I bought my car in Chicago and there is rust on some of the engine bolts and metal parts. Nothing that looks too serious. I will post pictures later.

However, I wanted to have your opinion on it... how much is too much?

 

rust will keep eating away the metal so any rust is bad...

 

So I presume your recomendation is to take it to the body shop and re-paint it?

What about the rust in the engine? How do I clean that?

 

All depends on what its on and what it actually is. Pictures would be helpfull

 

Yes, as promised here are the pictures....

Two main concerns
I. The engine
II. Driver's doors

P I C T U R E S

I. Engine
1


2


3


4


5


6


7



II.
These are several pics along the edge of the door:
8


9


And the quarter panel...
10

 

The engine components are going to rust, especially if they endure a Chicago winter. Not much you can do about that. Mine look the same. The door panels are another story. Those should probably be repainted.

 

Should I be worried though? Is there preventive or remedial maintenance that I need to do so it does not worsen?

 

The stuff under the hood is normal and nothing to worry about. The door and quarter though you should That needs to be addressed by a body shop before it gets worse (which it will) your only course to keep it from getting worse is to have the affected panels repainted to stop it.

 

Thanks for the info.

Should I even invest any $$ to clean the engine? (any pro's long term?)

I'll take the car to a body shop, hopefully they do a good job with the body paint (most jobs I have seen are not good) - what should I expect to pay? $200 door $200 quarter?

 

I wouldnt waste the time under the hood. You could do it yourself if you wanted to try cleaning it up but it will come back and is fairly normal and wont lead to bigger issues.

The door and 1/4 will cost more than that. Dont cheap out on paint. you get what you pay for.
Drive around and get quotes from different places. If it gets worse the price will go up from there.

 

That advise sounds about right - So they will sand the entire panel, prime it, and then paint it from what I understand?

 

That is quite possibly the worst looking rust I've seen on a CL ever... I've seen early DA teggys in better shape.
Fix it asap!