i was wondering if welding a small hole in the frame on a 89 mercury is expensive or worth doing it??? it"s about 6 to 7 inch. long. the car runs very well??
Depends on what type of Mercury it is, and where the gash is located.
Tester
Welding fills holes. I guess that you want to burn or cut a hole in the car? And it’s not clear that the Mercury you have even has a frame. It could be a unibody car. What model is it? Where is the hole going to be located? How wide will it be?
tester,it"s on the passenger side under rear door & it"s a merc. grand marquis thanks i don"T want my wife to drive it if it"S not safe
Don’t worry about it. This vehicle has a true full frame made from heavy gauge steel. This gash isn’t going to compromise the integrity of the frame.
Tester
Frames don’t develop “holes” by themselves. Is it a CRACK or a spot that is rusted out…??
caddyman, there was a lot of rust coming out of that spot, it started out a crack then i started to tap & rust started to come out & the more i tapped the crack ended up to be about 6 inch long thanks
tester the way the rust was coming out made me think the frame was weakened??? i vacumed it all out, but it made me nervous, thanks
Welding rusted steel is virtually impossible. There are rust control products that will slow the progression. But keep your eye out for a replacement vehicle…Rust never sleeps…
Have you checked the rest of the frame for serious corrosion problems? How about the brake lines?
6 inches of compromised steel is significant. It’s not that it’s not safe now (or maybe it isn’t, hard to say without looking at it), but it’s not going to get better, and left unchecked it’s going to get nasty. You need to cut the rust out and have a patch welded in, it’s pretty standard practice.
Now I understand. You need to remove all the rust before you put new metal into the hole. Otherwise, you aren’t welding metal-to-metal. Grind all if the rust out of the hole. Then decide if you want to repair it or just paint it. BTW, you could also weld a metal coupon over the hole that is an inch or so longer and wider than the hole. it would function as if the the frame were fully intact. You still need to paint it.
For peace of mind you might place a jack under the weakened frame rail below the gap between the front and rear doors and watch for flexing of the frame. If sound enough to support the weight of the front of the car in this manner it would likely be strong enough to be welded and continue to be safe for many years if the rust is treated as mentioned above. I have welded 1/4"x2"x2" steel angle to repair such damage with great success. It would likely be stronger than original.
Take it to a welder and ask him to repair it . . he’ll grind off the rust enough to weld a patch (piece of steel) over the hole and you’ll be good as new. Paint it if you like. Rocketman
It really should be looked at in context with the overall condition of the frame and with the surrounding frame area. If a frame has boxed areas that do not drain and vent well they can collect water and sometimes even wet leaves and rot the area. If there’s rot on one side, there may also be rot on the other side.
I strongly recommend that before any repair is attempted the overall condition of the area and the frame be checked.