Rear Fender Arch Rust Severity?
07-18-2016, 02:55 PM
#11
Site Moderator
You need to get the car up on a lift or jack stands pull the wheels off and look inside the wheel well. Thats a really odd place for the rust to start since the quarter panel is made up of 2 pieces. The skin which is the outer piece and the frame/structure and they are welded and sealed together there at the arch. The welded lip is what you roll when you roll the fenders. I am bringing this up because rust in that spot means the rust is likely between those 2 panels. I would look for any holes in the wheel well. On the plus side it would be a really good car to put some overfenders on and cut that rust out. It had better be like $5k though since it clearly hasn't been cared for very well.
10-23-2016, 04:51 PM
#12
I picked up a very well maintained/documented AP1 for a really good price 2.5 yrs ago with the exact same deal. My purpose for the car was a track/autox/weekend fun toy. I did a DIY repair and it has been perfect for the last 2.5 years although I do t drive the car in the snow/salt. The nice thing is that I rolled the fenders with a baseball bat and didn't have any heart-ache, LOL. I figure if it does come back I could just do another DIY or some fender mods. The rust is from those rubber strips, remove them, and it is in between the panel, so you will need to make a hole to remove the rust. Here is what I did:
1.)tape off the area starting about an inch from the rust, all around it.
2.)use a dremal tool and go to town grinding away the pain to reveal the extent of the exterior rust
3.)go to work on the metal doing whatever needed to remove all the rust, eventually you will have a hole and will realize the rust is between the panels. Try working inbetween to get as much out as possible and keep the hole as minimal as you can.
4.)buy the smallest POR-15 kit you can, you won't need much and it doesn't keep (order off eBay). Follow the instructions and POR the crap out of it, even inside the panel.
5.)If you are going to roll the fenders do it now because my guess is you will remove some of that lip anyway to get the rust. Plus I put POR on the top of the lip so it is in between when you roll flat and then put POR on the outside after it was rolled. I was concerned this rolled area would cause moisture to get in between and with a history of rust it may rust again I also had enough POR that I did the whole fender wells and it looked quite nice!
6.)After the POR dried I used JB weld to fill the hole, it took multiple layers. I would fill till it wouldn't hold (i.e run), let it solidify, the repeat. I did this until I had too much or a small overfilled area.
7.)Use the dremel to grind and shape, once you get close switch to sand paper.
8.)find a touch up primer, top coat, clear coat from a pain patch place and go to town painting.
The painting is the hardest part IMO, I am not great at it and just wanted to get close. I figured something was going to happen on the track at some point, so oh well. Mine looks decent and I bet if I didn't point it out no one would notice unless they looked real close or I told them. Time wise it wasn't much and was just something I tinkered with a few nights. If it comes back I won't mind doing it again.
Back to the car though, for me maintenance records and existing track ready mods like all the bushings replaced, suspension, and a new soft top were important. So I didn't mind the rust. $10k asking with 90k is a "fair price", I would use that rust to knock more off like get him down to $9k as that is a $1k shop fix. Then I would DIY for $60 and spend the $ to get it on the track!
1.)tape off the area starting about an inch from the rust, all around it.
2.)use a dremal tool and go to town grinding away the pain to reveal the extent of the exterior rust
3.)go to work on the metal doing whatever needed to remove all the rust, eventually you will have a hole and will realize the rust is between the panels. Try working inbetween to get as much out as possible and keep the hole as minimal as you can.
4.)buy the smallest POR-15 kit you can, you won't need much and it doesn't keep (order off eBay). Follow the instructions and POR the crap out of it, even inside the panel.
5.)If you are going to roll the fenders do it now because my guess is you will remove some of that lip anyway to get the rust. Plus I put POR on the top of the lip so it is in between when you roll flat and then put POR on the outside after it was rolled. I was concerned this rolled area would cause moisture to get in between and with a history of rust it may rust again I also had enough POR that I did the whole fender wells and it looked quite nice!
6.)After the POR dried I used JB weld to fill the hole, it took multiple layers. I would fill till it wouldn't hold (i.e run), let it solidify, the repeat. I did this until I had too much or a small overfilled area.
7.)Use the dremel to grind and shape, once you get close switch to sand paper.
8.)find a touch up primer, top coat, clear coat from a pain patch place and go to town painting.
The painting is the hardest part IMO, I am not great at it and just wanted to get close. I figured something was going to happen on the track at some point, so oh well. Mine looks decent and I bet if I didn't point it out no one would notice unless they looked real close or I told them. Time wise it wasn't much and was just something I tinkered with a few nights. If it comes back I won't mind doing it again.
Back to the car though, for me maintenance records and existing track ready mods like all the bushings replaced, suspension, and a new soft top were important. So I didn't mind the rust. $10k asking with 90k is a "fair price", I would use that rust to knock more off like get him down to $9k as that is a $1k shop fix. Then I would DIY for $60 and spend the $ to get it on the track!
10-31-2016, 02:11 PM
#16
Site Moderator
Not without removing the outer piece which requires you drilling out the spot welds of which there are many. Or cutting a big hole on the inside of the wheel well which is also not advised.
11-03-2016, 02:04 PM
#17
i presumed you might be able to get to it via the rear light cluster and a long straw?
11-07-2016, 06:43 AM
#18
11-12-2016, 06:07 PM
#19
i avoid all used cars with rust- i'm sick of dealing with it. That being said, the POR-15 product when used properly is a very good product.
can it be repaired- yes it can. similar issues i've had fixed from a shop for around $500 cash money or so.
darcy
can it be repaired- yes it can. similar issues i've had fixed from a shop for around $500 cash money or so.
darcy
Last edited by darcyw; 11-12-2016 at 06:11 PM.
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