not knowing the rust spots very well.. but here is where the rust is on mine.

under the midle of the boot seal above the lock. under there its rusted. thats all

sunroof ive heard is a major one aswell but cant verify this as i dont have one lol.

 

You are in canada just like me. Its rusted like mine. Not much but itll get there if you don't take care of it. I owned a 1990 gt that was rusted to death. Winter will kill this car if not treated for rust prevention or kept in a garage. Check under the car. I think your main beams or whatever they are called , the two main rails probably have at least one layer of metal rusted off near the front. That where it starts. Don't let it get any farther or your body will twist, jump and it's gonna suck. So if its not there yet see to it since you live in canada that you take care of your car for the winter. Its very harsh on these cars.

 

Thanks for the advice TR-mx6. I plan on getting down and dirty with the car in a couple of weeks time. I'll be able to determine exactly what state the car's in at that time.

Amazingly enough, when one stands next to the car there isn't a single spot of rust visible. It all seems to be well hidden.

 

Being Canadian as well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here on the rust topic. The first I owned was new so I didn't experience any rust except around the moulding on the A-pillar due to the fact that I had a windscreen installed from the factory and water stood around the mounts. It also started showing signs around the mounts on the spoiler. Now 17 years later, both of my last 2 GTs exhibited rust on the back wheel wells and fenders. My white one came with a bra (which was cool) but was probably the culprit to starting the rust on the hood in the first place.

 

prevention trumps cure

1. Along the bottom edge of the doors (on the inside of the doors).

Not all are that rusty.

Driver's side^^

Passenger's side^^

They don't use as much salt in Calgary as in the east. If it's too cold, salt doesn't work.

 

mmmm... A Pillar is the only place I have rust... I need to get that fixed!

 

hmmm well my '90 was originally bought in ottawa,and at some point after moved to NS...and it looks very good on top,a few minor spots but not much of anything visible,the paint is even still worth waxing and it looks sharp when it is..

it really seems to be underneath that these cars go,as was mentioned the frame rails just aft of the firewall seem to be a prime spot,mine are getting bad and need attention,the floorpan/rocker panels in the same area can get seedy as well...

behind the rear wheelwells on either side of the trunk are another area of concern..look at the seams inside the trunk where they meet the quarter panels[as someone said,the area underneath the jack on one side]the mx6 has a pretty well known problem with trunk leaks and you should have a good look under the carpet for signs of rust from this as well

i've heard that the rear strut towers can go pretty badly,again with it happening mostly unnoticed and unseen

fuel and rear brake lines need to be looked at...closely

the e-brake can seize up from rust on it's mechanism inside the rear brakes on dx and lx with drum rears[this is more of a maintenance thing and at any rate probably not a concern for your gt's rear discs]

cars are eaten by rust here in the maritimes like nowhere else and there aren't that many 1st gens around here...but the ones i have seen don't look all that bad,i haven't seen badly rusted fenders or doors on any yet...the bottom tho,that seems to be where it all goes horribly wrong...if you can,you really need to get it up on a lift and have a good look under it,especially before deciding to invest any serious money..had i done this myself,i probably wouldn't have bought mine.the topside looks can really be very deceiving.

and yeah the hood really is that heavy...

 

well zoomzoom, anything can hold up against rust with prevention (though id have to say you guys living in snow with salt on the roads really get the raw end of the deal). what you want to do is spray a lot of areas with "fish oil" and water dispersant. the fish oil is used on boats as well and its great stuff to prevent against rust. ive sprayed plenty underneath the car and the small amount of oxidisation was easily treated. once the fish oil has dried on it protects the metal well. also in areas like the sunroof i put plenty of WD in there and down the water drainage pipes, so it should be nicely protected.

and yeh, the first thing i said when i bought the car was, 'its a damn heavy bonnet'. CF or fiberglass are lighter and dont rust i have to get me one ASAP

 

You like to spend $800?

 

I've got no rust at all@-.


The car's Crusty, not rusty

 

Fuel tank and filler neck/separator assembly rust very often. Also rear strut mounts, and a spot underneath where the passenger's feet would be in the back seat always seems to rust through, it's right where the exhaust makes a turn.

 

and a spot underneath where the passenger's feet would be in the back seat always seems to rust through, it's right where the exhaust makes a turn.

I had to deal with that in order to get my car safetied. It happens in the same spot behind the driver's seat, but it wasn't bad enough to have to fix, yet...

 

thank god i live in VA.. almost no rust on either of my mx6s

 

I've had some rust problems with bumper mount points, both rear and front. They collect grime and salt very easily.

As magik8 suggested, check the fuel filler system. Mine developed a leak and crumbled into flakes of rust under inspection.

Power steering oil cooler piping is one to check. Mine had a leak. (Made a replacement part out of copper plumbing from a home renovation project) It's an L-shaped tube under the right fender, very bothersome to inspect.

Also, I'm told the rear suspension is real susceptible to rust, though I've never run into problems there.

 

They don't use as much salt in Calgary as in the east. If it's too cold, salt doesn't work.

I thought it was a Cananada in general thing?

I seem to remember a salt/sand combo being prevalent, at least in Ontario. This was hardly the case on the other side of the Peace Bridge where us Buffalonians used salt only and had potholes the size of shallow graves.

 

my car had some "minor" rustproblem hehe

the bottom on the doors looked like this

the holes in the trunk looked like this

the rear wheelhouses...

that was where the worst rust was...

 

Not a single spot on my mx6 or either of my 1st and 2nd gen TX5's (Aus 626's).

 

Thanks cam22t (and also to the other Aussie members who have posted here). I'm glad to hear that there's at least one place on this planet where a rust-free existence is possible.

You guys still accepting newcomers? My Mazdas and I wanna emigrate.

 

i wish i had shot of my first mx6's underbody rust. Damn, when from a bit near the firewall to destroying a bog portion of the main floor supports and there were 2 hole in front of the fuel tank and one under my left foot. loads more. that was just the floor.lol

 

yep, we are lucky down here. U will get rust on a bad repair job, but other than that, its not an issue.

 

Thanks cam22t (and also to the other Aussie members who have posted here). I'm glad to hear that there's at least one place on this planet where a rust-free existence is possible.

You guys still accepting newcomers? My Mazdas and I wanna emigrate.

youll like our mazdas....jap built mx6s and 2000-2002 model rx7s

theres still a few 20B tt cosmos also around the place still, which are basically non existant anywhere else outside japan

 

Ok. Started work on the car today. Took out the entire interior and carpet. Quite pleased with what I found. Not that rusty at all. Here are some pics of the floor underneath the carpet:

Driver's side:

Passenger side rear:

Passenger side front:

The only places where rust was quite obvious were the the two side-wells in the trunk and the two A-pillars. In fact, the A-pillars worry me slightly since I really don't know how I'd go about fixing the problem.

Driver's A-pillar:

Passenger's A-pillar:

Driver side side-well in trunk:

Passenger side side-well in trunk:

Also, unlike Elanzer's car, the rear strut towers are spotless. Seeing his pics made me wonder if mine were going to be bad as well.

Oh yeah, if you're wondering why there's so much water in the truck and why the floors underneath the passenger and driver's seats seem to wet, that's because there were rubber plugs missing which allowed water from outside to splash into the car and soak the carpet. The carpet's underpadding was soaked like a sponge. The trunk has water standing in a few spots as well. Maybe leaky tail-lights or trunk seal.

Anyone have any ideas on the A-pillars?

 

Question: What's the black box that's mounted underneath the driver's seat. We found a box under the passenger seat, which we guessed is the amp for the sound-system. Couldn't figure out what the one under the drivers seat was.

 

Question: What's the black box that's mounted underneath the driver's seat. We found a box under the passenger seat, which we guessed is the amp for the sound-system. Couldn't figure out what the one under the drivers seat was.

I remember there was a sticky of the boxes, I can't find anywhere now... Not so sure anymore if it was on this forum. Anyway, it's most likely the speed sensitive power steering control box.

 

only rust I seem to have are the bolts that hold the fenders, in that general area, but it's not bad, the screws that hold the spoiler down, the base of the antenna, and the rear of the driver's side roof gutter, it looks like the body flexed, or paint just cracked in two places, and is starting to show some oxidation. Overall, the paint is still damn shiny