[DML] Re: DeLorean Frames

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Subaru's didn't have frames (still don't). Like all Japanese cars of
the vintage, they were unit body construction.

BTW: The reason Japanese cars rust so badly is Japan has no iron ore.
The only way for them to make steel is to remelt scrap steel. Recycled
steel never holds up.

You would be hard pressed to find a vehicle of DeLorean size that had
a frame in 1981. Slightly larger Fairmonts and Malibu's still had
frames, drastically reduced from their full size predecessors.

That said, DeLorean frames ARE cheap. That's why northern owners
generally pull their cars out of service during the winter months
(global warming notwithstanding -- it may have been 65 degrees in NJ
today, but down south we flirted with 80). DeLorean lower control arms
are simply stamped from a thin piece of metal. The front frame
extension is notoriously flimsy (I know -- it's supposed to crumple in
a crash, but until then it just rusts until the steering rack won't
sit still and the radiator falls out). 

True vehicle frames are made from very high carbon steel. Surface rust
doesn't mean a thing (just like bridge girders). Look at northern
pickup trucks: wheel wells and floor boards are eaten out, but the
frame itself is solid as a rock. Has a scale of surface rust, but try
drilling a hole (that's when you find out how high the carbon content
is) and you'll discover than mere microns underneath is still solid as
can be.

BBTW: I think beach salt is even more insidious than road salt. Being
airborne, it gets into places road salt will never touch. Beach cars
are notorious for rot in obscure places such as inside the dashboard
(electrical corrosion in a beach car will drive you to distraction).
The worst is a beach car left to sit under a tarp or car cover for
several years.

Back to DeLorean frames: Had JZD built his factory in Puerto Rico, and
had he gone to AMC for developmental help (Bricklin did it), wonder
what our rust situation would have been. By the 1980's AMC was making
its vehicles from 100% galvanized steel, heavier gauge than the
competition, and factory Zeibarted as well. 

Bill Robertson
#5939
 
>--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Tom Tait" <TTait@...> wrote:
>
> Subaru in particular seemed to build cars that would dissolve before
> your eyes in the early 80's.  Three year old cars with heavily rusted
> frames and holes in the fenders you could drop a quarter thru.
> 




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