I backed out of my driveway in a hurry today, and bounced off the curb. The left rear tire bit into the wheelwell. You know the "fender lip" on the rear wheelwell? Well the tire ripped the two pieces of metal that are there -apart-. The outer piece is folded down about 1/2 inch from the inner piece.

The crunch also cracked a Bondo job I did, right above the ripped-out wheel well. I know water's going to want to sneak into that crack right away.

What the heck do I do with this? I know I can just knock the dented out piece of the fender lip back in, but didn't I just open this up to rust? How do I keep that spot from rusting?

Also, how do I seal off the crack in the Bondo? I know the "correct" way is to re-do the Bondo job- but that was "planned" for late next summer. In the meantime, all this salt & rain & snow is going to want to sneak in there, and since Bondo absorbs water, it's going to start rusting. How do I seal that crack off? I don't care about "looks" right now- I just want to keep it from rusting until I can fix it correctly.

S---!! I'm so pissed off at myself! If I had just gone slower, this wouldn't have happend. F! What pisses me off the most is; why couldn't the right rear tire have attacked the right rear side?? That's the 1/4 panel that's rusted up- the one I was going to replace this summer. Instead, I mess up the "good" (rust-free) 1/4.

Any ideas? I have to do something QUICK- it just snowed in NJ, and the roads are full of salt & water.

Thanks in advance!!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

i'm not much of a body man, but i would just pull off all the old bondo so you can seal the matal up good. its going to look like crap but at least then you can be sure to seal the exposed metal off.
BTW: let me know how your 1/4 panel job goes.
the gta i just bought is rusty on the pass side.

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have a beat to hell 87 GTA 305ci 700r4
t-tops,recaro,honeycomb wheels,digital dash
paid $600 at a junkyard for it (i had to save it)

 

You need a real quick fix to prevent rust right? Paint all exposed areas with por-15 with a brush if you have too. This will dry to a ceramic like coating. Then in the summer when you do your body work grind it all off and do it right.
www.por-15.com

 

NightC, good idea! I forgot about that stuff. That would be perfect for the wheel well lip- especially since once I tap it closed again with a hammer, nobody will ever see it!! I just checked my leftover can of POR-15 in the basement, and sure enough, it's hardened up. I guess I gotta order some quick! It takes two days to ship tho...

For now, I took electrical tape, and put it over the bondo crack. That way no "overnight dew" can get inside.

I'll have to rig something up with more electrical tape, and maybe a baggie, tomorrow morning so my tire doesn't throw crap into the cracked wheelwell lip. Seems like there's already some crap in there from the 2 miles I drove after the incident!

I wonder tho; is that metal "between" the lip of the wheel well bare? Or is it painted? Hell if it's painted I don't have to scramble around. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning.

I'm not looking forward at all to re-Bondo'ing that driver's side. I had it so perfect, too. (sigh) All I thought I had to do this summer was prep that side for new paint, not do any work. Figures, eh? Thanks!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Anyone else got an idea? I ordered the POR-15, but if someone has a better idea, I can use the POR-15 for something else down the line!

For lack of a good drawing, here's how my wheel lip now looks. The drawing's as if you were bolted to the car in place of the tire, okay?

__________________
---\_________/----

That's how the inside wheel-well-lip looks now. Usually it looks like:

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And the Bondo crack above it (on the outside of the car), well, it's a crack about an inch and a half long.

Right now everything's covered with electrical tape. I still need an idea on the Bondo crack- a TEMPORARY fix until I can re-do the job in the summer. MrF-body, I see your point, I guess I could do that (redo it, but not worry about having it perfect)- but I'd rather not risk opening the wound more just yet.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Well, I got the POR-15 yesterday; if the weather's clear I'll be fixing the wheelwell lip tomorrow.

Anyone got ideas, let me know...


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Well until you get it on there i dono if you have get some Duct tape tha stuff does wonders.