Identifying rust on a Miata, rockers, quarters, floors, frame stiffeners

[mrmustang]

***Moderation notes to our membership...

This thread was edited in effort to retain extremely valuable and knowledgeable content. It is not typical for us to edit our members words, but it is our policy to keep the discussions on topic.

There were conflicting opinions of another's member car that was being offered for sale and while we encourage debate, those opinions were spilling over from anther thread and clouding the useful content of this one. Apologies for the interruption!***




Well, my post was deleted, clearly my mistake for posting it in the wrong section.

I'll attempt to reiterate what I wrote:

The rust you see is just the tip of the iceberg, rust happens from the inside and eats it's way out like a cancer.

If pictures show the car has terminal rust (I am an ex body shop owner, and telling you like it is), the rust is starting to creep out from under the undercoating on the undercarriage, which means that the inside of the rails, as well as where the panels are spot welded together are rusting.

I just would hate for a fellow enthusiast to go in to such a potential purchase blind and not knowing what it takes to repair such a vehicle. Kind of like the guy who uses bondo to repair his rockers, thinking that it will be as good as new, not realizing that the rocker is a structural part of the cars unibody.

Here is the perfect example (I use quite frequently for sellers like yourself ):

The outer rocker showed just two or three very small, very simple bubbles "nothing serious" per the seller. Difficult to even see, but felt by running your hands over the rocker panel.
Attachment 11536

The inner rocker shows just what was really happening, and this was long before the serious bubbling such as yours would have come out.
Attachment 11537




Bill S.

[tinymusic]

Being a new member here, I would like to say that revelatory information was a major point of my attraction to the forum. Putting aside an individual's subjective interests, in the name of learning something valuable, is something of benefit to an entire community. The member who shared verifiable knowledge of body work is being of service to every single person that will ever read this thread, including the seller of the car; as the seller could have made his own ideal sale only to later have it nip him in the butt via the dissatisfaction of a potential buyer that may discover a serious problem..or worse, experience danger because of a potential problem. Therefore, though it may be unfortunate or damaging to potentially lose money on a sale, I would have to say it is better to be known as an honest person that has a buyers best interests in mind, for their own namesake and any future transactions.

Reputation, does matter. It is an essential building block of a thriving community- whether you intend to stick around or not. So, heres to continuing to help others, whether it is initially perceived that way or not.

Thanks for the education and the great site!

Cheers!

[WASABI]

That is exactly what we intend. Helpful information is great, so if someone wanted to post their experience with rust and Miatas, that's helpful. When it directly conflicts with another person trying to sell their car, that's where we have an issue. It's the same information, different execution.

If the seller ASKED for people's advice, then that's another story as well. There are multitudes of reasons whey someone makes a purchase, and to assume you know the intentions of the seller and the buyer is foolish.

Again, mrmustang has great insight on Miata's body work, and rust... very valuable stuff, and that info would make a great "How to" post. Just not in a seller's ad.

[mrmustang]

Again, mrmustang has great insight on Miata's body work, and rust... very valuable stuff, and that info would make a great "How to" post. Just not in a seller's ad.

That is why I started this one .

The seller then came in and posted his denial to my observations based on his pictures posted. No attacks were made by either of us as far as I can see. Just using his car as the perfect example for others to learn what is and what is not "minor rust".

Bill S.

PS: Remember, it's not the number of posts you have, but how you use them to educate others. I live my sig line every day......Could you?

[mrmustang]

I'm gonna suggest that a motivated moderator step in here. Clearly the OP's heart is in the right place, and we greatly appreciate that!

Let's give this thread a better title, trim the fluff out of it, leave the good stuff... and move it out of NB chat into a more appropriate place. The info really applies to all Miatas... sooner or later.

As a Floridian, allow me to be the first to ask: "What is this 'rust' you speak of?"

Maybe change the title, but leave the rest of the content as it sits, good or bad, it shows both sides of the argument as to what a seller believes (call it a non objective opinion as they have a financial attachment to their vehicles) and what is actually happening with their cars. As a moderator (Global in some cases) I see the trimming of posts (instead of contacting the offender and first asking him to edit his post) a double edged sword that has to be handled carefully. Otherwise you lose some of the content to the thread (again good or bad).

As for rust in Florida (especially in the Tampa area):

Rust abounds in the Tampa area, you just need to know where to look for it, go out to Tierra Verde and look at anything that is 20 years old or older.

[— Phatmiata —]

title changed, tags added, moved to the "exterior" section of the forum.

[mrmustang]

title changed, tags added, moved to the "exterior" section of the forum.

It's not just rockers, quarters, floors, frame stiffeners, etc

[MazRoadAdmin]

Rust abounds in the Tampa area, you just need to know where to look for it, go out to Tierra Verde and look at anything that is 20 years old or older.

True, "beach cars" do tend to rust. It's funny how people from up north view rust so differently than we do down here. If I'm looking at a Miata and it's got more than the tiniest bit of rust underneath, I walk. In Florida, there are just too many rust-free cars to even worry about a rusty car. But, people from the rust belt will look at it and say "that's not so bad".

Glad to see this thread cleaned up and on-track. Good job, Mods!

[— kung fu jesus —]

I will echo the "beach rust" sentiment.

My experience has to do with another make and model I bought back in '09. It was a '95 with ~39k on it. The car was stored most of its life in a garage about 2 blocks off Redondo Beach, CA. While the body itself did not have corrosion issues, the wiring harness did. Sea air, with sea salt, can get into a LOT more stuff.

[ibid]

This post is FANTASTIC!

I'm often surprised how many people don't seem to take 100% rust free into consideration because they either don't know or want to know what 'a small rust bubble' really means!

[wannafbody]

It's pretty obvious to me that no one replying to this thread lives in Ohio You wouldn't believe the gaping holes that some Ohio cars have

[ibid]

^ oh I would, I've seen some of them.. but the Miata's in Detroit area seem even worse.. haha

Both our current Miata's spent most of their lives in a rust free state and have never seen a chicagoland winter (I will never again buy an NA or even NB from the rustbelt unless it is clearly proven it has been from elsewhere and/or properly stored winters never exposed to salty air)

[— kung fu jesus —]

Any car I look into buying must come from a mild winter area it's entire life.

[mrmustang]

Any car I look into buying must come from a mild winter area it's entire life.

I don't know about that, I've pulled many a car out of the northeast without any rust on them at all. Most hibernate for the winter months, those that do not never have seen my driveway, except for vintage 60's cars.

Bill S.

[— kung fu jesus —]

I know what you mean, but I afford myself the opportunity to be particular.