New anti roll bar ripped a hole in my rusty old chassis!

judderod · Post by **judderod** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:28 am

A few weeks after fitting my new Ultra Racing ARB, the mrs said the car had suddenly developed a loud knock from the back. So I had a look and 2 of the bolts connecting one of the mounts to the chassis had come loose. I put it down to spraying on too much anti rust wax oil and re-tightened them. But a week later the knock came back. So the other evening I undid the bolts and was thinking to just clean up the threads and bolts so they would hopefully stay tight.

I was greeted with this

I was really really shocked to find this as the rest of the underside of the car doesn't look that bad. I guess it's what you can't see that causes the most problems. I didn't know what to do and only had 2 hours to sort it. The options were remove the ARB altogether and try to figure out what to do before the next MOT, or have a go at bodging it whatever I might have lying around. Without a welder it wasn't going to be easy or pretty...

So I just got to it and hoped for the best.

I coated as much of the inside of the chassis with loads more wax oil to hopefully stop more rust happening. It tightened up pretty well after a few goes. It felt like the superglue let go and then grabbed again after a minute so I was able to keep tightening until friction held the inside nut in place. It ended up very tight. Getting it off again however... Well that's probably never going to happen!

I'm a bit stumped with the future of the car now to be honest. Everything is ready to get the bodywork sorted (money, panels, quote etc.), but I've been put off the idea now as it will be a complete waste if there are more hidden nasties like this waiting round the corner

Post by **Merlin** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:31 am

Wow!!

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:39 am

I was going to suggest something like what you've done, but I believe if you remove the rear bumper you can see the open end of that box section, so I was going to suggest popping you're "nut-plate thingy" in there and pushing it along.

That could be a way to remove it actually if you've got a spanner long enough. Otherwise, you'd be wanting new metal added there anyway, so it'd be a case of cutting a section out anyway, especially if the rust has spread further along

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:24 am

That's quite concerning, but seriously well done on coming up with and putting the fix in place that quickly!

If Nafe's right about being able to see into that box section from the rear, sounds like bumper off to have a good inspection with a torch or endoscope to see what the rest of it's like. If everything else is ok, plenty of wax down there and happy days, plans back on track!

(Sounds like something I should do at some point too then...)

Post by **indigolemon** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:33 am

I'm gradually starting to come round to the realisation that metal can be cut out and replaced. Once that sinks into your thinking, anything is possible - don't be too disheartened man. If rust really was a reason to get shot, mine would have been scrapped years ago

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:44 am

Them there rectangular holes...

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:47 am

I didn't meant to doubt you Nafe, it was just a turn of phrase...
Don't hate me, please!

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:49 am

I didn't think you did doubt me! It was just an image for Rod's reference

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:50 am

Yep, that's why I said...

NafemanNathan wrote:popping you're "nut-plate thingy" in there and pushing it along.

That could be a way to remove it actually if you've got a spanner long enough.

Post by **DaveyBa8** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:52 am

That's going to have to be cut out, weld in a piece then , not a massive job.