Is this shell too far gone?

[Brinkley]

Hey all I'm in the middle of a big swap, and I'm at that point where ive stripped the car down pretty good and I'm wondering if this damage here in the passenger wheel well is too much to fix. the car is in overall good shape except for this. I'm think that the rust would have to be grinded away and a patch welded in. Has anyone done this kind of repair I want to do it right no 1/2 ass'n





the shell is in good shape and im pretty far into this i would rather not bail, but if this cant be fixed i will.

[bimmer8604]

it can probably be fixed, just make sure to cut out enough of it and you should probably replace that fender.

kyle

[Mike325]

I have had some rust there similar to what you have. You need to cut out all the old, rusty metal first. Then make a patch out of some 1/8th inch or so metal and have it welded in. Then prime and under coat the new metal. I would suggest using POR15 on the edges of the new hole you cut out, just for added security.

PS, move your jack stands in the front onto the frame rails, not where you had them on the fenders.

[Brinkley]

yea i got to angle grinding tonight, looks better than i thought, but cutting the old metal out and welding in new metal are 2 different things.
Where would i get "metal" to weld in, my buddy has some welding experience even into tig but not on anything this thin he's concerned about it.

[///meric]

what are u a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles. my car had way more rust then that

[Bill-B]

what are u a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles. my car had way more rust then that

[ddavidv]

Auto body supply places carry sheet metal. The nice thing about repairs in that area is they don't have to be pretty. ;) Big ugly welds are easily hidden by a little grinding and liberal use of seam sealer and undercoat. I would not trash the shell for that. A gas shielded MIG welder should do the trick. The hardest part is a) cutting out the rusted crap completely and b) fabbing the pieces to fit in there.

[mikeedler]

that is really nothing for a person that can weld--doesnt even have to be a good welder. I have repaired spots 1000000 times worse than that on many cars here in Germany.

looks like some fine U.S. body work. someone just slapped some bondo over a hole at one time.


from this:


to this-- and this is no finishing(grinding) at all on the welding.

[Brinkley]

thanks guys for the advice i got to cleaning it up today

[Brinkley]

Ok got the carpet peeled back ( dont get me started on the overengineering that went into the carpet ) its looking like it will be ugly and take forever but I think it can be done. Heres some real rust for you guys my car is no slouch it has rusted like a champ!

[ptownTSI]

that is not bad at all, you just need some sheet metal and shape it the approximate dimensions of that hole. you don't need to grind off surface rust like that either. coat with por15 and be done.

i suggest you go buy a book on metal working for cars.

[Brinkley]

lol well a lot of that isnt just surface rust there will have to be several patches to properly seal this baby up

[Brinkley]

what do you guys think cut out several small patches and weld them or just cut out the pan and replace the whole thing?

[BDSax]

go to a junkyard and cut out a piece from a car that has a good floor, reweld it in.

[Brinkley]

yea ive thought about that, but i bet any junkyard around here would have had the car open to the elements for years now probably worse than mine