Front spring perch rust GQ Wagon

[monkeyrelish]

Hi All,

New to the site and can't believe that I didn't find it before now..
Anyway I am hoping that someone can provide some help.. I was doing a bit of maintenance on the wagon yesterday getting ready for a trip out west. When I noticed that the drivers side front spring perch cover was rusted and flaking. So I thought I'll rip that off cut up a new one and replace..

I wasn't too happy with what I found underneath. It appears that the battery has been leaking down into the top of the perch for some time and it has rusted to buggery .
The rust seems to be confined to the top of the perch and doesn't appear to have gotten into the chassis as yet.

So I am hoping that someone here has done this kind of repair before, and can give some helpful tips. I can't decide whether to clean back the rust and weld some plate to the good bits of steel that's left, or to source a decent perch and cut out the old one and in with the new?

If I do cut out the old perch how much should I replace? Just cut past the cancer? or is it more structurally sound to replace most or all of the perch?

Also, a very knowledgeable someone on another forum that I frequent suggested that the chassis may be high-tensile alloy steel does anyone know this to be the case? If so what success have people had welding it and what methods were used?

Any, and all help is appreciated..

Pics..

[monkeyrelish]

Update.. took some pics after I gave it all a tickle with the wire brush..




Bump stop might also be stuffed

[mavzilla]

my advise , take out the small blue spring and fit 8inch coils, apply rust converter from repco and dont worry

[89_GQTURBO]

..if you have the money, buy a couplertec... Use rust converter as said above, in 6 weeks wen the couplertec gets a good hold of the car and the rust and surface rust it already has... thats it... youll never have to worry about it again...

[Swamped]

Id stick a wire brush wheel on a grinder and give it death. Then paint it with POR15. Looks a bit flakey in the pics but not totally rotten.

[Clanky]

If you think it requires replacing, replacements can be had from wreckers etc.
Its just a matter of grinding all the welds off and having someone with a decent welder and skills weld it back on.
That said it may only need some patching work, and not a complete replacement.

Depending on where you live, there are a number of people on here who could do this for you.
Alternatively, if its only dodgey in some areas, superior engineering make some strengthening pieces which weld in

And best thing you can do is leave those stupid tin cover plates off the top. Its easier to wash the muck out of the hole without them