rear cross member,,rusty bits

so ive got a 1987 90 the rear mud flaps and brackets were looking tired ,so i removed them to replace with new ones.the problem is when i removed the passenger side a large piece of cross member also came away.roughly the size of the fixing bracket.the rest of the x member looks fine after poking about and tapping with my hammer,if i cut the rot away would it be ok to put a plate on in this area?

Yes that will be fine . You could plate over but...It would be a better job to cut the rusty bit out and drop a new bit of 3mm steel in.

cheers nutter..attacked it with the grinder and wire brush this morning,,doesnt look too bad now,managed to grind most of the rusty bits away,needs aplate welding on.just wondering if i shud take it to local garage or invest in a welder and try it my self...

My Ninety failed it's MOT on (amongst other things) corrosion of the rear cross member. It wasn't bad enough to need replacing - just needed a couple of patches. I decided that if I'm going to try and keep a 20+ year old car on the road I've either got to get used to paying other people to fix it, or learn to do it myself! So I bought a little MIG welder and got busy - my welds weren't pretty, but a bit of grinding down and a coat of Smoothrite, at least they got the car through it's MOT.

If you're even half practically-minded, there's nothing scary about MIG-welding. I'm going to do an evening course to help improve my technique, but I managed to teach myself enough to fix my car - and that was a good feeling

Ian.

seriously considering buying a mig,some on offer at the min at screw fix,do most other tasks on the old girl,might just give it a go..like you say feels good when you tackle the jobs ya sen and get em done..

I used 3mm plate on mine then drilled a 8mm hole in it and injected waxoil then put a bung in the hole. Only problem is now the wagon drips waxoil, especially on hot days.

try the for sale section here for a second hand one or local papers etc.. loadsa them knockin around this weather wit work being quiet.

then get yourself a few bits of scrap metal of different thicknesses and start welding. you will soon find the right current and wire speeds for different jobs just by messing around like this.

you could easily learn all the basics off youtube