Corrosion

jibs

New user
Nov 9, 2022
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I have owned my 1999 v6 for about 8 years. It's due an MOT at the end of this month and my garage-owning friend has told me it's going to fail massively on the sills as they're rotting badly.

I've been told that the whole lot would need to be cut out and new sections welded in on both sides - not something my mate can do and something that is likely to cost a significant amount of cash for a specialist to sort.

More than that, I've been told that it's started rusting around the points where the rear suspension is attached.


I'm slowly starting to accept that this is terminal but I'm going to be absolutely gutted if I have to scrap it. Yes there are a couple of minor issues but the car is pretty tidy - there's no rust on the main body itself and it's only just ticked over to 89k miles.


Has anyone experienced similar? If so, have you been able to sort it or was that the end of it? Thanks.
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum.
Shame to hear of the corrosion in your Cougar. Numerous members have suffered similar problems and have tackled it in various ways; those with the ability have tackled it themselves, some have enlisted the help of other members and some have paid to have it done.
There are some threads with detailed explanations of the repairs carried out in the Project section of the forum.
Good luck. 👍
 
It's unfortunately an old story with a tidy looking car hiding horror underneath, options are scrap it or bite the bullet and fix the corrosion, that's both difficult because of the lack of original parts and very expensive if you do not have the skills or facilities to do the work yourself, add to that there is the problem of what your expecting to do with the car after spending lots of money on it, end of the day if it's a daily user it's going to carry on rusting unless you only use it on dry days, keep the millage low and keep it under cover, it's difficult I know ☹️
 
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Unfortunately the cars are still at the stage where major restoration is not financially viable unless you have the ability to do it yourself. Having said that, it might be worth getting a quote - if it costs a couple of grand and the rest of the car is in good condition, and it means something to you, then it's worth it.
 
You’ve owned a Cougar for 8 years. I guess maybe you’ve been lurking for some time, I could be accused of that.

I‘m one of the guys around here that have cut my sills off entirely, cut out any other rot exposed, treated the lot and welded new steel back in. I shaped things a little differently to Ford as I opted for maximum strength and future proofing as more important than keeping the shape quite as Ford made it. You’ll need to get your knees dirty to easily spot the difference.
I‘m certainly not a welding Genious but I was prepared to jump in and see what happened.
Others have stayed closer to Fords design. It can be done.
As others have said, it comes down to how much you want to save your car.
It won’t ever be a financial investment, few cars are. it could be a labour of love and a rewarding one at that.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
I would get a quote to help you decide what to do and then compare it to what you would be spending on a replacement car that could come with its own issues.
We have had welding on one of our Cougars that we affectionately call the Scrapper and it is still going a couple of years on
Good luck
 
Many thanks for all your replies - really appreciate it.

I'll take a look over some other threads as suggested.

Yes - it is a daily driver. Although annual mileage is really low it would be out in all weather. Keeping it dry wouldn't be an option for the foreseeable future.

Although there are things I can do myself, sadly welding is not one of them. I also dont have anywhere I could keep it off the road indefinitely. I'd need to pay for the repairs which, as was mentioned, would probably mean it's just not financially viable.

That said, I will definitely get some quotes whilst it's still got an MOT - I just suspect a couple of grand wouldn't cover it. A replacement car is no doubt going to cost me at least this amount but I really wouldn't want to spend that kind of money on welding if there was any chance that it'd need more next year.

I'll let you know what quotes I get. Thanks again.
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And just to add - it's great to hear that some Cougars with similar problems have been saved!
 
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If it’s done right it won’t need any more welding for a good many years. How was / is the rear subframe ? that’s becoming the other killer for these cars.

If you decide it’s not something you can sort it might be worth listing her in the for sale section here.
She may only go for scrap money but there’s more chance of her being saved.
 
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hello and welcome.
these cars rarely show corrosion on the outside, there not like the old escorts etc with the wheel arches hanging on with rust..
your welder if good will cut out all the rust, plate her up and add rust protection to protect the work they have done....this repair can be expensive but IF DONE right will outlast the car..
however it will be rusting elsewhere so u need to decide if you like the car enough to spend the money keeping it alive..
there are many options, get it welded and use as normal till the next hole appears elsewhere ,and it will..
get it welded and spend a little money getting all the box sections subframes etc filled with rust stopper(waxoil etc) this can put years on a car without more money being spent on the body,
the last option is sell her on to someone who might be happy to do the work or scrap and buy another....altho the prices are now going up due to there numbers reducing there are some very solid ones still about. but in the cougars case they are over 20+ years old and the original underseal from fords is WELL over its lifespan and offers no protection on its own, so if u find a solid one and want to keep it new underseal is a must..

but if u love this type of car and cant bear to see it go its worth the repair..
and here on this club you have an absolute mass of help and a great group of friendly people ready to advise..
here's just a couple of pics of my auto for u...your car isnt the only one to suffer this..
b4
20221015_122831.jpg


and after...20221022_145350.jpg
i hope some of this helps u reach a decision ,the worst looking hole can be repaired..
 
Get some photos up if you can and we can compare to all of ours which have been welded and let you know if it's so far gone it needs full sills or just some patches. I've had the front sills of about a foot long and the floor pan done on both sides now. It's about £800 a side but MAKE SURE YOU FIND A REPUTABLE WELDER!
 
Hi all. I've attached a couple of photos showing the problem. It definitely needs the sills cutting out - it's already been patch welded (not brilliantly) and it's started going again where that was done. I was also told that it's spreading to points for the rear suspension. I've not had a good poke around under the car myself as yet but it was up on a ramp the other week and I've not told that it's rusting anywhere else.
 

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In my Cougar sill experience, IE just my car.
The front 3 inches first
Then the rear 12 inches.
Then the middle.

I‘d patched at least 3 of the 4 ends and I could detect the middle was going to be next. It was Time for a full sillectomy. Job done.

When you take the sills off you may well find the base of the A post needs attention too. You might get away with treating it, but if it comes back and rots under your new sill it will spread and you won’t know it’s happening because you can’t see it.

They also go where there is a surplus bracket in the front footwell area, underneath the car. Around where your accelerator heel is when driving.

I cut the bracket off, cut out the rot then shaped and welded new metal in. When you lift the carpet and under layers you’ll find the harness resting in a shaped trough in the floor, so the patch ideally needs shaping to maintain the trough to keep the harness not under your feet.

She looks good, it’d be a shame to lose her.
 
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I agree with mabo. The patch you had done is poor so I'm not surprised it hasn't lasted. Looks like they just stuck it on top without properly cutting out the rust. I was wary of anyone that offers 'mot welding' cause that isn't going to last. You ideally need to spend a bit extra and have the area wire wheeled back to metal and cut everything that isn't clean out until the rust has gone, then get the new piece of metal welded in flush with what's left
 
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So. I've emailed several local companies with pictures and the response has been pretty underwhelming. There's one place I've spoken to and am going in on Monday for them to give me a quote.

If I have no joy there and I have nobody else that would take the work on then I guess that'll be the end of it. The only off-road parking I have access to would be very short-term and as much as I want to get all this welding done I don't have unlimited cash to throw at this issue.

If it comes to it I'd much prefer she went to someone who could either do the repairs themselves or at least use the parts rather than ending up being scrapped. As long as I got at least the scrap value then I'd be happy with that.

She's not perfect - there's a couple of minor things I've just lived with as I've not had the time to sort myself. There are one or two minor bumps and scratches - especially on the front bumper as you can see from the pic I posted. (People around here seem incapable of driving around without crashing. 3 times in about 6 weeks she was hit whilst parked on the road). Other than the rust - which is the major issue - the only other thing I know would definitely need sorting is that power steering fluid started leaking a couple of weeks ago.
 
I had pretty much the same mate, you seem to have either patch up cowboys or full Concours restorations, nothing in between. I was fortunate in that I had both of my Cougars attended to by other forum members, so they both had several more years of life.
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Don't be surprised if it runs into the thousands - also the repairs must be properly rust protected inside and out if they are to last at all.
 
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Cheap = mot,
expensive = done properly,
unfortunately anywhere in between isn't worth considering as you'll still be revisiting it sooner rather than years down the line.
May well be worth you looking for one thats been done or doesn't need doing.
 
Yer - I've definitely learned a lesson when it comes to getting welding done on an old car.

I'm going to get a cost for putting it right. Maybe I'll be surprised, but I suspect it's not going to be less than 2k and probably way more.

I did have a quick look online for a replacement but prices have risen a lot recently.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.
 
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