Unibody frame rail repair/replacement

[Cleric]

The Maritimes are not kind to Mazdas, I have a passenger side frame rail that's completely rusted out, like a 5 inch section of it is completely missing. I have a friend who could weld some metal in place, but he told me it will not pass safety inspection like that. Is it possible to replace the entire rail? How much work would be involved, how much would the rail cost?

Cheers

 

[bikingpro5]

pictures? the unibody pieces would not be easy to replace at all, and most cars are scrapped when the rust gets that bad. you might get away with removing the holes and replacing a piece but it all depends how much good metal is left to weld.

 

[Cleric]

Here's a pic:

http://i.imgur.com/kcxWi.jpg

 

[mp5la]

Wow that looks pretty rough....

 

[Cleric]

Yeah..is there any fixing it? Or should I drive it straight to the junkyard?

 

[mp5la]

I've seen worse fixed, but it's generally on a car that winds up being worth 80k after a restoration. It all depends on how much time, money, and skill you can put into it. Rust always ends up bigger than it looks at the beginning. I'd be willing to bet you need to replace the floor pan around the frame rail as well.