Phorbiuz. I am not sure if anybody has already answered you on this yet but
here goes with my pennies worth.
Yes there are two box section supports at the rear suspension that can be
weakened by rust. However if a car has that much rust in it to damage those
parts, the rust would be showing up in many other places that are far more
visible and obvious.
Front fenders for one. Run your hand down the outside of front fenders where
they meet the lower sill. If they are out of line, sitting proud of the
lower sill, serious rust has already formed behind them between the fender
itself and the securing bracket welded to it. This formation of rust is now
forcing the fenders out of alignment.
Again with the front fender feel around the headlights between the eyebrow
of the fender and the chrome trim ring of the lights. If you feel rust, it
is a good sign the car has serious rust problems in other places too. You
should also look for rust in the front lower part of the rear wheel arch,
the part between the wheel and the rear doors and again, around the upper
part of the wheel arch.
I would also lift the both the front floor mats and pay particular attention
to the seam going down the centre of the car. If you can see the ground
through any part of the floorboards keep your wallet in your pocket and just
leave. Lastly the lower panels at the rear underside of the car especially
where the exhaust pipes poke through. Either badly rusted or fully rotted
out and I would be out of there.
I always take a careful look at the condition of the rear radius arms. I
find they tell me more about the condition of the body more than any other
part. If the owner has been a little on the devious side by doing a good job
of disguising all the other faults in the car, they always forget to do
something about sprucing up these arms. Bad rust in radius arms is a
complete deal breaker for me no matter what the rest of the car looks like.
Unless of course I am buying a parts car then I really don’t care. I
remember seeing one car that was absolutely gorgeous looking until I played
around with the radius arms. I found I could flex them up and down by hand.
I never looked back as I walked away.
Worth noting that damage by way of signs of rust around the lower part of
the front and rear windshields does not tell much about the condition of
rest of the car. This is a common problem with even a good car due to rain
or just washing the car. It is cause by a fault with the design of the
channel that holds the windshields. It tends to hold and retain the water
which will eventually causes the owner a problem.
Bob.>From: “phorbiuz” phorbiuz@yahoo.co.uk
What worries me is
continual comments from a retired guy I know who used to
have one from 86. He says the rear suspension mounting has a
very large bolt that goes into the body and all Series 3’s
rot badly there, and there’s no easy way to tell as you
can’t even see it properly if you crawl underneath.
Something about a box structure within a box structure?
I don’t want to buy something that looks fine, only for it
to have a serious unknown structural problem.
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