Purchased an 85 Irco Z t-top car with 71,000 miles on it. Working on gutting the interior. Car sat since 2008 inside so is i really decent shape. The only area of rust I found was the rear quarter inside where the spare tire is. It is contained to the area below the ground effect. Here is a pic from the inside. Would you have someone weld in a new quarter piece ? Any suggestions ? Not looking for a show car. Just want to stop the spread and repair what is there.

 

That's a very strange area to be rusted on an otherwise rust-free car. Or so I thought until I realized that's a replacement GM quarter panel that was installed long ago. Notice the black coating (as opposed to gray) and the remnants of the original GM sticker.

I don't believe that the rust caused the hole... I believe that the hole caused the rust. It looks like they mutilated the edge of the lower spare tire well (likely while removing the old bashed quarter panel) and never repaired the hole before the new quarter panel was installed. Then the car was driven in the elements, with water and debris splashing up through the hole. The black coating on the quarter panel wears away when exposed to the elements.

I think you need to wire wheel that whole area best as possible to determine what the best course of action will be.


*edit* the photo is kind of blurry and upon looking again, it looks like the bodyman that installed the quarter panel was too lazy to mess with that lower section at all, so they just sawed it off, knowing it would be hidden behind the lower quarter extension. When I first looked, I thought that hole was on the horizontal floor surface.

 

I made the hole getting all the loose stuff off when cleaning up.

isn’t that factory seam seal ?
I think moisture got in there and was trapped.
I was thinking of cleaning it and treating it. Then having a body shop look at it and see what they recommend.
The rest of the car is good.
just some surface rust on the drivers floor pan from wet carpet at some point in the past.

 

That rust hole is interesting then, being so straight along the top. As for the seam seal, I can't really tell in that picture. It looks like some of it is not original. But the quarter panel has most certainly been replaced.

Definitely clean it and treat it. I'd also remove the lower quarter extension and clean/treat the outside of that area too.

Will this be a nice weather car only?

 

Again, I can't really tell in the photo... is the area below the rust hole a vertical surface of the quarter panel? And it still has factory gray sealer with blue overspray below the rust hole? And it's black sealer above the rust hole? If so, they evidently sectioned the quarter panel there (poorly too... again, too lazy to bend down and replace the hidden area of quarter panel) and that is why it rusted along that line.

If that's the case, definitely remove the lower extension and see what lurks beneath so it can all get treated and/or repaired.

 

It will be a nice weather only car. Parked in a garage during the winter. Summers only. Will try not to drive in the rain either but may get caught in the rain durning the summer time.

 

I will try to take some better pics of the area.

 

Not an uncommon place for these cars to rot at all, the ground effects trap all kinds of road sludge, mud, salt, etc behind them. My quarters were rotted down there too.

I would cut out and patch just the rotted section beneath the ground effect. it's a relatively simple patch to shape by hand or you can buy the section from someone parting one of these cars out. I would then strip all the old seam sealer off in the spare tire well, sand and paint the surface rusted area, and put new seam seal on.

 

Kinda hard to see... Id pull the ground effect off and take a pic from the outside.

Youll need to grind all that nasty rust off and see what you have left.


Im thinking all you;ll need is a smallish patch panel.

 

Was going to buy this and use what I need from it. Was worried about those nuts coming off the ground effect posts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/332074392143

 

The outside has a small bubble under the strip as you can see in the pic. It is solid so must be the paint blistering.

 

It's not the typical rust spot though. There is what looks to be solid metal directly above and also below the hole. When debris collects there, they typically rust lower and farther forward.

Nevermind the fact that area has the newest metal on the car, but that's the only area that's rusting.

 

I think id go with that ebay piece you got there... its much easier to get a pre made (in this case factoy) patch panel and install that rather than form / fabricate a piece.


Once you get into it I believe that rust hole will get a bit bigger anyway...

 

I agree with 1989karr, that piece will be about the easiest way to go.

Iirc, the nuts are just stamped nuts and shouldn't put up much of a fight. They might even break off of the studs.

 

Ok thanks.
I may just get the panel and find out what the body shop would like to do.
I have a welder, just not the best at body work !
All the other stuff is my forte !

 

Agreed that the right way to deal with this is to remove the lower ground effect panel, strip out the seam sealer, wire wheel/grid/sandblast out the rust and see what metal is still good. Then, cut out and weld in a patch panel. Problem is, when you do that, you are guaranteed to be painting the quarter panel and then you are into trying to blend new paint with old, faded paint. This little repair will snowball into something much bigger.

My advice is to choose one of two extreme options.
Option 1 is to cut the bad metal out, weld in the patch, take the rest of the body apart and repair any more issues and paint the whole car. Big $$$
Option 2 is to clean up the rust on the inside and on the outside behind the ground effect panel, treat it with something like POR-15, patch it as best you can with some fiberglass mesh tape/glass body filler and paint over the repair area, staying completely below the stripe decal so it's hidden under the ground effects panel. It won't be a permanant or "proper" repair, but if you don't take it out in the winter, it will take a long time for it to spread further.

Option 2 will buy time for Option 1 sometime in the future after you get the rest of the car sorted.

 

Thx. I’m going to try to repair it the right way and if I have to I’ll get the car ready to have it painted. Would like to drive it a year or 2 before the paint though. So may just clean it up and POR 15 it since it will be a dry weather only car.

 

Yes. This is one of those times where fixing it the "wrong" way makes sense. Fix it good enough to stop the spread of rust and keep the repair hidden under the ground effects panel. Drive it for a while and then decide what you want to do.

 

Yes. I want to get it painted eventually.

 

You really need to get the lower extension off and see how much worse it might be.

There's a chance that there's enough good metal below the stripe that you (or a body shop) could properly install that lower quarter patch, but using structural adhesive to bond it to the outer quarter surface. Going that route, you could keep the repair area to a minimum, without burning the paint or stripe with heat from welding. Again, that's if there is enough good metal below the stripe. If done properly, it can be considered a long term repair.

As for the structural panel adhesive, use 3M only. Other brands like Fuzor kind of suck and are unreliable. I just wanted to get that out there before someone pipes in and says "panel adhesive sucks, that's a hack way to do a temporary repair". I've been using the 3M 8115 adhesive for 25 years on a professional level and it is proven. When done correctly, it works well and lasts.

 

This is good advice. 3M panel adhesive is good stuff. If there is enough good metal to grab onto below the stripe, this would be a good option.

 

Thnaks for all the great information!