Rust and forensics (big pics)

I'm starting the chemical rust treatment on the Caddy. I purchased a Harbor Freight camera-on-a-stick to get up inside the frame-rails and about 90% of them look really good. The outside rails, with a light grinding to get the big chunks off are cleaning up well (if slowly) with the chemical spray.

And then I ran across a section of framerail that set off a BUNCH of warning lights:


DSC02257 - Version 2 by Matey-O, on Flickr

At first I assumed it was rust taking hold and turning the frame to swiss cheese, but a little further review, I'm not entirely sure that's the case.

The car had been in an accident at some point in the past, the Driver's quarterpanel has a crease on top, where the car dived under _something_ during a panic stop, the Driver's taillight is bent in slightly, and when we rebuilt the rear suspension, we had to shim the heck out of it to get it level.

The Framerail on _both sides_ looks the same, like an impact tore the welds, and they might have filled the gap and welded in some filler:

Untitled by Matey-O, on Flickr

A normal, unmolested part of the frame looks like:

Untitled by Matey-O, on Flickr

So...whaddaya think? Frame repair and surface rust, or nasty cancer that will defy the chemical bath?

 

Possibly rust pushing it apart? I have seen it before.....

 

I'll see if I can get a better picture, but it looks like there's a seperate piece of plate in-between the frame...you can also see spot-welds that look torn.

 

(This also serves to show how the chemical bath is working, and I'm still working on getting a more....authoritative...pump)



Untitled by Matey-O, on Flickr


Untitled by Matey-O, on Flickr

 

still not able to get a really good idea in a picture, but to me it looks like rust has built up between the rails and popped the spot welds.

 

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing. (And it's hard to get the camera under there, without dipping it in the bath.) I'm hoping I can get the lion's share of the surface rust handled, then cut out and replace the cancer without fulling chopping the rail. There are a number of things keeping us from pulling the body off the frame.

 

I would agree that rust is popping the rails apart. Living in PA all my life and working on car & trucks for 50+ years I've seem lots of this type of thing. You are NOT going to get all the rust out from between thoes rails. You can spend a lot of time repairing or better yet,get a better frame

 

If you have a handle on a '66 Fleetwood 75 frame, I'm all ears.