More progress from yesterday..

Cut the panel off the donor car.

 

Taking apart my car now. More RUST!







Then the cutting started.









And just for fun a mock up.



I'm working on repairing some of the rusted out inner skin today. Once that's replaced and rust proofed with POR15 I'll trim the new panel down to size and start welding that in!

 

Pretty rusty but damn that's gonna be a lot of welding

 

yikes now i know i have to take out my back seat completely to pop my dent thats gonna suck. I Didnt know Iowa even salted that much that it would rust a monte to pieces MA killed my moms sable like that but my car isnt bad

 

Dang Justin!

That hidden rust under the outer skin looks like a lot more than I expected!

I hope thats not what I have to look forward to! Looks like your makeing killer progress! Im sure its gonna look great when its finished!

Thanks for the Updated progress pic!

 

It is. I'm not sure if I'll weld it solid. I have some fiberglass filler too, so I could just tack weld the whole thing in like 100 spots and then fill in the rest. We'll see how the welding goes.

Welcome to Iowa. Taking the seat out isn't that hard. Just a few bolts and screws.

There is a ton of rust under there that was hiding. Luckily none of it looks too structural so that's good. It's just cosmetic. I'm sure the under body is rusting away. There's probably only 3-4 years left of this car I'm guessing. Before the rust does some damage to the structure like suspension mounts. But hey, I'll make my car look good until then The point if this project was just to get a few more years out of it without looking like a rust bucket.

 

Ooof wow she is rusty under there Best of luck with the project though.

 

Your gonna wanna weld it all, your just asking for future problems by going that route, in a few years the filler will crack where u don't weld

 

Sorry for the delay (just getting caught up).

As for the POR15, optimally you would want to coat both surfaces. But if you opt not to, at least coat the inside (as the rust damage is from the inside out).

Areas no one sees, you can brush the product on (and it actually flattens out nicely). Make sure to remove any loose material or debris (best results are going to the bare metal if possible). And make sure to use their "metal prep" product. Helps etch the metal.

In areas that will be seen or painted, try to spray the product (as I understand, to maintain the chemical bonding properties, you must thin it with their thinner).

Words of advice:
- Where gloves. I speak from experience, get it on you and you will spend 1-2 weeks for it to come off your skin naturally (no scrubbing ever seemed to work).
- If you don't use the entire can in one use, place a double layer of syran wrap between the lid and the can (if possible, have the wrap dip into the can and avoid air between the POR15 and the wrap, helps it last longer).
- Lastly, when applied by brush, that stuff bonds very solid. Sanding to feather in could be a pain in the butt. Hence why finish/exposed areas I recommend spraying it (I have never sprayed POR15, but when helping a friend with a Jeep years ago, we learned it does not quite "sand" down easily).

 

X2 weld the whole joint. Results will be worth it and last a lot longer.