rusting rear and fron fender and wells / 1/4 pannels

Up north here, they use so much salt on the roads its retarded,

 

I did some bondo work on the front last year before winter, and had a bit of rust comming through the rear one, over the winter the one at the back that was 1/2'' wide turned into 4 inch ! and the front the rust is comming through the bondo !

 

I noticed that theres some kind of rubber trim thats along the steel in the fender well, there was also alot of dirt and stuff held up in there because of that trim, any one else deal with this problem ?

 

and tips for bondo work, i screwed up and i didnt paint the bare steel after i sand blasted it and applied the bondo lol

Remove the rubber strips. They suck and trap rust. I had a really rusty wagon at one point. Here's my bodywork thread: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/monkeyposeurs-hatch-replacement-and-body-work-thread-175934.html?p=4170979

 

This winter was very snowy and cold so a lot of salt here two. A few patches of rust are making their way back. But I've got my eyes on them, lol.

 

Rust never sleeps.

Supposedly bondo tends to retain water. Hopefully not once it is painted but you might want to consider something else. I recommend painting your bare metal with POR or similar even if you remove all the rust during your prep.

At my current job and a few bodyshops that I worked at we used a phosphate acid wash and etching primer to battle rust. I don't know a part # for the phosphate but when i get to work in the morning i will get it for you to do some research on it.

 

Where I live the cars have little to no rust but I have done some rework on cars that have come in for those exact reasons. It works pretty well, there is also a product called naval jelly or pickling gel that works for moderate amounts of SURFACE rust. The etching primer works almost the same way and is good because it is self leveling and here is no need for blocking down the primer prior to finish coating.

 

Hopefully that helps and good luck.

Supposedly bondo tends to retain water. Hopefully not once it is painted but you might want to consider something else. I recommend painting your bare metal with POR or similar even if you remove all the rust during your prep.

 

The problem bondo has with rust is that its manufactured out of a type of urethane only to be lightwieght and flexible to a point and doesn't completely adhere to metal even if you use a 36e grit sandpaper or roloc disc. Its much more porous than metal and can take up to 72 hours for the solvents to evaporate from them and will continue shrinking until that's happened.

 

Body shop supply stores sell a metal filler called metal 2 metal for use mostly on aluminium but only a very thin layer because its considerably harder to sand out to a 220 grit finish..I would rather use that stuff than plastic filler on any dent on my cars..

No matter what you use the rust will reappear. The only way to get rid of it would be to weld in fresh metal. I actually am keeping my rear wheel well rubbers on my 99 LGT because on my 96 I removed them when I first got it and the lips started rusting. There was no sign of rust to begin but it soon started. They are there for a reason and you'll only ever have a problem when you don't remove them and clean the lip and rubber. I clean mine everytime I wash and wax my car. Also if the rubber is in good shape and holds tight on the lip you shouldn't get dirt or what not inside them. Which is the reason they are on the car in the first place.

My right rear is pretty bad..

+1 on removing the rubber strip that goes around the wheel wells. When I took my car in for paint, the shop owner had nothing polite to say about them. I never noticed them until he pointed them out.

My right rear is pretty bad..

 

Same.

 

Its always the rear quarters ... always ..

Anyone make patch panels for the rear quarters?

I have not had any luck on finding someone who does body work. i just want to catch the rear quarters and small rust above windshield before it gets bad

Diy brotha...I don't trust the body techs around my area, the two bodyshops I worked at as a detailer I saw some horrid things being done to some of the cars. I ended up taking a 9 month I-car course so I could do the work myself and to steer clear of the potentially dangerous and crappy work as well as paying a grip of money for a dent in a panel. Labor rates across the states has gone up to like 80 bucks and hour and is no signs of becoming cheaper.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/klokkerholm-karosseride-wheel-arch-repair-panel-direct-fit/p3089130.jcwx?filterid=c1014d1939u0j1

 

Would these work?

I got the rubber strips on the wheel wells they seem ok. I actually replaced one and greased up the inside before I installed it.

The problem is when they assembled the rear quarters to the wheel tubs and spot welded and used seam sealer they don't always get enough or they miss spots. Then what happens when you remove the rear rubber mouldings is water and other crap gets in between the two parts or a rock gets kicked up and nicks the lip and starts the rusting process. I don't really care for them but like I said earlier Subaru installs them for this reason. For those who remove this rubber and drive/live in winter states wait a year or so and you'll get rust. My old 96 L had no rust and I removed the rubber mouldings and about a year later I had rust bubbles on the lips. I'm super meticulous with my cars, I wash and wax them a lot so not taking care of the Subaru wasn't the problem.

Here in WI we have a aftermarket body part supply store called Certi- Fit or as I call them "Sorta-Fits" and they sell quarter panels for our Legacys. I've had a couple of mirrors and one fender that didn't fit good so that's the name I came up with but they do mostly sell good body parts. Anyway, find a store like this and get the quarter panels you need then find a good body shop and have them weld them in and paint. If the body shop takes the correct steps with products and the installation you shouldn't have no rusting problems no more. Just grinding the rust away and slapping bondo over the rust spot it WILL come back in months then all of the time and money is wasted. GL.

I sandblasted the rust on my rear quarter, treated it with a por15 equivalent and it is slowly coming back. However, I did the same treatment on the frame surrounding the windshield and that looks great. The rear quarter is exposed to a lot of road salt though. Like spooln said the best method is to weld in new material. It's hard to find bodymen who do good work. Seek out the old timers as they know what it means to do quality work.

 

Spooln, I looked all over the place to find rear quarters and the only options could come up with was to saw off a rear quarter myself from a salvage vehicle. Got any more info about the supplier you mentioned?

What did you guys use to cut the panel out with at a yard? That rust spot is a pain to look at when I walk to the car..

 

My wielder is way too strong.. I assume I need something 30 A or less..

A cordless sawzall would be ideal.

Cut it all out and fender flare!

 

What did you guys use to cut the panel out with at a yard? That rust spot is a pain to look at when I walk to the car..

 

My wielder is way too strong.. I assume I need something 30 A or less..

 

I've used my cordless grinder with a 1/16" thick cut off disc, I think a sawzall would work but isn't ideal.

 

I use my 140v mig welder to weld 22 gauge steel all of the time. I use .024 welding wire when doing body patch panels. Make sure you adjust the welders settings or you'll burn through for sure. Take some scrap pieces and practice with the settings to get it dialed in perfect. Remember to use weldable primer on the back side of the patch panels or they will rust up in time then all the effort would be wasted. GL.

The place is called Certi-Fit and the last time I checked, about a year and a half ago they sold the quarters. I'm not sure if they are a nation wide chain but google the name and find out.

Forgot one thing, when your replacing the panel they sell a neat little tool that is for removing the factory spot welds. I have them and they work really good, much much better then just using a standard drill bit. The spot welds will be on the lip and almost every seam.

A cordless sawzall would be ideal.

I was thinking about getting one of these

 

I've used my cordless grinder with a 1/16" thick cut off disc, I think a sawzall would work but isn't ideal.

 

I use my 140v mig welder to weld 22 gauge steel all of the time. I use .024 welding wire when doing body patch panels. Make sure you adjust the welders settings or you'll burn through for sure. Take some scrap pieces and practice with the settings to get it dialed in perfect. Remember to use weldable primer on the back side of the patch panels or they will rust up in time then all the effort would be wasted. GL.

 

My current weilder I can see it right now is way too strong.. I think the low setting is 80A and the high setting is 90A

 

I was thinking about spending a little more money and getting one that goes from 25-140A

 

Anyways about the sawzall looking at it I can really see how you can cut it that well with it but I can see with a cut-off disc.

http://www.blairequipment.com/Spotweld_Cutters/Spotweld_Cutters.html

 

These are the ones I use when I'm separating panels...if you can find a scrap yard that will let you quarter the car yourself just rent or buy a demo-saw that tool is like a chopsaw but its handheld, it uses the same 14 inch diameter abrasive cutoff wheel as the chopsaw. I wouldn't just take the panel because you more than likely need the dog leg and part of the sail panel. The yard is going to charge you for it anyway, and you can take your time at your own pace removing the panel from the unibody.

With those Blair spotweld cutters I would recommend buying the rota-broach style instead of the cheapo double sided cutter...I have used 1 rotabroach bit for 3 quarter panels and some random structural work on toyotas that use high strength steel. They last quite a while and the pack comes with three bits.