Rust removal

CMF_Alex_B

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I tried searching, but couldn't find the post. ONe of the memebers mentioned that he had rust near the lower radiator mount point. Just up from a drain hole for the lower front bar area. I have the same rust, about 1cm wide 3cm long patch, which i think is due from a blockage,

anyone got any pics of how they went about it?

Alex
 

CMF_Alex_B

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the hole
 

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cisco

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Eek Alex.

Time for a holiday at the body shop for your car I think.

Should get them to spray all the new stuff in black rust inhibiting paint too. bad luck mate :(
 

CMF_Yom

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It seems to be on the places where micras do rust here. There's 2 at the wreckers which have rust in the same areas.

I've also seen rust around the sunroof metal pressings, rear hatch underneath the window seal and also around the rear are aof the roof hidden under the hatch - they werent painted very well in this area and this can cause some problems.

Geograhical location is also pretty important and alex lives next to the sea. :p
 

cisco

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Doh!

I reckon get a whole new section welded in there.

Probably quite an easy job for a decent body shop.

That ozeparts is a pretty good web site. Is that the only part you need on there?
 

CMF_Polar

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almost every uk k11 falls to bits at this point of the car, called the front cross member. nissan knows it as the cars worst weak spot. eventually the whole thing turns to brown dust depending how longs its left or whether you have good vehicle testers that actually bother looking at it and fail it. they can be patched up with paltes welded on, i had this done about 4 years in row, with lots of plates all over it, but then it just gets worse and worse, had the hole panel replaced last month. engine doesnt need to come out, just the engine support bar/mount that attaches to cross member, and then bumper/rad/wings/grill/horn/bits of wire attached the old part. i think its best to get the biggest new section put in which goes up to include the headlight spaces and top bar where horns attach to etc.
i had it spot welded like it was originally done by nissan,but maybe not enough spotwelds were put on, as nissan garage failed it saying it should be continuosly welded. but after taking advice from the vehicle standards agency in uk they said i was allowed to have it spot welded if originally it's spot welded when new from the factory. which it is.
hope that helps.
ps.
plate patches have to be continuosly welded though.
 

CMF_Alex_B

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nuts, that means the aircon has gotta come out. How do you remove the old one, as all the spotwelds are holding it? and how is the new one aligned, looks like you could weld it wrong and have a bung front end afterwards :p

Alex
 

CMF_makes

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Hi Alex,

I noticed a while ago both my micras also have rust in this same place... :( The white car seems to be at least as bad as yours while the blue one is just only starting (hopefully have caught it in time).

Thanks for the tip on where to get this replacement panel. Looks like I will be needing to buy one.....

Both cars need the bumpers resprayed so I will probably get this installed at the same time. Hopefully this will not be too expensive as this panel is fairly easily accessible with the bumper removed....

After the new ones are installed I will fill them with that anti-rust wax stuff to ensure it doesn't happen again !

 

CMF_Yom

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My car is filled with that stuff makes. You can't stick your hand in any of the doors or panels without getting it all over your skin and under nails, etc. Its very stubborn when it comes to cleaning it off as well. If you wear gloves the rubber/latex just gets attached to the waxy stuff. lol
 

CMF_Geoff R

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G'day Alex,

Just found your post, and was wondering how everything turned out, now it's a year on?

Having decided to keep my much-loved '95 Micra SLX a while longer, it is currently in for 100,000 km service, timing chain replacement, & rego check

But the Nissan Service Centre just rang and told me that before passing rego, the front cross member will need rust repairs, and they're getting 2 nearby panel shops to give written quotes for the job :-[

So with regard to getting a quick lesson in what's involved, it was most helpful to see your rust-damage pics, but it gave me a bit of a fright because my Micra is the same color as yours!!

I'll find out exactly how much rust damage there is once I get the quotes, but in the meantime - did you have any other problems? And how much did it end up costing?

Cheers, Geoff
 

smidge

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do you need to take the front bumper off to find this weak spot or can you see it just by looking up underneith? i'd like to get on top of this if its a potential car killer

if its not rusted at all yet, any tips to prevent it?
 

CMF_david (2)

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I can see mine rusting as well. It seems to just be surface rust at the moment. I'm thinking I'll spray some anti-rust stuff on and hope for the best.

I can see it without removing anything. A torch can be helpful. I just slide under the front (slightly to the left) and look where the radiator is bolted to the car.
 

CMF_deNs

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Just wondering what nissan is going to charge for all the front-end parts listed in Alex's post above - I had a look through the hole in my front crossmember and I think it's likely going to be the same situation for me as well.. would rather replace it all and have a fresh front-end so I don't have to worry about it and have the peace of mind :)

---dens
 

CMF_Red Menace

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Replacing it isn't the world's worst job - drill out the old spot welds, double check to make sure you've got them all, rip the old crossmember off and weld another in in its place. I didn't even have to remove the radiator, though I did take the headlights off. In the UK at least, you can just replace the lower crossmember if the rest of the front end is sound. If the rust has spread a little further, buy a complete front piece and cut it down to give you what you need. I took the precaution of both plug welding it and seam welding it, because my welding isn't the world's best. It got it through MOT though.
 

CMF_deNs

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Thanks for that.

Yeah I could just replace the lower crossmember, but the headlight brackets and whatnot are not exactly straight on either side and i've always wanted to have that repaired so it's like new. I'd get a new lower crossmember no matter what but the chances of finding the headlight bracket and radiator support bits intact on a wreck down here isn't very likely.

---dens
 

CMF_nz_aj

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My '94 jap spec has bits of surface rust on the rad support, nothing serious yet, the metalic paint is thin, like the paint at the rear of the roof, under the hatch.
My '97 jap facelift is white & paint is thick everywhere, no signs of rust.

I've seen rust in rear doors of another early K11, one of the bottom corners rusted from teh inside, and also one fo the corners at the bottom of the glass. Probably lack of paint.

Tops of front strut towers can have rust at joins too.

The gap between the bottom of the front guard & sill is a good mud trap, probably could rust in there. I've cleaned mine & other out, just unbolt/screw the bottom of the gaurd & hose/brush out.

Thought the radiator support rust was just a salt on the roads british problem.
 

CMF_penpusher

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Going to need to fix the rust on the lower front radiator support soon also.

For those who have done this, did they use the panel from ozeparts.com.au or elsewhere ? If elsewhere, where ? Whatever panel was used, was it a good fit out of the box or was there a lot of fiddling around to make it fit ?

Any details of a Sydney based panel beater /welder who did a good job replacing the lower radiator support panel/lower front crossmember on their micra and approximate cost ?
 
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