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New to NPORA and have some questions


schober60
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First of all I am sorry if this is not the right place to post this, but I am still trying to learn how to navigate this forum.

 

My family has always been a pathfinder family. My parents have r51's but we still have a 2001 r50, which my parents said they would be willing to give to me if I was willing to put the time and money into fixing it up. It has 160k miles on it, which is high, but the pathy does not seem to be even close to the end of her life. The frame is in quite good condition, according to a mechanic my dad asked, so that is a relief. I am not very car savy myself, but I am working on that and hope that restoring this pathy will be a good learning experience.

 

My first question is about body rust... I live in NY so the roads are basically paved with salt in the winter, and as a result the body has quite a bit of rust. The wheel wells and the area above the running boards are rusting. (I will add pictures later)

so my question - is there a simple way to fix this rust? or even a way to just cover it up? I see in some of the pictures people have what looks like a 5inch plastic border around the base of their truck that runs above the running board. Is this something you can purchase? because that would be perfect to just cover up the rust after I grind it down. Also, I have been looking every where for some beefy fender flares that would hide the rust on the wheel wells, so if anyone knows where to find those I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Pictures and more questions will be coming soon!

 

thanks!

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I have an r50 up here in NY as well. Speaking from experience, once the rust gets to the rocker panels/wheel wells usually it is hiding other places as well. These are unibody vehicles, meaning the body and frame are one not separated like older vehicles. I had 187k on it and had to call it quits, the body/frame was unsafe. Check it over well and make sure nothing is soft or it may be a waste of time and money to go any farther.

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You can buy rust converter, basically an acid sort of deal that makes surface rust inert so you can coat over it, and that might help in some places. It really depends on how deep the rust goes. If you find rust, beat on it with a screwdriver. If the metal still sounds solid, grind/treat the surface. If the screwdriver makes a dull thunk and the metal deforms, or it goes straight through, you've got more work to do. I ended up cutting and welding on my '93 to fix some rust-through in the floor, wheel well, and under the battery box. Areas that were only surface rusted I just wire-wheeled to get the worst of it off and then painted it over. The outside of the rig was pretty clean; if you're seeing rust on the outside, definitely give it a good going-over underneath.

 

The real trouble spot on R50s as I understand it is in the front strut towers, so make sure those aren't compromised. Nissan actually had a recall for those rotting out in some states.

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The problem with fender flares is that they will actually make it rust faster as they tend to pick up and hold onto a LOT of crap when you're driving around. Getting mud and dirt from out of there is a huge pain in the ass.

 

Unfortunately after I purchased my R50, I noticed a tiny rust spot on the drivers side rear fender, when I removed the flare, it removed most of the body it was attached to. I gently hand sanded the ever-living-@!*% out of it, then washed it, then treated it with some Por-15 which is probably the best rust converter on the market.

 

Aside from cutting it out and replacing the rusted parts, there is little you can do. Any rust converter will only delay the inevitable.

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grind out the cancer, pop-rivet aluminum screening if the area warrants, bondo, sand and paint. That's the only way I have been able to drive away the rust on my 95 here in the northeast

 

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The problem with fender flares is that they will actually make it rust faster as they tend to pick up and hold onto a LOT of crap when you're driving around. Getting mud and dirt from out of there is a huge pain in the ass.

 

Unfortunately after I purchased my R50, I noticed a tiny rust spot on the drivers side rear fender, when I removed the flare, it removed most of the body it was attached to. I gently hand sanded the ever-living-@!*% out of it, then washed it, then treated it with some Por-15 which is probably the best rust converter on the market.

 

Aside from cutting it out and replacing the rusted parts, there is little you can do. Any rust converter will only delay the inevitable.

I would like to point out that it isn't mud and dirt that is the problem, it is the road salt. I just changed the antenna mast on our 1999.0, and had to remove 1/2 of the fender flare, inner fender and lower guard to get to the motor and spool. There was enough dirt packed in the bottom of the fender to plant vegetables, and when I finally scooped/scraped it all out, nothing but nice white factory paint to be seen... not a hint of rust.

 

That said, my 1995 has a few spots of rust starting on the rear doors, because it spent 1 winter in Pittsburgh...

 

B

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