i just put pictures up

i just bought a 82 t-top z-28 with a crappy interior i just finished ripping out the back seats and the rear cargo hold carpet and decided why not lets go further and riped out the factory jack .......... on the driver side under the carpet looked really solid under the jack and spare tire though its completely rusted through on the bottom of the wheel well going into the rear fender.... short of a plasma cutter and buying a parts car and welder how is the best way to fix that i had thaught about cutting away the rust and going and buying some sheet metal and pounding two layers to form fit and bot/rivvet them in and cover the bottom of it with rhino liner and maby bondo ontop and then laying carpet and putting back the spare tire/jack then putting in a custom sub box but is that the right/cheapest/best way to go?

 

That is not a good place to have rust, are you sure it is limited to that area alone? I would get the car up on a lift and see if there is any structural rust back there before i went any further. The best way would be to have a patch panel welded in, but if you want to do it quick and cheap, you could make patch panels out of steel and glue them in with 3m duramix glue available at Napa or online. You could also rivet it in i guess, which would be the cheapest.

 

i had a similar issue with mine. I cut out the holes and installed patch panels from 20 guage steel. Then welded from the inside and out side. Then used some Dupont spray can undercoating (good stuff) and under coated the rest. I have a few little spots to do and im dont with mine. Hope this helps. Here are a few pics of mine as i did it. -Matt
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3108450/4

 

^^^
thank you so much that will be very helpfull to fix that.. just need to get my hands on a spot welder hehehe
i posted the first pic is of under my spare tire and its right in the edge seams like forming a sheet of metal to fit that smoothly will be difficult the second picture really has me scratching my head its of the drivers side rear seat right on the ridge the top inside the car is starting to rust..... i'd like to grind the rust off a bit and then reinforce that but i really need to get the rest of the carpet out and the seats..... who ever had the car last put a electric drivers seat in and the seat switch or motor is shot out so its a real pain trying to remove the cover panels that hide the bolts... and getitng to then is going to be fun thanks for the info guys

 

sure you can fix it, like the other guy said, chop cut rebuild!! not much to it really,it just sheet metal that can be fixed, 100.000$ car have peaces put in them.

 

plasma cutter....lol a buzz wheel does a better job and they only cost about 50 bucks. The right way to fix it is to drill out the spot welds that hold that entire panel that has rust on it, pull it out and spot weld a new one in. But something like that i would just cut it out and make a patch panel like you said above

 

Can you weld? The best thing to do is cut out the rusted metal, and butt weld a new patch in place. Try to match the existing steel for thickness.

If you can't weld and it sounds like you can't, because you said you were going to rivet it, then rivets ARE an option as long as you don't care that it won't look factory.

Cut a patch panel that will overlap the area, and put your rivets in. Make sure you primer the insides of where the two panels will meet, so you don't rust from the inside out. You can paint if you want. Make sure you also lay down a good seam sealer overtop. JC Whitney sells some brush on sh*t so you can probably buy some at an autozone or something.

As far as cutting it out, there are many ways to go. Angle grinder with a cutoff wheel will work, but probably be overkill for such a small area. A die grinder with a cutoff wheel will work. A jigsaw... sawzaw.. plasma cutter, or even an oxy-acetylene torch. But I'd try to stay away from the plasma and oxyacetylene. You have a gas tank under there not too far from that general area. Sparks probably won't kill you that far away, but better safe than sorry.

Personally I'd recommend one of these for a small precise cut: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=113

As far as the patch panel, unless you're gonna use something as heavy as 16 gauge (not recommended) you can cut a precise panel with some aviation snips. I prefer the offset ones: http://www.engagemachinery.com/Image...fset-snips.jpg

Do yourself a favor and if you buy snips get a good set of MidWest ones. Sears carries them. The craftsman ones will work as well because like any other hand tool you can just get a new set when they become dull. But it's hard to find offsets in the craftsman brand. The Wiss ones from Home Depot are junk and will quickly go dull on you. Trust me, I know a lot of tinners and worked as one. They use snips a LOT.

Mathius

 

no one is gonna make that piece

wire wheel both sides and por 15

scuff the area and fiberglass over it

 

sure you can fix it, just cut out all the old metal, try to keep it in tact though cause you will need it to go by when you start forming your new pieces of metal,then put one piece in and tack it, then another and so on, after you have it all tacked start spot welding it in, but remember to tack it all first just in case you need to change something.good luck and post some pics when finished.

 

Fiberglass it? Thats the wrong way how to do it. Just like everyone's said fab up another piece or get one from a donor car. That's a main part of the cars structural integrity.

 

I agree. Fix metal with metal, fiberglass with fiberglass, plastic with plastic, or you're going to risk cracking from dissimilar materials.

And doubly so, based on the area in question. Any part of the chassis that has rust on a unibody is an integral issue for the car. Get some subframe connectors on there as well.

Mathius

 

Do it right.

Find a donor from the junk yard, cut and weld.

Or Fab up the metal yourself with some sheet metal and weld it in.

Patches will come back to haunt you later.

 

yea go with the welding or start saving to have someone do it for you. I have a rusted out area around the hatch seal that is going to be a pain but I have a welder and know how to use it.