 2 bux. I think honda wanted like 20 bucks.




Driver side rear shot. Hey, I still have ONE endlink still holding up fine! I also gave the rear sway a good tug. I was expecting to replace the bushings and mounts on the rear sway but honestly, the rear sway was on there pretty sturdily. It wasn't budging and the bushings though dirty, seemed relatively okay. So I don't think I need to change those, just the other endlink.




These are the only shots where it seems okay.






Passenger front brake section


Driver side front brake section



WELL!

Thats it for now. >.<

Snafu-Si

From what I'm slowly starting to gather. It probably isn't worth fixing the fenders anymore because of all the other rust that it has. The underbody just doesn't look in great shape.

I'm starting to lean just to patch up the fenders ALA sand it down and Bondo Fiberglass and paint over it. Spray some anti rust on spots on and under the car as suggested and paint over it or coat it to slow down the decay the best I can.

The only thing I might actually replace is the hood as I mentioned earlier. $98 bucks for a new hood isn't so bad, and I won't have to worry about it smacking me in the face while I'm driving.

Just gotta squeeze a little bit more life outta here.

The good thing is the engine is running just fine, ish, kind of, I think it is.
The Trans seems to be running just fine, ish, kind of, I think it is. :p
The Electronics are working just fine, ish, kind of, I think it is. >.< (except for the clock)
And boy is the interior super clean! Seriously clean!

Well if I have to get rid of it........
I'm KEEPING THE DAMN PICNIC TABLE. I've got memories with family with that picnic table. Picnicking and stuff.

tony_2018

Oh god....rust bucket....let it go bud.

lostforawhile

in this case, fiberglass,spray foam, and cheap body filler are your friends, and chicken wire, it will probably keep exhaust from entering the holes in the body until it makes it's way to the junkyard

lostforawhile

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...74649129,d.aWw

Snafu-Si

Well I'm going to try to get it to last just a tad bit longer :D

On my way back from uptown Houston, I felt a rear wobble on the passenger side. I thought, oh please don't be tread separation. Checked, Yep, I'm not surprised, old tires. Good tread, but old tires. I bought some mid range tires for the rears. Gotta get that new job first before I replace the car! Besides, can't sell a car with separated tires anyway.

I wasn't expecting to invest money into the tires but now that I have, I might as well try to squeeze out whatever left I can out of the old body before it rust away.

Man this new job hiring process is taking forever.

tony_2018

Sounds like the car sat for a while, like a long while.

Ratt1

I have a 2001 CRV and I live in Illinois. It has a few minor rust spots compared to yours but they all start in the same spots --- hood, rear fenders, bottom of doors...

I'm no mechanic but here is my thought if you want to squeeze some more life out of it. Instead of dumping 2K into rust prevention, I would take that money and invest in new suspension parts - ball joints, sway bars, bushings, links, good set of tires, tune up - new plugs, wires, distributor/parts, belt, etc etc etc...

Then as some mentioned here, do some "cheap and sleazy" rust protection stuff yourself. You could even try to undercoat the underneath if you needed. It won't stop rust but it would probably slow it down. Your car is rusted but it will last you many more years as long as the drive train and such are good.

lostforawhile

you can sell it as a parts car, tread separation or not, as long as the new owner is informed of the issues, then it's sold "as is" and anything potentially dangerous has been disclosed

when a car gets this bad, the "cheap and sleezy" repairs are the only thing left, these newer Hondas simply dont last once they get body rot that has set in, the OP sinking a lot of money into new suspension parts is throwing that money out the window, as the body is falling apart around them, that rust is a lot worse then what you can visibly see, if you could see where it started from the back, you would understand what I mean, On an older American car with a frame, yea it would last a long time with new suspension parts, but with a unibody, once that much rust sets in, it's pretty well finished, it COULD be fixed, but it's an involved effort, that might only be worth it, if the car had some sort of sentimental value