Rear quarter rust repair in progress...

Grayguy · Post by **Grayguy** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:11 pm

I think I'm gonna go buy one today and try it out. I live in the rust belt, so I should own one haha

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:53 pm

For the price you can't go wrong. It even has a punch on the other side to make the holes for the spot welds. 2 tools in one for 40 bucks, you cant go wrong. When using it I was surprised at how strong it was without sounding or acting in a violent mannor. I was expecting a huge kachunk type action but its pretty smooth and leaves a good edge. This was the first time using this tool for me and I'm very satisfied.

you can see from the drivers side patch that I could not get the tool all the way accross due to exsisting sheetmetal behind the panel so thats the only downside. I was able to butt weld that section and was surprised how well it came out so the passenger sidfe was all butt welds and no flange tool used.

Post by **Legacy777** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:47 am

magicmike wrote:That thing is crazy good. Best 40 bucks I ever spent!!!! I think it was around 40 anyway, I don't remember, but I got it at harbor freight. Thanks for the props!

What exactly does the tool do?

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:56 pm

Legacy777 wrote:What exactly does the tool do?

Its a tool for fitting up two pieces of sheet metal. It basically crimps an edge or depression on the piece you want to attach to which lowers the mounting edge and makes the new piece's top edge mate up perfectly with the exsisting piece. The other side of the tool has a hole punch to make quick holes in the piece your adding for the spot welds to reach the back piece.

You can see here the step in the tool:

This is the before I cut out the main part of the rusted quarter:

After the cut and use of the flange crimper thingy. you can see that I could not get the tool all the way accross the top of the cut because of the sheetmetal behind (wheel tub):

So you can see that I used the punch side to make the holes to reach through to the exsisting fender.

Weld in the holes...

Grind flush:

Bondo layer 1:

Sand, sand , sand, after a few thin layers of bondo to fill in low spots:

Primer:

Sand that down with about 600 grit then scim coat with Galzing Putty:

Sand that down with 600 grit and prime again: no pic yet.

Sand the primer down with 600 to get smooth and ready for paint: Doing this part today, pics later.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:45 pm

I had a busy weekend...

I set forth to tackle the passenger side front edge of the rear wheel arch where it has that step for the black moulding. This whole section was where the car was hit before and was patched up something horrible. I'm only focussed on the top section in this pic for the moment so I can paint the top part of the panel and leave a paint seam behind the black moulding strip. This eliminates overspray and blending later when I do the bottom part of the rust in the pic. I just want to get the bumper cover on the car so I can drive it again.

After I cut all the rot out:

This was the most challenging fix for me to date. you can see in the above pic that the rust also affected the wheel well tub so I have two layers to replace here on an arch with an indenct where the moulding goes. Whew!

I cut a piece of sheetmetal and fit it up to the well:

Punched some holes with my crafty tool:

Clamped it up and welded it up:

Because of all the compound bends in this area I opted to weld a bunch of curved pieces together rather than to try and make one whole piece with all these curves.

I then took a piece and welded it 90° to the first piece to make the outer edge of the arch. I outlined the arch from a template of the other side that was good and cut strips up to the curved line:

Now to the "Top part" or the outer sheetmetal.
I cut a piece to fit but left a 90° lip on the back side to fit behind the exsisting panel. I drilled some holes in the arch to get some welds in there:

I drew a line where the bend needed to be and cut the strips again:

After bending the front layer down I marked for where it needed to be depressed for the black trim and cut that part out leaving only the back layer in that area:

That's where I left off. I just need to fill in the holes with the putty, reprime, sand, and paint. I should have both quaters painted today. More pics to come tonight.

gijonas · Post by **gijonas** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 4:22 pm

Its really too bad about the fact that you have a flux core setup,your metal skills are pretty decent and your work would be really quite nice with the proper welder.Not to say that your work there doesnt look great in final product form - which i guess is what counts.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 4:55 pm

gijonas wrote:Its really too bad about the fact that you have a flux core setup,your metal skills are pretty decent and your work would be really quite nice with the proper welder.Not to say that your work there doesnt look great in final product form - which i guess is what counts.

I hear you. Thanks for saying my shitty welds look good after enough grinding and bondo'ing lmao.

I'd love to have a nice TIG setup but can't really afford anything like that at the moment. not to mention this is the most welding I've ever done and its really only the 4th or 5th time total in my life that I've welded.

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:26 pm

Great thread Mike, looks like you're doing pretty nice work to me.

I definitely need one of those flanger/punch tools before I start repairs on my RR arch. I cheated as far as the sheetmetal goes though...one of the local pull-n-save yards let me bring a cordless Sawzall to cut out an entire arch. Between that and this thread, hopefully it won't be too bad...hopefully!

Post by **Legacy777** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:31 pm

magicmike wrote:Its a tool for fitting up two pieces of sheet metal. It basically crimps an edge or depression on the piece you want to attach to which lowers the mounting edge and makes the new piece's top edge mate up perfectly with the exsisting piece. The other side of the tool has a hole punch to make quick holes in the piece your adding for the spot welds to reach the back piece.

I gotcha. That's pretty cool, and nice work and documention of the progress!

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:47 pm

The tool does what a bead roller with the right jaw would do. Nice—wish I had compressed air. Finally got my rear bumper off (Mike, did you put the bumper side brackets back on after removal or did you somehow remove the bumper cover clips without doing it—if that's the case, you truly are "magic"). Damn, I've got some big ugliness inside my passenger wheel arch, but I'm not letting that stop me.

Looking at the car with the bumper off, I think it almost looks good. I'm toying with the idea of making a new bumper cover that continues the contour of the quarter panels and tailgate so the bumper will be flush off the rear and I could get rid of the black trim. I do like the protection of the rugged bumper, though, (took a hit from a Chrysler Concorde and kicked its ass without a scratch) and I'm not sure I want to lose that.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:09 am

evolutionmovement wrote:Mike, did you put the bumper side brackets back on after removal or did you somehow remove the bumper cover clips without doing it—if that's the case, you truly are "magic".

Wait? What?

I'm not sure what your asking so I'll just say what I did. I pulled the bumper cover off without removing the side metal brackets. I took them off after. I think thats what your asking.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:36 am

Those obnoxious clips with all the teeth that secure the molded plastic tabs on the inside of the bumper cover to the bracket. The tabs fit through the slots in the bracket and the clips fit over them, holding the cover fast to the brackets. The two closest to the wheels are accessible with a flat screwdriver, but not the rest. I took the brackets off with the bumper (hardware accessible inside the storage bins).

I guess the bumper has been removed previously?

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:21 am

ok I know what your talking about. Those came right off. I used my snap on panel popper tool though which has a bit of leverage. Seen here in this pic.

Came right off and the clips fell off too.

Grayguy · Post by **Grayguy** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:25 am

nice work. The only thing I have to add is that you should really spray all that bare metal with weld-through paint so that it wont rust as fast.

We just finally fixed the GF's car tonight, so I get my extra car back (1st gen 4runner FTW) so the legacy gets to go under the knife soon. I'll be getting one of those tools for sure!

fishbone79 · Post by **fishbone79** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:27 am

Mike - good stuff! The only comment I have is that all those outside welds will rust this winter without some good weld-seal. They make a weld seal plastic filler that I've had really good luck with. I've used it on 6 cars now over my welded body work and it's held up much better than regular bondo.

Avoiding the corner/edge cutting and welding was the reason I made the form - actually worked pretty well. What kind of primer are you using?

I'm working with a real old-time body guy right now - hes teaching me how to fill panels with lead, which supposedly seals the weld off perfectly.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:32 pm

fishbone79 wrote:Mike - good stuff! The only comment I have is that all those outside welds will rust this winter without some good weld-seal. They make a weld seal plastic filler that I've had really good luck with. I've used it on 6 cars now over my welded body work and it's held up much better than regular bondo.

Thank you. As for the primer and bondo I just used stuff from the local pep boys. I am doing this "fix" on a budget since I am still without a job. I have a beautiful gravity feed gun but can't afford to buy the correct paint and clear coat right now. I just used the closest rattle can I could find and it is actually pretty damn close.

This is by no means a thread on "how to fix your rear quaters the right way" Its just a place where I am documenting what I did with all of the knowledgable comments from experienced people out there added. If one person reads this thread and gets an idea on how to tackle that quarter panel then it has served its purpose.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:25 pm

Did you throw some rust converter on the inside of the panels? Makes even a bigger difference than I thought—I had body work done before and the metal that had been treated with the stuff on the inside is still like new, the other metal is in bad shape. I use a cheap spray bottle to get in the hard-to-reach spots.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:44 pm

evolutionmovement wrote:Did you throw some rust converter on the inside of the panels? Makes even a bigger difference than I thought—I had body work done before and the metal that had been treated with the stuff on the inside is still like new, the other metal is in bad shape. I use a cheap spray bottle to get in the hard-to-reach spots.

Yes, I have some of that rust converter that turns black. I am spraying that on the insides and then covering it all up with some undercoating for good measure.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:58 pm

I think that should do it for you for a while. I also blasted a lot of hidden, but exposed areas with the undercoating, reapplying every year due to abrasion from rocks and such, and the undercarriage of the car is in excellent condition. Wish I had been less lazy with the passenger rear wheel well.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 4:16 pm

ok, well it rained all day yesterday so I wasn't able to work on the car. I got both rear quaters painted the day before yesterday. I went a little overboard with the passenger side due to the previous bad repair. Who ever did the past repair didn't remove the power antenna trim or even the gas cap. I figured I would do it up and while I had the gas door off I smoothed all the panel seams in there for that custom look that no body will notice unless they are crazy like me.

Here is where I started:

Went and grabbed my VERY expensive snap on antenna nut removal sockets (left over from my installing days).

none fit

used my job lot 3 dollar long handle needle nose pliars.

This is what I found under it:

you can see the built up clear coat around the edge:

After wet sanfing it smooth:

Now for the fuel door opening:

After some filling:

Primed and ready for paint:

Painted:

You can see I removed everything (i.e. latch and door switch, interior panel that wraps around).

Drivers side primed and ready for paint:

Painted:

Next step is to mask off the finished areas and spray undercoating everywhere hidden under the bumper cover. Then i'll put the bumper cover back on and I can start driving it again

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 4:26 pm

Very nice. I like the pictures, since I don't know body work. Keep 'em coming.

fishbone79 · Post by **fishbone79** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:49 pm

That looks great man. A little bumpola on the driver's side, but white is a forgiving color, so I'll bet it will look awesome when it's buffed.

Care to estimate a total cost of materials? I think mine came to something like $180 all said and done.

gijonas · Post by **gijonas** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:56 am

Good work!

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:56 pm

Thanks for all the positive feedback!

I finally got the back bumper back on and the interior back together.

I sprayed the insides of the rear quaters with rust neutrlizer and then covererd that with undercoating just to cover it up good.
Drivers side:

Passenger side:

Now to get that damn bumper cover back on. Oh snap! I forgot that one of those pain in the ass metal supports on the sides was rotted through.

Break out the metal:

A little welding to hold it on:

Oh yes, I need a nut welded on there too:

I actually have the nut on the wrong side and welded it there too. I had to grind it off and weld it on the correct side

After rust inhibitor and some black satin paint:

Installed with those clips on the bumper cover:

So here you go. Bumber back on now:

I didn't take photos of the obvious plastic clips that hold the cover to the metal bumper itself.

In hind site, I would not have removed the cover but rather just taken the whole bumper right off as an assembly. It would have been far easier.

I still have to repair the front of the wheel arches and each front fender but I can at least drive the car now. It has been difficult lately since my girlfriend sold her car and has been driving my G35. I've been stranded at home with only the bike but I get nervous about parking that anywhere.

I'll be taking a small break from this for a few days and then will carry on with the photos of the rest of the repairs.

Cheers!

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:41 pm

Removing the bumper as a unit is how I did it—"just" the four beam bolts and the side brackets. Were your flat brackets that the bumper cover to bumper beam nuts go through junk, too? Most of mine are garbage, so I'm replacing them with aluminum flat bar from the hardware store—nearly an exact match. I wonder if I can get replacement nuts for that at the dealership. For a reasonable price.

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Rear quarter rust repair in progress...