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'76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice
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virusdoc
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 1:04 pm    Post subject: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

Getting to know my Westy better today, and crawling around underneath I found some areas of concern on the front and rear axle beams. I'm showing only one side each, because the condition is the same on both sides.

The front beam has some perforation already, and I suspect the only solution for this is a new beam, given what I've read on searches here.


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The rear looks more concerning, but I don't know how to evaluate this.

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Thoughts?
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lil-jinx
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 2:18 pm    Post subject: Re: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

if the rust has not eaten into the beams themselves ,then they could likely be repaired with a bit of metal work and welding.it looks like your rear frame member is in decent shape ,
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virusdoc
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 2:26 pm    Post subject: Re: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

I’ll need to do much more exploratory de-rusting to figure that out. I am convinced the front beam has a lot of internal rust—pushing near that one spot of perforation, the metal around it is very thin. I’ve accepted a new beam is in my future for the front. At least they are available.

On the rear, the weld joint between the beam tube and the frame is flaking, and can be pulled off by hand. You can see at the top where I pulled off a 1-1/2 inch long section. The exposed main tube looks intact but I can’t tell what it looks like under that crumbling joint without getting a wire wheel on it.
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Abscate Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 3:46 pm    Post subject: Re: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

When you put a hammer and chisel on that , it’s going to crumble.

New beam in front , heavy welding in rear
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virusdoc
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 4:04 pm    Post subject: Re: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

Abscate wrote:
When you put a hammer and chisel on that , it’s going to crumble.

New beam in front , heavy welding in rear


Well, c’est la vie. I didn’t buy this thing because I thought it would be cheap

I will say I’m a bit frustrated that I bought it from a well respected restoration shop in the UK. And he described the undercarriage as “very, very clean”.
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busdaddy
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 4:17 pm    Post subject: Re: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

Some bashing with a pointy hammer is step one, neither end looks terminal or unsafe yet, but it's seen some salt that wasn't washed out afterwards so the cancer is starting to take hold. The only option is to cut out the rotted thin parts and replace with fresh metal.
I did a thread on the torsion tube repair years ago, but that one doesn't look advanced enough for the savage butchery I posted, some careful removal of a section at a time followed by hand formed new metal of the OG thickness is the answer there. Once you get inside you'll be able to look at the inner tube, I wouldn't expect too much pitting on that one, but you never know until you get in there, it's the tip of the iceberg you see right now.
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virusdoc
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 4:59 pm    Post subject: Re: '76 westy front and rear beam rust: assessment & repair advice Reply with quote

I’m a good wrencher. And could easily rebuild the engine if needed. But metalworking and welding are outside my expertise. Going to need to find a place that can do this.

Anyone have experience with this shop, about an hour from me?

https://m.facebook.com/Midwestaircooled/
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