hi there i have a mk3 xr3 my engine bay is starting to weaken can anyone sugest where to put plates to help strenthen the car, pictures if anyone has got any please

cheers matt

 

When you say the engine bay is starting to weaken???

What do you mean?

 

a few cracks but they are not rotten and when i jack up the car from the front the doors become out of line i am running konis which is prob some of the cause i just need a bit more strenth but dont know where to start.

 

If you've got cracks in the bulkhead etc then that car has had some serious abuse by the sound of it???

Im not too sure what others will say but personally if theres cracks appearing then its probably not worthwhile or really safe to repair it.

See what other people think. Pictures would be good............

 

the cracks are down by the gear box mainly there are only about three the longest one is about 1 1/2 " but i was wondering if there was any way of helping it out and if any one else have strenthend theres

 

Seam welding is always a favourite. I myself just dont know about the cracks.

Im sure you will soon have some other opinions

 

I agree, My mate had a Mk3 that started to crack, He scrapped it

 

if the cars straight no need to scrap it, unless youre not prepared to carry out a lot of welding and fabrication work. there will be a lot of work required anyway to seam weld the bay, so you could just plate over the cracks while youre at it, as long as the plate used is thick enough, bent/shaped and welded properly cant see why this wouldnt be ok.

the bulkhead, inner wings and other parts were rotten on my mk3 rs1600i, didnt realise this when i bought it, but after lots of hard work the engine bay is now finished and seam welded, pics etc are in my resto thread, click my sig to have a look/read.

 

you could also stick some pictures up here, for people to see and give their opinions and ideas on what you could/should do.

 

I've got a crack in the same place you have described, simply due to the fact that its had a damn good thrashing over the years!
If you drill a hole where the crack ends, to stop it going any further, then just mig the crack up it should be fine.
Seam welding the engine bay is a good move, its something i'll be doing next time the engine comes out.

Wouldnt worry about it too much, thes cars are getting old now so its to be expected

 

cheers guys ill put some pics on here soon