The Chrysler K-Car Club

Recently purchased a 1984 Lebaron Town and Country Mark Cross. Runs ok, body looks good.

Took to shop for a look over and was called and asked if I can come over to look at the underneath.

There was extensive rust all over, so much so, that the carpet padding was sticking out.

Was told the frame appeared to be ok.

I took the car to a friend who does mechanic work on the side, just sent me pictures and said the entire inside of the car is rusted.

What Advice do you all give ?

I really like the car, just has A/C repaired and put a new Weber Convervsion on. Again looking at it, it looks Good, actually very Good for a 30 year old car.

QUESTION

Since I want to keep the Car, How would you all suggest I proceed. How would you repair the floorboards ? Sheet Metal ? Fiberglass ? ? ?

Thanks

Joe
Crawfordville, FL

Hi Joe,

Here in New England K cars are basically extinct, rust got them all a long time ago. My 86 Reliant is one of the very few survivors and it too has its rust issues. I have to replace the rocker panels and a piece of quarter panel on the driver's side. The floor is basically solid but has a few areas that are gone. Like yours there were places the carpet padding was coming through. If you could post a few of the rust pictures it would be a big help in seeing what is needed to repair things.

Whether a car is worth saving depends on either your financial abilities or your skill level. Many times skills are easier to learn than coming up with the money to have someone do it for you. Thank goodness for today's small home MIG welders. For someone willing to learn they can be used to make the repairs you need to make. In my view a Mark Cross convertible would be worth considerable repair efforts. They were unique cars and I like them very much.

Welding in new metal is the right way to go on repairs. Unfortunaly there are no commercially available repair panels for these cars and you have to fabricate your own. Cutting out the rusted areas and replacing them with new metal is the only real permanent repair.

Pete in NH

Thanks for response.

If I can figure out how to post pictures I will.

Thanks

Joe

..

In my opinion, a rusty 1982 LeBaron Sedan would be worth doing rust repair on because the K-car haters destroy all of them in California, and there are less than 100
on the road in the world.

Joe,

From the photos you sent me, it is clear that the floor areas rusted from the inside to outside from a water leak soaking the carpets. I responded to your email with some ideas about where it is likely leaking. Your car is in very nice condition and well worth repairing with new welded in metal in the problem spots once the leaks are fixed.

Hi Joe. I repaired rusty floors on my convertible, With the outer rocker panels and some floor rust I,m sure my convertible was unsafe to drive.

What happened on mine was the front wheels beet the paint off the lower firewall right behind the wheels, then winter salty road water leaked in and sat on the floor and rusted it out. My floor was only rusted ahead of the front seats and behind the front wheels. The pics only show 1 side but both were the same.

I made rocker panels by recycling a couple of 8 foot florescent light shades, I used one of the corners and bent the lower lip cut to length and welded it on. The floor I just remover the soft areas cut some metal to fit and welded the pieces top and bottom. Then wire brushed and sanded the welds and areas and brushed on 2 part epoxy primer.( I used Endura) after that I ran a light coat of silicone to fill any pin holes from the welding, painted with tremclad (rustolium) top and bottom then rockgurded (rubberized thick paint) the bottom.

I did autobody for about 9 years 30 years ago. I used a flux core backyard type of welder 110v electric. The rust repair cost me about $60 but took about 50 hours of my time. I used safety stands a hoist would be easier. If I paid a shop to do this my car would have been a write off.

There is pics of my car and the rust under members rides and club projects.
I,ll try to past a link.
https://plus.google.com/photos/11140853 ... 5506110545

Thanks everyone for the responses.

A home mechanic that I have dealt with before has the car to see what he can do with the rust.

Here is a site that you can click on Lebaron Rust or Lebaron and see the damage and the car.

http://www.myserpico.com