Alright I'm loving my em1, car just hit 60k miles and I found something that I'm not very happy with. I took out the passenger seat and lifted up the carpet to discover a **** load of rust. I know If I take it to a shop they will charge a **** ton. I bought the car for 5k in 2009. Its a payed off which I love having but its got cancer! I don't have a garage nor a driveway. Inspection is due in 5 months. I was thinking about renting a garage and buying another Honda from the southwest and swapping engines into but I would have to take a loan out from the bank. Any ideas? Sorry for big *** pictures.

 

Ouch.

Man with the area it is in I would think any body shop could cut out and weld a new piece of metal in. I don't think you would have to part anything out. Just take it to a shop and see what they say.

 

Is that a hole under the passenger seat?!?!

 

Yea its a hole, and here are more pictures, sorry they are huge.

 

You should set up a shutterfly account. Makes the pictures smaller.

 

Oh my. I am so sorry.

I know they replace floors on older cars, but they don't build cars quite the same anymore plus replacing a Model T might not be as easy as replacing a Civic Si.

I hate to sound like a vulture, but in the event it gets parted out, would you at least send me the VIN along with perhaps a photo of the exterior so I can add it to the EM1 list?

Good luck with it. Again, I'm really sorry you had to find something like that.

It might be worth calling around to body shops and see what they might suggest.

 

You can also resize the photos in MS Paint or just link them.

EDIT: Here they are at 35%.















And your URLs for the full size versions:

 

pffft dont even trip dude, thats nothing... seriously,cut out the rust,clean up the surrounding area and weld in new metal. clean it up once again and por15 that ****

 

Thanks alot for the pictures! I'm probably gonna check with some shops this week and get a quote but I'm thinking its going to be half the price of the car when I bought it.

 

damn how the hell did your car get that serious amount of rust already? my 40 year old datsun doesnt have that kind of rust. was your car sittin in high water at one point? i dont even see how water would get in unless it was partly flooded at one point

 

Not that I know of. It only that one side of the car that has rust. The rear 1/4 has rust but I sanded and fixed it a year ago but its coming back. It's been up in the Northeast all its life.

 

Might as well get a new panel for that done also while they are at it.

 

daaaamn, that's a lot of rust happening, but it's very fixable. Not only would I get a new floor panel, but you should get a new carpet or see about getting your current one cleaned up real good.

 

Seeing as these cars are built on a unibody instead of a frame i would be worried about structle issues. Its not just as easy as cutting it out and welding it back in because of were it is at . I also would put the car on a lift because if that looks like it does odds are the car has problems in other places as well. I have fixed some serious stuff and i have seen cars cut in half and welded back together but that doesnt mean i want to own one and put my money into fixing one up. I would see how it was made and were the spot welds are. If you can drill out the spot welds and replace it properly it might be ok. as for cutting it out and then cutting one a little bigger so you can over lay one on the other and weld it to it like the older floor pans in cars i wouldnt do it just not worth it to me. I could skin the quarter in three hours and it would be good as new never know it was touched but thats the integraty of the car so make sure its done right . Im sure either way i would drive down the road but if you got in a wreck it would fold up like a tin can if not done right.

 

I'm more likely going to part the car out in the future. But for now I'm saving up money for an EG hatch.

 

Just find why the water is collecting there in the first place.Fix that. Then cut out the rust. And throw some hefty metal down in its place, make sure there is nice strong metal to weld to, have a good welder MIG the piece in there, It will be stronger than it was before and If you can just sand out the rust but the front seat and stop it from getting worse, I would keep it. You have the advantage that the worst of it is under the carpet under or behind the passenger seat. if its fixed right, it wil last a long time, be completely safe and know one will ever notice it. Ive done alot of body work, ive gone to school for it and repaired many cars. if the worst part is in the middle of the floor than your set!.

 

I have been in my dads shop my whole life and now run it. Trust me, It is easily fixable. It is a VERY common issue. Not so much with hondas but other cars. Even unibodies. If the welds are strong, so is the structure and integrity of your car. Dont stress it man. Its not a big deal. I would look around for more though. Also, look up hill in the car for water leaks. You may want to pull the carpet up and have somebody outside with a hose while your inside looking for water.