Apron Rust issues, advice?

[mitchcj1]

Hey all, Im trying to figure out what to do with these aprons. The shock towers are going to be replaced so I figured 1. The shock tower metal underneath would be new and I could fill the top of the hole 2. I could cut the small piece off a donor and patch the apron. 3. replace the whole apron. It is like this on both sides, where the fwd and aft aprons overlap with the shock tower apron part. How important is this structurally, I mean there are lots of holes built into the apron already right? Its a 70 F/B. Thanks in advance...

 

[BB1966]

On my coupe I completely cut out the overlap and butt welded in a patch,no chance of it rusting anymore. BTW All 4 of mine were rusty,I redid them all.

 

[mitchcj1]

Thanks, someone told me that if the po or factory or whoever used lead as like a ''glue" between those overlapped pieces it could cause 'dissimilar metal corrosion' or something like that. Should there be any glue or weld the edges together or just bolt the pieces on and go? Now to find a donor...

 

[mitchcj1]

done with first side....

Welded in patches for the frame and got the tower together too. What is the top hole for, the one above the two a-arm bolt holes?? Anybody else weld the seams instead of just spot welds. This is my first time welding and I dont want the thing to pop off first time I hit t bump. went alittle crazy I guess...

 

[x73mach1x]

i have the same pro on my 73 mach and mine is 3 times as bad and i have spots 3x2'' on both sides... i was going to get some sheet metal and mold it the excact shape and cover it and just weld it the whole length on the top.... is this a good idea???

 

[mitchcj1]

I got whole aprons and ended up just cutting out the piece I needed and it still wasnt a perfect match so, yeah, If you can bend sheet metal to be exact it would probably be just as good. I would at least cut out the rusted apron part. My shock towers had other issues so thats why I replaced them too.