Wheel Well Repair

Got some rust in the rear wheel wells about to go through in a small area on one.  Any ballpark on what repair costs run on the these?
Thanks

Or perhaps a better question is : Is common place to manufacture suitable replacements since they seem to be a discontinued item?

Have the damaged area replaced. As for pricing, you need to check with a local welding shop. You should treat the rest of the metal to neutralize any other rust.

Doesn't sound like it'd be too stiff of a job. Rust isn't too much of worry out here but the car spent some of it's early years in Illinois. Just got it. Plan to nail that issue first. Thanks

zonaman wrote:

Doesn't sound like it'd be too stiff of a job.  Rust isn't too much of worry out here but the car spent some of it's early years in Illinois.  Just got it. Plan to nail that issue first. Thanks

I think a lot of it will depend on how much bad metal there is that will need to be removed. Wheelwell rust, if it is the opening lip we are talking about, usually starts at the very bottom and sometimes comes from the inside do to water leakage from somewhere or it works in from the lip itself joint in slightly open spots.

If you lose enough metal to not have the shape of the wheelwell lip the job gets a lot harder if you can buy patch panels that are formed as you really need some metal working tools and skills to make the lip shape. It is also possible you need both inner and outer surface panels depending on how the rust formed and traveled.

If is very common to just clean them up and glass over them, but those repairs don't seem to make it through the test of time. We see a lot of that in Minnesota.

A guy I knew from high school and college (1960s to early 70s) used to by the very common "laced" with rust cars and just cut it out completely and build it back to shape with plaster of paris and and scraps of fabric. He was pretty artistic for an engineering student and he could sculpt the shape back in a very short time. He would glass back over it to good metal on both sided and then break out the plaster from the top if he could get to it or through a hole cut through to get to it. I suspect he probably left some in also as he was flipping them quickly.

Thanks for a most thoughtful and thorough reply! I might give the fiberglass a try, since as noted, In this part of Arizona, (Phoenix Metro) you probably get more rain in an hour that we'll see all year! Plus the low miles I'll be putting on it. Nevertheless, if anyone knows any good "metal guys" in my area, I'll get some estimates.

The fiber glass resin will detached from the metal in short order. You would be better off making a complete wheelhouse and pop-riveting it in place.

If it is just the edge and up an inch or so, you can use this kind of arch repair piece, one on the outside and an overlapping one on the inside. You would hem the remaining good panel for this to go onto flush.

Filling the gaps left could be fiberglass or you could cut pieces from sheet metal and weld them in, which would be better.

Much better is you can find a custom panel beater guy that can duplicate the original, but not inexpensively. You might also find a close enough profile on some other vehicle that could be sectioned in.