tony_2018

The thing is this, there could be more body rot else where that isn't visible. If I see a car with this much rot I rather drive it until it dies and than take it off the road straight to the junker. There's no point in dumping money into suspension work, time to prep work for the rust prevention, and than the cost to purchase POR.

OP's family must've taken this sucker offroad, floods, to the beach. I lived in a flood zone and my tacoma does not look like that.

lostforawhile

there is always a lot more then you can see, especially since most rust through starts from the back side of the panel. thats just what you can see in the picture

NMJimCRV

x2. Being that I am always headed to the scrap yard to pull parts form a wrecked CRV to replace things my 18 yo daughter is breaking on her 97 CRV, I can tell you people will buy the piece parts. The body may be rusting away, but you start talking engine parts, panels, clips, actuators, seat belts, all that kind of thing and there can be a little money in it. You may consider opening it up in a forum here and see if anyone wants certain parts off it, if you know how to remove them.

NMJimCRV

OP - if it is a gen1 CRV, drive it over to Santa Fe and I'll buy it off you for a parts car

lostforawhile

if you knew someone who had a sandblaster some of the suspension parts could be salvaged, but most people dont have one handy, they would have to be stripped, inspected, and if it was just surface rust, repainted. the heavier parts sometimes are salvageable

lostforawhile

OP you might even be able to find someone who knows how to do body work, and they might buy it as a project, it would be worth it to someone who does their own work to slowly repair it, but not cost effective to have a shop do it, as you would sink a fortune in labor into it

Snafu-Si

So it seems pretty consistent when it comes to the corrosion issues. My hood, my fenders, general under body. From what I can tell the bottom of my doors SEEM okay. I'll take a look again maybe pull back the plastic guard a little more to see if the rocker panel is going.

I changed out the passenger front ball joint not too long ago, Water pump, timing belt, less than 10,000 miles ago. the sway bar is in pretty bad shape, but not broken, however the endlink on the passenger rear is broken, but thats only a few bucsk to replace. The bushings seem stiff still, when I grabbed a hand full of sway and jerked it around, it didn't budge.

The Cap and Rotor, Wires, basic maintenance, oil, rear diff, I all did this past winter.

Its kind of sad to see the car rotting away, I just drove 200 miles today, with the new rear tires I just bought.....YESTERDAY, the car drives so smooth, quiet, engine feels just fine, trans has no issues. Yet the car underneath is slowing rotting.

But yeah, I'm not going to invest thousands to fix something that can't be saved. I'm just going to do some cheap DIY's to prolong what I can. Sand out some of the rust spots, bondo fiberglass, paint over it. Spray some rust prevention over areas, undercoat sections underneath, which seem to help a lot before.

The only semi pricey things is a new hood, from rock auto for $95, maybe i can find a used hood somewhere, and I'll match up the front tires with the same ones I got on the rear. If anything the new set of tires will be the most expensive. But if I'm going to drive the life out of this thing, I want to be on a decent set of tires.

I think I might buy some $25 DIY tinting, because if my CRV is going to go out, its going to go out in STYLE!

tony_2018

I rather lay it to rest and find another rd1. It gave you and your family a good ride around with no major issues I presume. No tranny replacement yet?

lostforawhile

if I had the garage space, I might buy something like that for a few hundred just to mess around with it, but I know how to fabricate patch panels etc, you might find someone out there who really likes that generation and has the means to make it a long term project

1991_crxsi

iTrader: (1)

Just make sure it is safe and repair only mechanical components as needed and drive that rusty POS until the wheels fall off. Maybe replace the hood.

driftin90

X2
now that I read this post, diy the tint.

Snafu-Si

I think that's the plan, I'm not going to put in any major investment, unless its needed for safety reason, such as the tires I had to replace because the tread was separating.

So long as I can keep it running in SAFE conditions I'll do so until I replace the car with a new daily.

Snafu-Si

No tranny issues yet (knock on wood). Parents had it for the first 7 years, daily beaten, harsh Michigan winters, then I used it as my winter/rain/cloudy/generally all shitty day beater.

Its had no major mechanical issues, its a Honda! One of the brake lines did get corroded because of all the rust, and I had to replace one section, about roughly 2 feet of line, the rest of the line was good. But powertrain, trans, electric (cept the clock lol), its all been good for me and my family for these 15 years of driving.

OMGZ IS THE AC GOING TO BLOW UP? Mine seems to be working fine. :p (knock on wood again!)

Overall, I can say, I've had a very favorable impression of owning it. When it was my parents car they just drove it, I'd ask if they've done so and so maintenance on it. Of course they didn't, so I'd take it for a day and do all the necessary oil, change all fluids and flush, rear diff, brakes etc. When it was my parents CRV it smelled like a kitchen, since my dad was a Chef. I'd spend hours cleaning, polishing the interior, all show room clean. My dad would be like "wow its like its all new again!" Week later its all a mess. :T

I've driven it in torrential TORRENTIAL blizzards. 20 inches or more, -20 degrees temperature, snow, ice, sleet, cats, dogs, and I've never gotten stuck, NEVER gotten stuck. I'm sure the snow tires really helped. It always started up.

This car held up through it all. its just the body that is going. It brings me to a crossroads.

For a daily, should I replace it with the following.

Brand new 2015 CR-V (they're not quite as hardcore anymore, I feel they've soccer mom'd it a little more than I'd like. But I do hear good reviews, I have yet to drive one, but 6 inches of clearance while the 1st gens had over 8!?)

Subaru Forester (maybe the turbo, maybe not the turbo) More versatile. More hardcore, way more off road prowess than the current CR-V, better mpg. However, I do NOT live in Michigan anymore, no more dirt backroads, no more winters, no snow. In Texas its just TORRENTIAL THUNDERSTORMS, but I don't really need the 4wd/Awd anymore.

VW GTD, Practical, turbo diesel, peppy, 280lbs torque, near 400lbs of torque after chip upgrade :D :D :D :D. 50MPG FIFTY! FIIIIIFTY!!!
Since I don't need the 4wd and don't live in the snow belt, the 2wd is probably fine. I live in the concrete jungle that is Houston. 5 door hatchback design will still allow plenty of space, though not as much as the suv's, enough for me to carry all the crap I haul. The diesel cousin to the VW GTI it would be a spirited peppy car darting around the city. Interior is pretty nice when I saw the GTI and the GTD will be pretty much the same.

All these cars all cost around the $25,000 ish area. Those are some of the cars I've though of replacing my aging CRV in the future. If anyone wants to toss in another consideration, I open minded to suggestions.

Snafu-Si

:p :p :p

I've watched a bunch of videos on youtube of how to tint, it doesn't *look* complicated. It actually isn't complicated per say rather, good technique, and skill. They sure do make it *look* easy. Tools are cheap, the only thing I don't have is a heat gun. I might go and see if there is a heat gun I can rent for a day rather than buying one.

I haven't ever had to use a heatgun at home before for any kind of diy'ing. Only at my old job work shop had I used heat guns.

driftin90

If it's super hot there, you won't need it as much as say someone like me in the NW. you can also use a hair dryer.

Snafu-Si

HMMMMM a hair dryer, that sounds like a great idea!!! Thanks! :D :D

kiseliok

This.
Had my rear fenders cut out and new pieces were welded. It ended up being rather costly overall, but it was well worth it, imo. I hate salt / rust. Time to move south!

Snafu-Si

How much did it cost?

H22A EG6

I don't understand why you think this is a safety issue

Nothing looks out of the norm for you location

tony_2018

You making it sound like we're telling you to give up with on the crv. Just buy another 1st gen.

lostforawhile

it's a unibody if it has structural rust that's hidden the entire strength of the chassis can be compromised. I was born and raised in the north, and I've seen cars rusted like this, just come apart in wrecks, OP needs to get an estimate from a good shop, who knows where to look for hidden structural rust, before he makes a decision on it, but that may be hard to do in Texas, as they don't see this very often. I hate rust and I hate salt, I'm so glad I'm out of the rust belt, I would be most worried about the structural members in the unibody rusting from the inside out, thats what caused Toyota to do the frame recalls on all of those Tundras, it's just something that happens in areas where battery acid, I mean salt is heavily used, salt water gets up in those areas and eats the metal from the inside out. they may look fine but have most of the steel gone

Snafu-Si

Oh no that's not what I meant, I'm just exploring ideas. If I was still living in the snow belt areas, I'd probably get another small SUV. 4wd/awd is essentially when blasting through snow.

But now that I'm out of the Snow Belt, as least for now, I'm not sure if I need a SUV anymore. So I just want it to run for now until other options, like this new job that's taking forever to hire me because of their month long background checks.

I've also strongly considered just buying another 1st Gen CR-V that has no rust. I think the only thing I don't like about it, is its MPG isn't particularly very good. I get what its listed at, 22city, 25hwy.

Now I can say that back when I lived in Michigan, the highways were clear, traffic flowed, and there were tons of 18wheelers, I could draft behind.

My commute entirely consisted of highway in Michigan, I could get 500 miles easy on a tank on the CR-V just drafting behind Semi trucks. They were only going about 55-60mph but I honestly didn't mind. The most i got was 290 miles on my tripmeter on 1/2 tank.

I can't drive that way here in Houston, there's heavy traffic, semi's aren't really common, and they drive sporadic, weaving left and right. Also the constant highway changes from I45, to I610, to M59, to M288, north, south, east, west, up, down, left, right. makes it nearly impossible to draft a semi.

It only works well when there's a constant steady pace. In Michigan, drafting a semi that doesn't move or change lane for 50 straight miles and following it all the way was easy. My commute in Michigan was I-94. That's it, on or off, it was I94.

Here in Houston I'm lucky if I get behind a semi for 30 seconds. Not to mention that highway traffic here stops, and goes, and stop and goes, then stops again, then goes, for no reason other to be completely stupid. Gas and brake, gas and brake, GAS AND BRAKE!

Those are some of the reason why I'll probably move on to something else. MPG isn't great, fuel is expensive. It adds up when you commuting 80miles a day. :T

GOSH i wish there was a diesel CR-V here. :T :T :T :T :T

Snafu-Si

+1

Gotta be safe, especially with the psychotic Texas drivers. I see lots of tombstones on the side of the highway here. Everyone here drives tanks, moronic lifted pickups, dumb downed suv's, and I always wondered who bought all the Hummers in the U.S., and I found my answer, Texans bought all the hummers. I've never seen so many Hummers. That brisk 5mpg must not mean much. But it does to me.

tony_2018

Actually they did make turbo diesel crv's. Just not in the US. We got fucked on that one.

tony_2018

If I get a CRV, 1st gen, and do a j swap. I'm definitely taking it offroad.