StealthElephant

I've got a small patch of rust on the rear quarter on the wheel well lip. Body shop told me that he can sandblast it to get into the pores of the metal, but that no matter what he does, it will eventually begin to rust again down the road 5-10 years, and that the only 100% way to never have it rust again is to cut it out and rebuild the lip. Should I really considering cutting the rust spot out and having the lip redone? I'm gonna guess thats really labor intensive compared to just sandblasting.

It's not rotted through, its just surface rust. The backside lip and back of the panel is still structurally sound.

Joehrdcor

Is it rusted through? My rear quarter was a bit rusty because water was getting stuck in the spare tire chamber. I grunded down all visible rust, coated with naval jelly(rust dissolver). and then patched the hole with liquid metal and a screen. This was before the winter. Today there is no rust , evn though I haven't gotten a chance to paint yet. just primer.

jojo22

that would depend on what you want uot of your car

if its a show car he!! yeah cut it out

if its a daily driver your putting a one stage paint job on and parking in lots all the time sand blast it. because your gonna get knicks and dings from doors and carts anyways so by the time it rerusts youl need some body work anyways

just my

StealthElephant

I'm planning on getting a good 2 stage paintjob on it. The guy at the body shop told me that it would be 5+ years before it would happen, but that unless he cuts it out, it would eventually come back. I'm going to have another shop look at my car tomorrow (the first shop want 7,300$ ) Just a tad too much $$$ to drop on a daily driver.

5 years is a long time, but it really isn't. I don't want to drop 3-4k into a paintjob now, knowing that spot is going to rust again in 5 years, I'd probably rather get it dealt with now if it isn't going to cost a fortune. I don't know if the guy from the body shop was legit saying it will 100% start to rust unless it's cut out. I'll ask the shop I'm going to tomorrow their opinion on it.

jojo22

if your going to spring for a 3-4k paint job why are you even concidering jurry riging this small relitivly cheap repair

think about it its kind of like buying a set of 1k rims and haveing the tire shop put $10 used tires on them it just don't make sence

StealthElephant

Labor is labor though. The shop that gave me the 7,300$ estimate had my car at about 100 hours of total labor @ 42$ each, plus another 2$k+ worth of materials. It's nothing to sandblast the rust away, paying a guy to sit there and rebuild the quarter panel by hand is labor/time intensive, maybe not worth it.

jojo22

i preaty sure that you could fidn a cut and weld patch that would replace the entire flare and would only take a couple hours to replace

might be cheaper depending on how many hours they est. to fab up a patch and its still fixed properly

KEVIN G.

I would say that five years is a conservative estimate on how soon a quick fix would come back. It will probably be much quicker.
Just because it SEEMS structurally sound on the backside...doesn't really paint a true picture.
That is really two pieces spot welded together, The problem is... you can't get to the back side of the quarter itself, unless you cut it off. And therin lies the problem... the inside of the panel, (where it is sandwiched to the outer wheelhouse). Although he cuts out the damaged portion, it may have other bad areas that you cannot see. They will begin to show after the repair, which he may or may not take care of.
The ONLY way to ENSURE that it will not come back is to replace the panel. This, however, is overkill, I believe, from the photos I see...Especially if that is the worst spot on the car.


Edit: I see that you are from Jersey, You have another issue to address... Winter's and nasty roads on a rust repair...Daily driver??

DJP87Z28

Best method is to cut the rusted area out and weld in a new piece. That wheel well lip is a common rust spot location. Had mine done 8yrs ago and still its holding up today. Did use Por-15 on the inside of the wheel lips.

StealthElephant

Okay thats what I wanted to know, I'll look into getting that section cut out and redone. Replacing the whole quarterpanel is overkill since that is the only body panel with rust.

k's89rs

i had to do some rust repair on my car when i got it painted. mine was in the same spot as yours plus another further toward the g/fxs. we cut the one by the g/fx out and sanded the other one out put some type of acid on it, i think and it seemed to solve it. i noticed you are from new jersey. im sorry, i got a car that had been up north for all of its life in indiana and it has some rust needless to say. if you want to keep the car, like me, expect to put some serious dough to get the rust off elsewhere, not just on the body.

StealthElephant

The car is pretty clean actually, it's a PA car, out west, and it was garaged for a good portion of its life. Under-carriage is surprisinly clean, just minor rust spots, I'll probably por 15 the underside in the summer.

This car is my daily driver, but I only drive 3-4k miles a year. It'll probably see 1 winter after it's painted then be garaged for winter when I can pick up a 2nd car.

k's89rs

my only suggestion is do something with the underside. ill have to get some pictures of mine for you. also dont forget about the wheel wells i have rust eating at my strut mount.

StealthElephant

Guy I went to last night told me he'd take care of it, that it wouldn't be a hard spot to cut out a portion.

2900$, and I have to get him some parts. Not bad, guy is shop manager for a Chrysler dealership, kinda had me worried but it turns out hes a camaro guy, has owned like 7 of them over the years, recently had an 84' he painted and put GFX on, so I'm feeling good about it.

Joehrdcor

2900 G's!!! Thats quite a bit for body work. Before you go and spend all that money on a new candy coat, I'd think about what you want from the car. Is it going to be a long time investement or just something to fart around with. Then again I would have payed any amount of money to have my 89 GTA fixed (even if the tree had to be removed from the engine....Sometimes our love for these cars go to no end. Good Luck

Spdfrk1990

IF its only on the outside you wont have to cut that out get it sanded down first.

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

2,900 is cheap for a paint job. And to fix that. That wheel lip is a PITA to fix. With that dam little lip.

Spdfrk1990

Yeh that little crease sux makes it a pain in the *** if you have to weld new metal in.

StealthElephant

Yea, well the guy does it out of his garage on the side, so I get all the benefits of a guy with 15+ years of experience who runs a dealership body shop, but none of the overhead like if I went to a body shop. 2900$ is for paint/body, I still have to buy a new bumper cover and some other stuff, so it'll end up being another 800$ once I buy a hinge kit, striker bolts, emblems, etc. Still a good deal considering the quality of his work that I saw. Plus the fact that he has painted a couple 3rd gens before, and knows the vehicle.

The lip is rusted, its only surface rust, but it's behind as well, he'll probably end up cutting it out. I'll be talking to him about it more in the future.

I'm never selling my car, and that is the only rust on the body panels of the car, so I definately want to make sure that the lip is done right so it doesn't rust again 5 years down the road.

brings a tear to my eye

everytime i look at my car

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

is that including paint. If yeah what kinda of paint is he using? If it is make sure he not going to put some cheap single stage paint on it.

StealthElephant

The estimate was for 2 stage, color sand/buff.

I've still got to work out the details with him.

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

just be carefull. For all the paint,clear,primmer,sealer,sand paper,tape,masking paper,ect ect. Looking at aleast 1500 to 1800.So that leaves him 1,100 or 1,400 to do your car(labor). I don't know one painter or body guy that would take the time and care to fix that rust and paint the car for that cheap.and do it right. I bet he's thinking 2900 to do it and u pay for the supplies... But just my 2 cents

StealthElephant

I dunno, maybe he can get good prices on materials since he works in a body shop.

92droptop

Not for nothing, but wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy a whole new quarter panel, or fender (don't remember where you said the rust was anymore) if they're quoting you a couple of grand for the body work?? I mean a replacement panel will only cost you 400-700 depending on which panel you need. And installation costs can't nearly be as time consuming as metal working a lip.

Just my 2 cents

DJP87Z28

After reading some of the replies, I can understand that these people never had this repair made on their cars. The major rust problem is around the wheel lips and not in the whole panel, and don't forget these are uni-body cars.

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

Put a hole quter on is going to be way more than just fixing that.I have done a ton of this work. Its what i do. Here is a pic of mine.Had to remake the outer and inner.

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

after. Also might notice i shaved the lights

StealthElephant

Looks really good jay.

Any ideas what it should cost me to have the lip redone?