work and repairs for my 94 RMW

All this focus on the outer quarter panel skin while the real issue is what lies underneath it. Can clearly see rot and holes in the wheel house.

Rust is called Cancer for a very good reason. You have to eliminate every single bit of it or else it will come right back. Quarter panel needs to be cut off and any rust under it needs repaired. There are a few panels involved in the entire area. You said the spare tire well is rotted so that means water is getting inside. Most likely a bad window seal that needs repaired. Jarrod, 93roadyman, is well acquainted with what lies under the skin of these old wagons.

If you seriously want to save this wagon it can be done but will take time and money. I would put it on a lift and go over every square inch of the car.

If just wanting to make it look nice and enjoy it before the inevitable then I would just cut out the rot that I can see and go to work with some Bondo Hair.

My car has a couple of spots on it and it's a life long Florida car that has been in the same general area for 27 years. I said F it and bought a welder from Eastwood and kept a chunk of steel from a junk wagon that I parted out. Going to fix it myself while I learn some new skills

The more probable leak is from the sealer under the edge of the roof rack. It dries out, and allows water to seep through the pinch weld between the roof and top of the window frame. That was the source of the leak in both of my OCCs. Look around for what you can expect from the rivnuts holding the roof rack in place. I have also found rust at the rear, and corners of the base of the vista glass.

the door was reskinned, the new skin butts up against teh original and was then only tack welded so rust has gotten into the seam where the two panels meet, plus in the pic the bare spot on teh ridge is thin enough that I can punch a scraper through in spots by hand and also just by scrapping to get more of the crusty rust off.

I've removed pretty much all the bondo, just a small bit near the door, and then on the lower rear of the quarter panel but you can see that part of the quarter panel from the inside with the spare tire out and it's fine.

I think all the rust is just because some idiot when they were straightening the panel punched through the wheel well and because they never repaired the holes they made in the wheel well that's what caused not only the wheel arch to rust but also the spare tire well, as the driver's side is solid, I've had the interior panels off on that side and no rust at all.

Fix Until Broke wrote:

I'm not sure what your goals are for this car, but sometimes you need to step back and figure out where to stop...I'm horrible at it

Have to agree with Fix Until Broke. I know your intentions are good in getting the car back in shape. But from looking at the pictures etc., I would not put another dime into that car. I'm a Northerner also and I know the rust you see is not all that's there. Rust hides and then appears.

My 2 cents, use the car as a daily driver, then part it out and save your money for a rust free car. You'll be way ahead of the game.

Tom

I hate to pile on, but also being from salt country there may be more to it than you see. I would start by pulling the interior panels to be able to try to see how far the rust has traveled along the pinch seams. That rust looks more like what I have seen in salt area cars than ones that rusted through quarter panel bottoms from dirt buildup and plugged drains from no salt areas. My guess is that the car has seen a lot of salt. A good test for how much rust there is in general is not by looking for it, but in testing if various bolts can be loosened without having to use penetrating oil or heat. On the car I got, that showed some rust on the frame but not deep anywhere and no body rust showing. It was said to have two owners, one that went back and forth between Texas and Idaho for 17 years and then his son who inherited it had it in St Louis for two years, rarely used but sitting over bare dirt. The only bolts I have had any trouble with were the ones that were bare steel, particularly if it is high strength steel like you see in fasteners and shafts. The fuel filter fittings, the pitman arm itself (nut came off OK), and parking brake adjuster. I have had nearly every other bolt under the car loose and was amazed how well they came out.

Like Woody said you may also have a leaking roof at the rack and rail areas to get enough water through to start the carnage. With the interior panels off you may be able to see tracks of that.

Also as Woody mentioned, it may be time to just rebuild it as best you can and hope for the best for as long as possible. You can rebuild panels like the quarter panel pretty well with a combination of metal pieces and fiberglass, plus using the mentioned "hair" filler which is just thickened fiberglass resin with long or short glass fibers in it. Use the long strand for strength needed areas and the short strand for filling and skimming the rest to make it all water proof. Paint the inside areas with fiberglass resin well to seal them and then spray undercoating in if accessible.

A friend of mine was really good at rebuilding rust areas with glass, but back in the late 60s and early 70s he wasn't concerned with long term durability. He bought otherwise good condition cars with usually rusted quarter bottoms and front fender bottoms and fixed the rust and threw some lacquer on them. Paid his way through college that way. I even saw him make a plaster of Paris mold with rags soaked in the plaster and preshape it to make a small fiberglass piece. Truly an artist and very clever. Also was a very good engineer when he got out of college. Bummer that he died of a heart attack in his 50s, probably because he ate fast food at least twice a day for decades as confirmed bachelor and non exerciser.

I hate rust LOL. I'm in the middle of that with a 68 Cougar restoration. But keep at it and eventually you will get there.

1991BlueBertha wrote:

I hate rust LOL. I'm in the middle of that with a 68 Cougar restoration. But keep at it and eventually you will get there.

i too have a 68 Cougar although Im nnot currently working on it.... do you have a build thread somewhere of your work? would like to see if you do for motivational purposes, lol....

well finally got an update, actually managed to find an entire quarter panel from a rust-free car that ended up in a salvage yard due to damage on the drivers side so after an almost 2 hour drive got the quarter panel, passenger side rear door, and another rear gate window, and then early last month finally got it into a body shop and after 3,165 dollars got the quarter panel, spare tire well, and rear inner wheel well replaced, and the shop didn't find any other rust in the area, they even properly painted over a couple of primer spots on the rear Piller when they did the rest of the work. Extra score was that the car the parts came off of was also white with woodgrain so I got all the trim studs on the panels again.

Looking at the old passenger rear door though the door skin that was used to repair it was GM replacement part, even still had the original tag on it and the black primer on the inside.

I'll try to get pics of how it looks now, and hope the guy at the shop can find the pics eh say's he took while the repairs where being done.

He also said the other guys where drooling over the LT1.