Gigantic hole in the side of my car....

[BAC5.2]

So I decided to get savvy and try to fix the rust on the rear quarter panel of my car.

Upon removing the rust, I found that it went all the way through, so I just removed it and cut the metal around it.

Now, I have a few options.

1) I can figure out how to weld, and TRY to weld a plate over it.

2) I can just use straight up fiberglass and try to get it as smooth as possible.

3) I can pop-rivet a peice of aluminum over the hole and then fiberglass over that to smooth it all out at least a little.

What do you guys think? I am leaning towards #3, but let me hear what you guys have to say.

I must say, it was pretty fun to cut into the car like that. However scary it may have been

Phil

[AWD_addict]

Do whatever you are most skilled/comfortable with. I sure wouldn't want to weld on my car without having a ton of practice first. 3 seems like the best option.

[gt2.5turbo]

i would shoot for three... sounds like the one that would be the least likely to turn into a "i wish i would have done that first" sorta situation.

[dscoobydoo]

it depends on how big the hole is. #1 is the best option for lonegevity. You can always take it to a body place and have them weld in a piece for not too much.

In #3, I would worry about forever seeing rivit pieces/marks

[QuickDrive]

Duct Tape and Bondo baby

J/K

# 3 seems the best idea.

[evolutionmovement]

I'd epoxy the alloy in. You won't get electrolytic corrosion that way either as the adhesive will keep the layers apart. Welding the metal is difficult if you don't know what you're doing as it's so thin.

Steve

[scottzg]

4) find a new chassis? That sounds pretty eaten to me...

[vrg3]

I'd actually braze rather than weld, I think... And brazing's pretty easy to do. You could grab some random sheetmetal from Crazy Ray's to practice on.

[evolutionmovement]

Barely eaten at all - I imagine these are the rear quarters behind the wheels? These cars only have several small spots of problems (that every car gets). Doubt he'd find a much better chassis without going across country and then he'd have to deal with a likely ugly color and then the pain of switching everything around.

Southern Californians ... [shakes head]

Steve

[scottzg]

Southern Californians ... [shakes head]

NORTHERN californian!

...but yeah, if a car has rust spots, we take pictures of it.

[josh9227]

its like this on both sides of mine and i need a new door i hate winter

[corsair]

I had the same as your problem Josh. An angle grinder, 3M bristle disk, bondo and a bodyshop later I had 6 months of a good looking fender. Now the rust is back, I think I'm going to buy my next car from Texas or California, or just something without 260,000 miles on it.

[evolutionmovement]

Bondo is really a temporary repair. I hate the stuff because it's difficult to prepare the metal (which needs to be completely shiny to get rid of any trace of cancer - a harder thing to do than it sounds) and then the moisture gets under the Bondo and accelerates the rust. Even on healthy metal it sucks. In the old days they would smoothe out uneven panels with lead.

Steve

[gnuman]

Bondo is really a temporary repair. I hate the stuff because it's difficult to prepare the metal (which needs to be completely shiny to get rid of any trace of cancer - a harder thing to do than it sounds) and then the moisture gets under the Bondo and accelerates the rust. Even on healthy metal it sucks. In the old days they would smoothe out uneven panels with lead.

Steve

In some places they still do, well, tin. . .
Actually, that was my 4). you can solder the new sheet into place, and if you use enough flux, it will be a clean, rust free job. Once you have it all smoothed out you need to coat it on both sides to prevent a reoccurance.

[BAC5.2]

I cut the metal and removed all rust, then used some bondo patch (stainless adheasive mesh) to cover the hole and offer me a little support to lay fiberglass.

I laid a bunch of fiberglass, smoothed it out, used some body filler to make it nice and smooth, and I just primered it today. I'll finish priming it tomorrow and paint it, then I'll be good to go.

Not entirely 100% you'll never know, but still pretty acceptable and I don't need to look at cancer on the side of my car.

[isotopeman]

Is it not possible to just buy another fender? I keep thinking that everything I've looked at on my wagon was bolted on, and the fender for the front quarter panel was 125$ new.

[BAC5.2]

But this is a rear quarter panel.

[legacy92ej22t]

Right on Phil. Man, that would be nerve racking to cut into your car.

Hope it turns out nice.

[BAC5.2]

Hopefully it will. I'll just keep repairing body panels that need to be repaired until the whole car is fiberglass, lol.

It might not be perfect, but it'll be better to look at than rust . I'll get pics later today.

[legacy92ej22t]

Hehe, that'll be good weight reduction! You'll have the worlds only 2500 lb SS without giving up your AC and interior!

[evolutionmovement]

You could chop the whole fender flare out all together and replace it with glass at the joins.

The Lotus guy I know is helping me replace my crunched quarter with new metal. He has all the tools and everything - this guy rules! Then he tried to convince me the Lotus Europa he had in the garage was 'all me'.

Steve

[LaureltheQueen]

My fender liner fell out a couple days ago going around a corner, and now I can see tiny bits of rust where screws were. ugh. This will be fun

[Tleg93]

I had my body work done and the car repainted. The rust is already coming back and the dude left buffing patterns in my paint.

[evolutionmovement]

I'm thinking of using adhesive instead of welding on my new panel after talking to an auto body guy.

Steve