Rust.

D

diericksetim

New member
What is the best way to repair rust? I know of adding adhesive pads and bondoing it and stuff, but this is a little more difficult. It's the rim of a rear fender. Any ideas?

I looked at buying a new half fender or something of the sort. But couldn't find a single thing.

Thanks,
Tim

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Only way to do it right is to cut out the infected area and put in new metal. Any kind of coating/rust paint/bondo etc is only a temp fix and before you know it, the rust is right back.
 
How would you put in new metal when it's bent around the edge towards the centre? And do I wield it?

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Honestly, I've been through this and it can be a highly skilled job. If you want it to look good - you'll have to pay a body shop. It's mostly labor if they are fabricating, and it's a lot of labor.

In my case - they had to fabricate and weld in pieces of the rear quarter panel.

Total cost of the work below was over $3k. And, that was cheap at a mom and pop shop.

Front was repaired, repainted, and blended.

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Before rear:

The rust you see is minor:

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The hidden rust is worse:

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After:

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How much did it cost you?

I plan to repaint the whole car once it's repaired. But don't really wanna pay a body shop a crap ton.

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Ouch. Totally not worth. I can buy a brand new Mazda. Chop it. And still save money after wielding it.

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diericksetim said:
Ouch. Totally not worth. I can buy a brand new Mazda. Chop it. And still save money after wielding it.

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Click to expand...

I would love to say it's that easy.... but it's not.

Welding sheet metal can actually be very labor intensive. Too make it short, you can burn through, warp it, it can warp in the future if not done correctly, and - in the case of automotive - if you leave the backside of the panel uncoated (and it will be even if you don't touch it) you're just going to create an even worse rust problem down the road. Welding isn't as simple of a process as everybody seems to think and when you get into certain things - like automotive - there are a lot of other factors to complicate things further.

If you can replace the entire panel, that could (depending on the make/model/year of the car) be very easy.

Just so you know, my input about welding isn't from watching YouTube videos or Monster Garage. I can do it all. Can't read a diagram any more though... been a few years and that I have forgotten.

EDIT: I was just thinking about what I put here and realized that my final lines could come across extremely cocky. Not the intention. Just saying I can and have welded successfully with all four of the common welding processes. It was my job at one point (MIG still is sometimes, but to a much lesser degree). I don't know how many times I've heard the "you can" or "you can't" do this/that, I saw it on YouTube.
 
I have a buddy that has done body work for majority of his life. I wasnt going to wield it myself, but per say was still the process. I can't replace the panel due to it being the frame.

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diericksetim said:
I have a buddy that has done body work for majority of his life. I wasnt going to wield it myself, but per say was still the process. I can't replace the panel due to it being the frame.

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Click to expand...

You may be able to replace. It's more of a pain to do than a normal fender, hood, etc. but some will sell those panels. However, they don't normally sell them for long and they're not normally cheap. I know the one for my Escape was over $1,000 and they no longer manufacture it.

It all depends on how deep the rust is too. If, and that's a big if, the rust is on the surface and can be removed you don't need replacement. But in order to keep it from coming back you have to completely remove and/or neutralize what is there.

That being said, if you have a friend that's been doing body work for a long time - get his advice. We can tell you anything and everything but he can put hands on and see how bad it really is.
 
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