Eunos rot - convince me!

[DMDS]

Morning all,

My first post here and I'm afraid it's about rust. I know it's been discussed to death but I could really do with some advice.

My 1992 Eunos V-Spec has an MOT due in September (inclusive of COVID extenstion).

Last time I took it to the garage I asked them to check for potential MOT fails. Sure enough, the nearside rear sill will be a fail, and the offside has about a year left in it.

Both the outer and inner sill will need cutting out and replacing. I've been quoted £1K plus VAT for this from a classic car restorer (I'm in the South).

If i knew this would solve the problem then I'd be happy to pay it. However, there is also a bit of bubbling under the rear arches, as well as some bubbling on the nearside front wing. To repair all of this I imagine would run into the thousands which I'm reluctant to part with. I can't weld so DIY not an option currently. I could bolt on a front wing but it would still need painting.

If I were to just get the sills repaired then I wouldn't be able to properly underseal because of the existing rust in other places. So it all seems a bit pointless really!

I suppose what I want to know is whether I'm right in thinking this is going to be prohibitively expensive? Has anyone had a similar amount of work done and knows how much I can expect?

Also, assuming I left the wheel arches and wing for now, can arch rust/front wing rust alone lead to an MOT fail? I could be tempted to repair the sills and get a few years of fun out of the car and just let the arches go!

Apologies if these questions have been answered before. I've been googling all week but hard to get an idea for current costs etc.

Many thanks!

[snotrag]

Its a tricky situation for sure.

Having 'been there done that' I'd say you need to be really clear that you go all in, or nothing.

There is very little point paying for a proper repair on the sills, involving welding, fabrication, prep, then paintshop, only to ignore the rust 12 inches further up the wheel arch and do it all again in a year - the total costs will be much, much more. Not to mention that the subsequent rustrproofing you should do AFTER the repairs would make future welding more tricky.

Its now or never for a big bill - only you will know if its worht it or not. I'd suggest that if you go for it, then its because the car is a 'keeper' to you.

The flipside is you do nothing, or an 'MOT patch' this year but be aware that theres a very real chance that within 12 months your car is a £150 worth MOT failure clogging up your driveway.

Edited by snotrag on Thursday 18th June 15:54

[DMDS]

Thanks Snotrag, you've confirmed what I thought. It seems it is an all or nothing scenario.

I'm going to take it to the MOT in September and get a full picture of what needs doing and then make up my mind. However, I think it's probably best to part ways. For the money I spend on repairs I could probably get a cleaner car! It'll be a shame to see her go though, hopefully I can find someone willing to restore rather than break.

[tim-b]

+1 on snotrag's advice, I've not long ago gone the 'all-in' route, and while the cost stung quite a bit, I'm planning to offset it by keeping the car a long time (bit of man-maths there I guess )

DMDS said:

......For the money I spend on repairs I could probably get a cleaner car! .....

Parting ways is definitely an option, but something to think about is that you never really know the condition of the inner arches/sills until it's too late...mine looked absolutely solid when I got the car, 6 months later I noticed very slight brown patches towards the rear of the sills, only once cut open could you see that it was gone inside. My point is, you can never be sure if a rust-free car is really rust-free unless you've done it yourself, so might be better the devil you know than buying a solid looking car that might need restoring in the near future.

Edited by tim-b on Monday 22 June 15:40

[tonymor]

I've got a mk1 monza that i bought in November 2017 as a project it needed some welding and a respray so ok costly but as my classic it was worth it .
Cars always cost so it's always a personal choice but I've no regrets.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Take it to Gareth - The MX5 Restorer, near Brighton. Nobody repairs these cars better and he will be able to give you an honest assessment of the work that needs to be done. I’d take it to him rather than getting an MoT to find out what needs to be done.

[V8RX7]

I would certainly take welding work to a welder - not a garage, they just add a margin on.

£400 should cover the usual rust on an MX5 sills

[PushedDover]

As above.

ids the car sentimental or a keeper? Is it a toy or a DD ?

If so, do it all.
Mine was a few years back (still is) and staring down the gun had the inners and outer sills done, four new wings. - and a full respray.
I would argue it cost less than replacing with another car.

I bought the panels on a MX5 Parts sale weekend and stored for the job, and handed over to a local body shop and said keep cutting until there is no more rust.


Dont ask how long the job took

[binnerboy]

Find somewhere else to get the welding done. I got a quote for less than that to do, inner sills and outer sills on both sides and both rear arches

The front wings are replaceable so may not need welding

only do this if you want to keep the car. It is diffcult to find a clean one for under £1k, though the market is bit different at the moment so maybe you could but they all rust eventually

if you get the work done then you know yours is ok, make sure you get it thoroughly treated with rust prevention after such as dinitroil or POR51 (15?)

[DMDS]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I'm going to put it through the MOT in October and see where it fails. Then go from there and potentially look for a cheaper quote.

[TVRees]

PushedDover said:

.. is the car sentimental or a keeper?

A few weeks after purchase an MX5 surely always becomes a keeper.

[PushedDover]

TVRees said:

PushedDover said:

.. is the car sentimental or a keeper?

A few weeks after purchase an MX5 surely always becomes a keeper.

This is true !

[Gad-Westy]

MX-5 Lazza said:

Take it to Gareth - The MX5 Restorer, near Brighton. Nobody repairs these cars better and he will be able to give you an honest assessment of the work that needs to be done. I’d take it to him rather than getting an MoT to find out what needs to be done.

Do you happen to know what sort of range of costs are for this type of work by Gareth? He couldn't be much further from me but if I ever have an MX5 in need again, I'd rather take it to an expert.

I had a Eunos some years back that was a bit bubbly from the outside but nothing untypical of what you see on these cars. I took it to a local MX5 specialist but as soon they started pulling and cutting off the crusty bits, it became very obvious that it was going to be way, way beyond an economical repair. Costs would have been £4k or more. People I knew at the time were suggesting this is a rip off and you should be able get both sides repaired for under £1k. But that car needed inner and outer sills front to back, some floor sections and both rear arches. Price accounted for front wings as well, some dent removal and near enough a total respray. A lot of money but the bodywork would have been immaculate after that and an actual proper starting to point to be able to keep on top of it rather than just watch it get worse again. Alas, I didn't save that car as this was back in the day when £1500 might get you a good one but I might have considered it these days. I'd far rather do this sort of thing properly than have someone just chop out the surface rust from time to time and put a sticking plaster over it while the car is bubbling away to dust underneath the surface. £1k get you very little in terms of labour, panels and paint but if it really was ever just outer sills, it might suffice, but it almost never is from what I've seen.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Monday 17th August 15:44