Why is the bottom of my new 5.0 completely rusted out

[2Tone5.0]

My grandfather just passed me down his 5.0. Its a bone stock red 90 Gt with only 25k on it!

I was driving it back from upstate NY to philly where i could store it and as i was driving home i noticed a sudden exhaust leak. The car seemed a lot louder and i figured one of the mufflers went bad or somehow disconnected. I bring it by my oldgarage (i was an attendant at a Sunoco). We prop it up on the lift and the whole undercarrage is rusted out. from the headers all the way back to the mufflers. The mufflers arent as bad tho. The differential looked horrible to. I have to replace the headers and the h-pipe now.

The car was kept covered in a shed practially year around and driven once a week.

Is there somthing in the air in upsate NY that causes huge amounts of rust?

 

[87foxstang]

if there was moisture in the garage, like on the floor that could have caused it. Or driving it in salt.

 

[samickguy15]

Leaving a car sit in a building with any sort of humidity causes rust. If it was in say a pole barn which wouldn't be sealed from the weather, I'm not surprised. Concrete pads are also notorious for sweating. That will cause heavy rusting too.

 

[2Tone5.0]

wow. the bottom of the shed was concrete...

he also lives on a farm to...

 

[2000xp8]

The exhaust on a foxbody wasn't nearly as quality as the new stuff.
Replace it with a full stainless steel setup. At least that's what i would do on a car with that type of mileage.

 

[SMOKEDYA]

I would suggest just the fact of it being there all it's life. I lived in ohio for 25 years and then moved to the west coast. Now when i see cars on here and come back to ohio i see all kinds of rust from that dam salt crap they throw out like it's free Here the only cars with rust are the ones at the beach where they are exposed to the salt air from the pacific ocean all year round. peace




john

 

[Roland69]

that sux...but lets see some pics

 

[SuperStang83]

Is it just the exhaust or the whole underbody?

 

[Shakerhood]

When I store my Car in the Garage for the Winter I put heavy Plastic on the Floor then 4 Sheets of Marine Plywood on top of the Plastic and then park on top of that, I get no more Moisture buildup on the underside of my Car!

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

You said the whole undercarraige is rotted?? That is the car itself. Then you metioned that you need a new Hpipe and catback?

Well, if it is one of the two that are rotted, or if it is both, it is because the car did nothing but sit and rot. Sitting in the wrong environement is worse for a car than if you drove it year round. Sounds like there was a lot of moisture in the garage. Sorry man!

 

[2Tone5.0]

yeh the undercarraige doesnt look pretty. Any part vulnerable to rust ended up getting it. The headers and h-pipe got it the worst. The differntial looks awful to, but any type of performance isnt affected. I was lucky enough to have stock headers and an h-pipe from a 93 cobra i had lying around from when i swapped those parts out for performace parts a few years back.

I always knew keeping stock parts around would pay off. Im saving a good amount of $$$. The stock cobra exhaust parts only have 44k on them and minimal to no rust. just a little weatherd, but i am just going to store this car not drive it

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

That's good you had all the spare parts. Are their holes in the floor boards?

For the axle, you can wire brush and sand it all down and spray it black. I suggest a nice chassis style underbody paint. Something that is durable and long lasting. Just don't paint gap between the diff cover and the housing, you will never get it off using a good chassis paint. I would bruch it on so you don't get overspray on the car. I always use POR 15 on everything....check out my suspension and under carraige...this car is a 1981

Front suspension

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject014.jpg

Underbody:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject006.jpg

Underbody again:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject005.jpg

Looks good eh?