Creaking & Rust

[Cameron1590]

Hi Chaps,

I have had a good look under the V40 today. With both of the front wheels off the ground turning the wheels left to right and back on full lock it has some very creaky suspension. Any ideas what this could be?

The exhaust appears to be banging against the heat shield where the central part joins the back box - assuming a rubber bush is missing somewhere?

Rear fuel pipes are a little corroded, but the back Near Side appears to be very rusty. A lot of it can be saved and treated however the part that worries me is, when looking at the near side rear wheel. You follow the rear arch round and down to the bottom where the plastic mud flap screws on and the wheel liner.

This piece of metal under the plastic liner and mud guard is shot, crumbles in your hand. Any ideas what is best to do with this? Car has just had 12 months mot, assuming all the mud was hiding the rust.

Is it possible to have someone do some fabrication/welding to replace it? Or am I right in thinking that come next September the car will fail its MOT due to the 300mm rule with where the suspension is mounted?

Thanks,

[canis]

It may or may not fail, depending on whether the tester decides it's structurally siginifcant enough.

About repair; Yes, it can certainly be fixed. It's entirley possible to turn a piece of sheet metal into a wheel arch, put a flange on it, offer it into position, make some adjustments, etc. Then finally weld it into place, tidy up the scars, paint it, etc. Sometimes there are wheel arch repair kits available from auto-panel suppliers, which makes things considerably simpler.

Having just had MOT passed it's quite likely the location isn't structurally important. So You have the cheaper option to slop some fibreglass in there instead. Trim it up with an angle grinder afterwards, then make good the rest of the repair with filler, paint it, drill some holes and mount the mudflap with self-tappers.

So there's a few options. But pull off the mudflap while you're making up your mind so it doesn't drop off somewhere and get lost.

It would be worth finding a local independant body shop and asking their advice.

[Cameron1590]

Originally Posted by canis

It may or may not fail, depending on whether the tester decides it's structurally siginifcant enough.

About repair; Yes, it can certainly be fixed. It's entirley possible to turn a piece of sheet metal into a wheel arch, put a flange on it, offer it into position, make some adjustments, etc. Then finally weld it into place, tidy up the scars, paint it, etc. Sometimes there are wheel arch repair kits available from auto-panel suppliers, which makes things considerably simpler.

Having just had MOT passed it's quite likely the location isn't structurally important. So You have the cheaper option to slop some fibreglass in there instead. Trim it up with an angle grinder afterwards, then make good the rest of the repair with filler, paint it, drill some holes and mount the mudflap with self-tappers.

So there's a few options. But pull off the mudflap while you're making up your mind so it doesn't drop off somewhere and get lost.

It would be worth finding a local independant body shop and asking their advice.

Thanks Buddy, love the car and want to keep it going. I am happy to spend time and money on it but was unsure about it passing an MOT with this rust. I will get it booked in somewhere for the repairs.

Thanks,