had a huge rust hole on passenger side a-pillar, cut off the affected area but now im trying to figure out how to fix the issue for good, the problem starts at the metal above the weatherstripping, pretty sure if i cut further i'll find more rust underneath. anyones input and solutions on this is appreciated. heres a picture of the area i cut and cleaned so far

 

my brother has the same issue, I havent started to repair it.

but you have the jiff of it, cut out the old weld in the new, if you cant cut out all of the bad area, you can chemically treat it. I use a product called rust-mort.

 

well i wish it were that simple the rust happens to be right under the outer sheet metal, im pretty sure it extends from where the fender is to the sail panel where drip rails are supposed to run, im sure if i had drip rails rails the whole area would be eaten away, anyways maybe i can get away with sealing the area where the drip rails run, let me know what you find out when you start cuttin yours bros up

 

There is foam in the pillar, it traps moisture between it and the sheet metal, causing the rust.

For mine, we cut out all the rot, we pulled out all the foam welded in a new patch. Fibre glassed and filled over the patch. We also made an access hole at the top of the pillar (on the inside) and sprayed the entire inside with chassis saver (we made a pressurized sprayer out of a fuel injector cleaning device)--from our hole and from the bottom of the pillar. It is entirely coated inside with chassis saver.

I will drive the car for a while before I decide to replace the foam, unless I really need it I won't.

 

What good is this foam for actually?

 

It was used for sound deadening. I’m actually in the middle of repairing both A-pillars right now.

 

When I had this problem my body shop (friend of my sister's boyfriend) told me that he won't do this because it is a very delicate part of the car in case of an accident and that there has to be someone do this who is specially trained for this kind of body work. He didn't want to take the responsibility. Another shop did it then for a lot of money (had to change the windshield anyway but it was still around 3000 euros). But only some months later the rust started showing again. I don't know what they have done. Seems to be at almost the same spot as before, some tiny bubbles. Can you do this in a way that it will keep up for dozens of years to come? Also there is rust now where there wasn't before... right where the roof begins behind the rubber seal.

 

Sounds like it wasn't prepped correctly before it was painted.