I am curious to hear people's opinions on this subject. What about underneath the car/truck? Is it ok there?
so long as it's not dangerous to drive, it's fine. the one thing you can count on with rust is if there's a little now, it's best to knock it out before it grows because it WILL become a problem eventually. a little patina on the sheet metal looks great on some cars, though. not that fake, "fauxtina" bullshit, though. patina is earned, not bought. some will disagree, but that's just how i feel.
Whenever I see any, even if I don't have time to address it immediately, I wire brush it and hit it with some rust converter. It may look like crap for now, but I'd rather someone laugh at the black spots on my ride than me cry a river when I can stick my fist through it. Paint is temporary....rust is forever
You'll have to take what I tell you with a grain of salt because there are more opinions than arm pits. Never the less any rust is too much. It will eventually eat your vehicle. That said I'm not real big on the whole frame off resto thing. So I'm probably not going to remove the body from the chassis and put it on a rotisserie on one of my own vehicles. To me that's more of a show car thing than a driver thing. If you are having a problem with one rusting through then that is a different problem altogether. Or if its something that bothers you then you should sure deal with it.
I don't believe in trailer queens... I like to drive my vehicles. That being said, I am from Upstate NY and have seen what rust does to cars in one of the worst parts of the country for it. I throw everything I have at rust spots and try to completely minimize them (almost to an obsession like a guy with a trailer queen). The more you minimize it the longer you will have your vehicle without major repair.
I'm not a builder. I'm barely a car guy, hahahah.. Just kidding, but what I am is a guy with alittle experience with rust... I've owned cars with lots of it. My first car when I was 16 had so much rust you could poke your finger wherever you wanted through the metal.. Because of that I've been traumatized by it.. Just ask Rick of Extreme Kustoms, he'll tell you.. As far as I'm concerned any rust is too much rust.. It's like saying if you know something is just going to get worse why not resolve it now???? I understand time, and money can be the reason but aside from that if you can do something about it, why not do something about it??? The more knowledgable guys will have lots to say, and listen to them, but for me. F Rust!!!! Here's a picture of too much rust I found on my Merc....
rust is the enemy, any is too much. i know alot of people that call it cancer and that is what it is to a car. for the guys that like patina, don't get in a tizzy. i can appreciate a real survivor with nice patina and respect the self control it takes to keep from effing it up. the ones that get my goat are the guys that defend keeping all the rust and think bullet holes add character. there is a cure for rust use it. preserve these fine pieces of history for the future, or else they will go the way of the dinosaur.
This one is going to test my patience and my wallet but certainly not too much rust. Now if it were a 4dr '54 Chevy or something along the like only a little bit is far too much. Depends on the car....or the person.....or both. Have you seen flamedabone's work?
I can't stand rust, that shit is nasty. I know to each their own but I just dont get leaving your car all rusty and shithouse. I think it's more of a trendy thing to purposely leave rust all over a car and it will come to pass eventually once the "rat rod" trend is dead. To me there is nothing as beautiful as a perfectly sprayed satin or pearl. But thats just my opinion.
I don't like any of the choices, don't like rust much either. In most climates if left unchecked all you'll have is rust. Back east I too many cars disappear from the bottom up once rust got started.
You need to weigh out what it costs to fix a rusted out basket case compared to buying a better project. Even if you work you ass off for a year or more you still might have a rusted out shit box on your hands. Usually the younger more eager group is willing to work on the extreme cases. I been there done that now I just dont want to deal with extreme cases anymore.
I hate rust, and this question. Knowing what is too much rust is like recognizing porn, you just know it when you see it.
What's the rest of the question? I don't have a problem with fixing rusted out sections, because I have all of the tools and knowledge to fix it. I don't like to have rust out in my cars, a little surface rust isn't a problem though.
I think you mean how much rust is fashionable to drive around with on your car for styles sake, considering the fact that rust is one of those things that just occurs like B.O., hairy legged chicks, neck cheese, toe nail fungus, bvd crack stripe, unibrow, puss eye, or feminine mustache, I would say that its generally not too stylish, now there are those out there who may actively seek out any of the above characteristics as a style statement as well as some thing that is rusty and in some cases, well maybe it could look tolerable but in the end most would feel rust is the sign of the unkept or hard to keep control of.
I see builds and read lots of posts about rust in Ford crossmembers, rust underneath shoebox Chevs, and all the rust of it. Don't see much of it here in California, though...but I'll go out after lunch and take a look. Nothing newer than '63 out there, and that's the new Galaxie...I'll check 'em all.
I hate rust! every car i get always has it, and i work hard to get rid of it. So it upsets me to see a perfectly good car that just needs some rust repair and paint and the owner say's " no way, its cool, its patina!" ITS RUST! FIX THE RUST!
When I was kneeling next to the trans tunnel of my former '70 429GT Ranchero & fell through the floor so I actualy ended up kneeling on the ground I realised "this is too much rust"
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