What is the cost of restoring rust damage? I'm guessing it depends on how bad it is... how about "not bad rust" and "shock tower damage" estimates?

There is an ad on the Peachtree BMW CCA website for a 1971 2002 that looks amazing in the photo (http://www.peachtreebmwcca.org/ptClassAds/viewad.asp?id=50284930411100107), but is only selling for $1,500 because it has "some rust" and "needs restoration."

I'd love to grab this car, just trying to figure out how much it would cost. I've emailed the owner and if I get a reply with the damages, I'll post that up too.

Thanks.

Are you planning on doing the work yourself or hiring it out? You could easily get into the $1000's in sheet metal cost alone on a car that has "issues", not to mention the labor.

Your best bet would be to cut the shock towers out of a different 2002 and weld them in. Although I'm not sure how much that would cost. It looks like a great car good luck.

Here is the response. I had asked for an estimate of the restoration, etc.
The exterior does clean up very well but the interior is pretty rough. The rust is not bad at all. There is a ~1-1/2 inch diameter bubble in the paint behind each rear wheel arch. I believe there is cosmetic rust behind those. The seats are Shiel and the fabric is thin and worn through in places. The headliner is ripped. The hand brake handle is loose from its mounting. All of this is fixable but I don't have the time or inclination anymore. That's the reason for the low price.

I don't know prices for restoration. We had an orange 1973 that had a green trunk, brazed on by some jackleg. We had a total redo with removing the doors, all new rubber, etc and a really fine overall paint job for $3000. Of course that was in the 1990s.
Obviously I am most concerned about the rust bubbles on the rear wheel arches. Is this a bad sign? How fixable is that? What about the rest of the stuff?

Thanks for the help...

It is all fixable, with enough money. The question is really how bad the rust is. If it is limited to rockers, wheel arches and such then those areas are all reasonably easy to fix. Floor pans are very easy. Shock towers are difficult and expensive if fixed correctly. As good as the car looks in that one picture it might be worth trying to save.

See if you can get some photos of the rust damage. It's hard to attach a $$ figure to the damage without seeing it.

Here are the photos of the spots. Doesn't look too bad to me. He believes the shock towers are in good condition, I could always check when I see the car.

Opinions? Thanks guys.

those don't look so bad to me dude!

Rust bubbles are not hard to fix, but unless they are permenantly repaired they come back over and over again. Most body shops don't like to deal with rust issues, only expen$ive restoration shops.

Chances are what you can see is only the tip of the iceberg. You would have to put it on a lift and look underneath - with a good ice pick - to tell whats rusted or not.

Hell, they rust right under the window trim!

http://www.my2002tii.com/images/april2002/hidingrust1.jpg

Under the bottoms of the doors is a good place to look, and at the area just to the right of the fuel tank (see photo below)

http://www.my2002tii.com/images/june2002/stella_june%20008.jpg

The spare tire well will turn up badness also.

http://www.my2002tii.com/images/june2002/stella_june%20009.jpg

Good luck chasing the tin worm - I know how I did it - once and for all.

For that price I would say its worth it. As long as the shock towers are in good condition. It looks like its been taken care of in its 34 years of life.

also look on the floorboards around where the gas pedal mounts to the floor. the pedal assembly is protected by a giant rubber "pad" that acts like a sponge and of course promotes rust...potentially a very bad spot. the rust around the wheel arches is very common. dirt gets trapped under the lip and rusts from the inside out. as long as there isn't rust issues at the "problem" areas i.e. rear shock towers and spare tire well your probably good to go for that price. as keith said, however, that "is only the tip of the icberg." he's right. ALL 2002s have rust. that is a fact...unless the car has been COMPLETELY restored and done thoroughly as in the case with keith's stella. if you want a car to drive $1500 seems like a good deal as long as the rust around the rear fenders is the only visible rust. if you want to restore it you night want to start looking under the carpets and such to know what you really have.
regards, jeff

Too late, someone already snagged it :|