Best rust treatment to date

[diomedes]

With the economy being in the crapper now is a good time to get some of the extreme work done to the car. I was fortunate enough to have met a metal worker that can fabricate and weld all the metal work needed on my car and thus cut out all the rust and replace it with fresh virgin steel.
So far I have been helping (since work is slow) this guy has replicated all bends and spot welds to the T. With my car it was my goal to NOT CUT ANY CORNERS (ok ok its a pun I inteded!!)
Just thought I would post my progress...

Support your local economy and work on your Buicks!!


We cut out this part of the trunk lip making sure we kept the line where the sheet metal overlaps. Even though it will be covered I applied a little of bondo to smooth it out and keep it looking original... I just couldn't deal with it looking bad under the trim cause I would know its there....

 

[diomedes]

Passenger quarter panel

Cut out quarter panel with a little stretch of inner structure that need to be replaced.
No cancer will survive.

 

[turbo39151]

Looks good. At least you're in sunny FL. There are some us who are the unfortunate few that are trapped in cold weather and snow

 

[turbonut85]

Looks great! Someone knows what they're doing! Cutting an inch or so below the body line like that ensures less warpage when you weld the patch in there and makes for an easier return to the factory look. Been there--Done that. Well done.

 

[zpd307]

at least mine is not the only vehicle with rust in thos places.

 

[turbonut85]

at least mine is not the only vehicle with rust in thos places.

Rest assured...you are NOT alone!!!

 

[diomedes]

some more progress

Wow, good to know we can start a support group on this... its really reassuring...
Its no wonder there are so many rust issues... plenty of unpainted steel in these cars.. Im really amazed...

Heres the quater panel done... kind of forgot to take pics for a moment..
also showing the weld from inside the trunk... I plan on cleaning it up a little and coating the trunk with por15 everywhere....

Also the other quater panel had a little rust so we cut it out also...

 

[diomedes]

Here on the drivers side was some rust that had reached the structure so we cut it all out and replaced the structure and the outer panel.. wanted to show some of the steps we took to fabricate the metal to look stock...

 

[diomedes]

here we are creating the spot welds as a final touch and then finishing it up... all this cutting and welding I decided to go ahead cut out the door strike out and reinforce it to never weaken again

 

[diomedes]

rocker panel

Heres the rocker panel after a couple of good kicks to it... it will be tomorrows project...

 

[G NASTY]

whats the normal cost for this type of labor on average? i have some nice rust on mine (ttops,driver floor pan and bottoms of both quaters) and since my car is already in pieces iam having a friend of a friend who does body work come to me. I want to attempt to weld myself alittle for the experience and maybe get good enough to finish it but thats prob a long shot. what does it mean to cut 1 inch above the body line?

 

[zpd307]

keep the pics coming! i am waiting for my 3 boys to get older before i take her off the road to redo it. my driver rear quarter is worse than that. it made past the outer and now the inner is rooting away. my passenger rocker outer is completely gone. :frown:

 

[KL Mallender]

Congrats in finding a good "Tin-Man", real craftsmen are hard to find, feed him well :biggrin: Good luck in your restoration, it's looking good.

Kevin.

 

[BuckeyeTroop]

Thanks for taking pics of the process. I wish I had learned that kind of work years ago. I guess your never too old though.

 

[diomedes]

whats the normal cost for this type of labor on average? i have some nice rust on mine (ttops,driver floor pan and bottoms of both quaters) and since my car is already in pieces iam having a friend of a friend who does body work come to me. I want to attempt to weld myself alittle for the experience and maybe get good enough to finish it but thats prob a long shot. what does it mean to cut 1 inch above the body line?

My guy normally charges $55/hour, best way to do it is to calculate hours and fix the price. I got a great deal cause he had no work for the past two weeks and thought better to make something rather than nothing...
Depending on your damage its all relative where you should cut.
A good Metal worker will know where to cut, you might want to get someone who can explain where to cut. There are factory bends or folds you will want to avoid because the will be a Pain in the A to replicate. Also be sure to cut with a cutting wheel for clean lines.

Also, personally I like welding with good ol' acetylene and oxygen, the flame will assure you treat ALL the rust. (Really tricky though cause its easy to burn holes through the steel...... its just that if you do it right, where the steel is weakened by rust it will retreat till you get to a "healthy" gauge of steel). Fire cures all!!

 

[diomedes]

Thanks for the Comments!

keep the pics coming! i am waiting for my 3 boys to get older before i take her off the road to redo it. my driver rear quarter is worse than that. it made past the outer and now the inner is rooting away. my passenger rocker outer is completely gone. :frown:

I appreciate the positive comments as I was hesitant to do this as I feet this was exposing my baby at her most vulnerable state. Most probably will never even admit they had a rust problem with their cars so I appreciate those who chimed in to let me know Im not fighting this alone.

 

[pontiac6269]

Looks great, I have to replace the drivers side complete inner and outer rocker panel on my 87 T. I got a complete rocker off a rust free car another person was cutting up. Also have to patch both rear quarters between the door and wheel well, then patch the driver rear lower between the bumper filler and wheel well.

 

[yamla_jatt806]

I was going to start removing rusted parts from my 86 GN this spring. I bought rust free doors, fenders, & rear quarters but the labor charges were astounding so I ended up selling the car to a guy that will do the work himself. Good luck on the project.