body work advice

can someone point me in the right direction as far as how to tackle repairing this?
i am very new to body work but i have plenty of time on this project and am mechanically inclined (and naive) enough to want to tackle it.

from what i can gather i should cut a patch and essentially rebuild the bad part and then weld it where i cut the bad area out. i control the heat i take my time and in the end i will have a minimal amount of body work to do in the end.

*like i said i am also naive

are there any options i have using fiberglass?
i do at least understand that i dont want to drowned it in bondo.

any tips or tech archives i have missed ( i have been reading a lot about hammer welding but only have a mig right now)

thanks in advance

 

I would look for a donor car and cut this panel out. For sure you need to look under the chrome to really see how bad it is. Good Lucl

 

Youll have to take the stainless off and get rid of the glass and cut A long strip out of that section and weld in a patch .I know you 'll find more ....

 

mig will work fine. dont use fiberglass. Try patching a hole in your floor or trunk area and see how you do, but like you said keep the heat to a minimum cuz warped metal is no fun.

 

Hey,

I'd start by finding out what caused that rot! Remove the stainless and most of the paint, perhaps 1/4 of the way down the panel. That quarter may well have been replaced at some time, or the stainless trapped mud and water rotting it out. Also look at the other side, as well you may have the same deal lurking beneith the finish, there as well.
Fibreglass is for Corvettes & bass boats, and has no place in rot/metal repair, at least a repair you want to last!

"Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "

 

Real cheesy way .Grind area por 15 area and skim with mud and then fiberglass over .My first post is the correct way .But if its just to buy time .Remember this about rust .Rust starts from underneath .Not on top .If you can Clean and seal moisture from both sides ,Thats the key .

 

thanks guys.

i am worried about finding a donor panel for it.
this is for a 59 rambler american and apparently this happens a lot because moisture gets trapped up there and because its 51 years old.

there are a few other areas that look a bit easier i just wanted to get an idea for this spot.

how tough is this to do with only some sheet metal and trying to form it.

it is a pretty localized hole the rest around it seems pretty solid.

here are some of the other areas

 

chrome has to come off. you could get a panel from a donor car. that panel doesn't look that hard to make. keeping the distortion in check will be a challenge on the flat part. use a piece of pipe to come up with the proper curve. if it has is a compound curve you would shrink the edges to make the metal curve. or you would stretch the center of the bend with a hammer and dolly. mig will work fine to weld it in. mig welding sheet metal is a series of tac welds. tack it in every inch. grind the proud of your weld and hammer and dolly the welds to stretch the shrunken weld as you go. do not let the panel distort. then tack one on top of another moving the tac 1/8" at a time no more than 5 tacks at a time. grind the proud, stretch the weld let cool and do that until your welded up. then mud her up. tom

 

Get that scrap metal and start shaping it. Pull all that chrome off and take a look. The metal work is all in the fun. The body filler get's to be annoying.

 

your probly only seeing 1/2 of whats going on underneath there once you dig into it youll find more. Its in a tricky spot, most likely you will need someone with some metal forming skills to make a patch for that

or your could try it 1st on your own, it is kinda fun to learn

 

To really do it right....with or without a donor car patch, pull the stainless trim, the glass and the interior trim as well to see how much access you might have to the area from inside.
Cut out the rot well into good metal....when you open the panel up you will be able to see how far the rust goes. You want to get all of it. Form your replacement patch to fit with maybe 1/32" gap, clamp it in place as best you can....start tacking it in place till you have a tack weld every inch....move around so you don't overheat ant one area too much.
After you have it tacked, grind those down smooth with the panel and stitch weld from tack to tack. again moving around to avoid heat warp.....you can correct warp as you go with a hammer and dolly...grind your welds, you might need a slime coat of filler after your done....if you have a scrap fender laying around do a practice patch on it to get a feel for what your doing before tearing into your car......it sounds more involved than it actually is...time and patience are your friends when doing this...Good Luck!!!!!

 

That panel should not be that hard to make. It looks nothing more then a simple roll.

Remove trim and glass, then with a pick and a hammer ping the metal to see what the extent of the damage is.

Make a few contour gauges and take a paper pattern of the area needing replaced. Make the patch panel hold it on the car and scribe your cut out line.

I only looked at the first picture, I like to fix one problem at a time. That being said if it is rusted that bad there, this is only the beginning.

So just do it, You will be a pro by the time you are done, plus with a couple of beers and some good music it's pretty damn fun.

Good luck

 

thanks
seems more and more simple as i think about it.

Jhnarial, beer and music was exactly what i was missing from this whole ordeal

 

a contour gage is the best thing you can make before you cut anything. it only takes a short time to make a gage. cut a piece of steel or aluminum 1.5" wide and bend it into an L shape. sometimes i find old screen door jams which are L shaped and 78" long. make the gage the entire height of the door. do a few of them . one on each side and one in the center of your patch. even make a grid by making one in the opposite direction. now if you stretch one side of the L shape the metal will curve. if you shrink that same side the metal will curve the opposite direction. some guys have a shrinker and stretcher to do that. you could stretch by hammering the metal against a anvil. and shrink the metal by bending a crimp with a modified pair of pliers. make the metal lay tight against the door from the top to the bottom. this will allow you to have a exact copy of the profile of the door in that section. now when you are replacing your patch you can keep laying your profile gage against your work to keep things lined up. using this method allows you to make exact copies and transfer that copy to the opposite side of the car if you wish. you can use this method to transfer shapes from one car to another. following a gage will make your work look like a pro. no experienced eye needed. tom