Looking at picking up an old falcon panel van, are they prone to rusting much!
gunhand,
Dec 29, 5:57am
Very short answer. YES.
metallicafan21,
Dec 29, 6:00am
More like F%^K YES. haha
00quattro00,
Dec 29, 6:30am
haha, is there anywhere they go that cant be seen with lifting it! Where is the most common/worst area!
a.woodrow,
Dec 29, 6:32am
Mainly the bit between the front and rear bumpers
also check out the steering and suspension, and transmission if it's an auto
gunhand,
Dec 29, 6:36am
Sills, doors, lower gaurds,top scuttle panel (Under it)the flat bits below front screen, Where the canopy is joined to body, radiator support panel, and so on. Old Coons are rust buckets useually.Be weary of new paint unless it has photographic history of repairs.
gunhand,
Dec 29, 6:37am
Much better description than mine.
franc123,
Dec 29, 6:45am
It can pop up everywhere, worst areas are windscreen surrounds, bottom of the front guards behind the wheelarch, check the hidden area behind the front guards where the door hinges bolt to, bottom of a and b pillars, in fact the whole area around the pop out windows behind the front doors needs checking for damage and bog, the upper firewall seam area, quarter panel bottoms both forward and backward of the rear wheelarches, the barn doors at the back can be absolute shockers and replacements are expensive rocking horse poo these days, check underneath all of the body rubbers and right around all the roof channels. And of course inner and outer sills and the floorpan, especially around where the seats bolt to the floor. The footwells can rot bad if nobody has bothered to deal with leaking windscreens or scuttle rust on time. The last XG and XH models fare a bit better simply because they're younger but you still need to be careful, the worst ones you can buy are white ex cop dog wagons that have lived near the coast.
00quattro00,
Dec 29, 6:52am
Thanks, will be sure to give it a thorough inspection, rust like this is a new thing to me, all my cars are fully galvd from the factory and the older ones only go in one or two places
franc123,
Dec 29, 7:21am
Oh yeah that just covers the body. Then theres knackered balljoints and bushes, leaking steering boxes, smoky rattly fumy motors, corroded alloy heads from years of no antifreeze, leaking radiators, rough and/or uncerted v8 conversions, rough and unneccesary conversions to floor shift, clunky gearboxes/slipping autos, noisy diffs, brake systems often need full overhaul, flogged out wiper linkages, buggered seats, buggered headlight reflectors that fail wof etc etc hope this isn't putting you off lol.
00quattro00,
Dec 29, 7:33am
I dont realy care about mechanical condition aslong as it will make it home with out killing me, because at the end of the day its just a coon, parts are cheap and its just my time, I would rather a decent body with mech problems than a shit body with good mech
chebry,
Dec 29, 7:34am
Firewalls rust out on XD,XE,XF most other rust can be fixed but that one cant then theres the mechanical issues these old heaps feature oil leaks from every seal transmission about to grenade coz some dillberry thought he could tow with it You name it and it can and will break. Good old beasts in their day but it wasnt recently
franc123,
Dec 29, 7:42am
You still need to know what you are likely to come across if you are serious about owning one, it can add up to a big expense even if you can DIY, replacement resto parts, either new or good secondhand aren't always that cheap or easy to get any more. But hey its your money.
quickstitch,
Dec 29, 9:40am
i have a good rust free 97 panelvan i will be selling soon. just saying. as im not allowed to self promote (its not listed), or do deals offline. So if you are interested let me know
quickstitch,
Dec 29, 9:43am
the rust around the air intake vents can be repaired, have done it before. but it is a biggish job. windscreen out, dash out. If you put it into a panelshop to be done then you would get a bill for about the same as a panelvan is worth
chebry,
Dec 29, 7:35pm
The plenum chamber cant really be repaired without dismantling the entire firewall simply not worth the trouble at any stage of the cars life,perfectly straight coons have been scrapped due to this.
steptoe72,
Dec 29, 7:47pm
O so falcon have the same death rust problem cortinas and escorts do.Heater air box in around firewall.
splinter67,
Dec 29, 7:56pm
yup probably worse
3tomany,
Dec 29, 8:07pm
rtemember you can not see it to diagnose, run a hose over the windscreen for a while . The water should come out behind the front mudflaps if any gets on either side of the foot well it is a biggie to repair make sure you touch the carpet as it can run under the carpet and take a while to soak through even a few drops are the start of a very expensive repair
franc123,
Dec 29, 9:50pm
Its certainly worth doing the water test, when they start to leak they are a PITA. Not hard to gauge how bad it is by removing the wipers and scuttle grill, the wiper motor and linkage and having a good look in there with a torch. The worst area is normally the drivers side fresh air vent, if you remove the plastic flap box and enough of the firewall soundproofing from underneath it can be repaired if you can grind/plasma cut/weld while standing on your head. If the back of the seam is starting to rot its easy enough to sandblast it, do any patch repairs if needed and drown the whole area with fish oil or whatever. Its not impossible by any means.
elect70,
Dec 30, 12:44am
Roof/gutter/side panel joins . If it had factory roof rackwater got in through thescrewrivnuts&collected in thedoule skin part of theroof join . . Look very carefully under thegutter for any sign of rustt as it comes from the inside . Very costly to get fixed . Mine was done by mate who welded innewstrips along theroofjoin but still costplenty .
icemans1,
Dec 30, 1:45am
PMSL, i remember years ago, one of the guys had a panel van and i'm sure it had more bog than steel in the panels
lookoutas,
Dec 30, 2:13am
What model is it!
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