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Hey guys,

I'm looking for some insight. I have a 92 Mecca Black TW, swapped a 99 RS 5 Speed, and LSD 4.11 rear end. Mechanically the car is in great shape, so is the interior. However it has a bit of a rust problem. I'm not much of a body repair guy, I usually just replace panels from pull-a-parts.





You can't see the rust in the pictures, but the above the wheel wells, top of the doors have some serious rust. I love this car and I want to preserve it.

I need a plan of action, do I take it to a body shop and pay through the nose? find another shell? replace the body panels? Other ideas? Thanks

Tyler

Id sharpen up your body skills. its a great looking car. the body swap wouldnt be a bad idea but its a job and theres no turning back once you in the middle and throwing wrenches. lol . mind if get a peek under the hood?

if you go the "find another shell route, I ill gladly buy that rusty shell. I got a rusty one here and need better shell and that one is pristine to me.

Here are some updated pictures. I'm leaning towards finding someone to do the body work as I would like to keep everything original.

i have the same type of rust in a few spots on my wagon.. i may just repair mine. dosent look too bad. ive seen way worse. its good to fix it before it gets worse.

yeah get it soon. Too many people fix the rust, sand, then primer and leave it in primer. If you get to primer stage, then you need to topcoat with paint asap. paint seals it. primer does not.

That needs a little work, but it's not terrible. I'd do it myself. Paying someone will cost more, but the big thing is that they will most likely cut corners you wouldn't. Been there and experienced that. You can buy panels from people parting out from rust-free parts of the country or form metal yourself. What I'm doing with mine is using autobody epoxy. There are several advantages: you don't need to have/know how to use welding equipment, you won't have rust magnet spot welds, the joint is sealed, it's stronger according to testing, and it allows both sides of the panels to be primed with cold galvanizing spray. For future, I recommend undercoating the undercarriage and wheel wells with touching up every spring. In winter, I washed it about every week taking special care to clean out the wheel wells and blast high pressure water in the bottom of the back of the front fender until the water out of the seam between panels runs clear.

I've just did all that on my wagon and was very carefully to get all the rust out by sand blasting and sealing with (POR-15).I've done this car twice and did a lot of rust preventive steps on this go around that should work well. I have a lot of auto body knowlage and first hand knowlage on these wagons. Mine was way worse than yours and real solid again.