I'm working on my 89 325is trying to get this thing back on the road after 4 yrs. I've stripped the interior and the attached images is what I found under the carpet. The rust is minimal but it's in the common areas. Do I need to remove the sound deadening and if so what do I replace it with? Will the small holes require weld in panels for or is there a filler that I can use instead? I have zero welding experience but I'm willing to learn if needed. I've watched a youtube vid by Restore It and he used a wire mesh with fiberglass filler on an e30 rear end repair. As of right now I've ground down the rust and sprayed some rust inhibitor on the areas. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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It's hard to tell from those pictures exactly how big the holes are but if they are just pin-holes or smaller holes I think you can safely approach it two ways; welding or filling with an appropriate material.
Welding can be tricky due to the thin nature of sheet metal and the tendency to blow through and make the hole bigger, plus the heat can affect the paint in surrounding area as well as cause the undercoat to lift or burn away.
Filling is less invasive and if done properly can be considered a solid repair. I would prep the holes with inhibitor (as you have), then paint and finally apply a good quality seam sealer (Dynatron 550 or 3M Flexclear). The body plug you show in the last picture is sealed with seam sealer from the factory (as are many other areas) so I don't think this is that wild of an idea. Of course this won't necessarily work on larger holes where you need something robust to fill the gap.
As far as the sound deadening, I have just used a generic butyl based material from amazon, etc. to replace sections I needed to remove for this exact reason.
I will be interested to hear others opinions. -
Go to a body supply store and ask about epoxy body adhesive. The gun will be a hundred dollars. You will rough up your patch area and glue a patch in place. There will be skeptics, but understand that many panels on new cars are glued on. As long as it is nonstructural, it can be glued. Each epoxy is formulated to the materials that would be glued. I can send a pic of my gun and the glue if needed. Good luck.Comment
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If you don't want the rust to come back, you have to grind or cut out the pitting.
They make a two part epoxy primer in a can, made by spray max your can re prime with out having an air compressor. From there its just how far you want to go. 3M fast and firm will match up well for a seam sealer
If you don't want to find more rust, I wouldn't look, Otherwise sounding has to come up. After repairs dynamat makes the best product at the highest price point, other comparable products out there also.
Check out some threads that people have done rust repair.Comment
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