Basically, I've had water coming in from my pass. side kick panel area. Found the culprit and it's pretty ugly but still fixable.


Here are some pictures.

I planned on cleaning up the area and welding in a triangle to basically patch this hole. The metal around this hole is surprisingly solid. I work with a guy who specializes in sealing these leaks so I'd fill in any small gaps using the method he explain to me.






My question to you is, what do I need to do in advance to keep any of my plastic and wiring harnesses in the area safe? Remove the dash or is there another way to keep it away from any sparks or heat that would melt it?

 

Three pictures. Cut out some of the hole, make a trapezoid type shape on top like a lid and two rectangles that would come up from the bottom and meet the bottom of the trapezoid.

 

I have had the same problem of course when i started to cut and patch i had the car striped... If it where me i would remove the dash to gain more working room i hate working around ****.... If not i have used wet rags, welding blankets, and big sheets of metal... in fact if you remove the front carpet, seats center console that should be enough then just use sheet of thin gauge metal to cover the underside of the dash etc... you can also use tin foil to wrap wires etc...

 

i would wrap it with some leather like an old welding glove or burn jacket, should be fine or just do small tacks and let it cool a bit in between which is what id would do with sheetmetal regardless

 

Yeah I did a search on dash removal, and people are saying it's easy until....someone mentions the wiring harness. So I'm torn here. Remove the dash, or find a way to do it with it in the car...

 

take the dash out wrap the harness in tin foil... the splatter will just bonce off of the harness and wont stick to the tin foil

 

Better yet, take the dash out and leave it out, along with the insulating padding underneath, until you're done. Someone here had a decent fire from welding, where that insulation caught fire, not too long ago. Plus, it protects the sensitive ECM and stereo from electric shock from the welder.

And then pull the bottoms of the front fenders and fix the hole in the corner of the rocker panels where the water got inside in the first place. While you're down there, check the underside of the rockers for other rust damage.

 

dont think removing the dash is necessary. Not sure how you guys weld but if your settings are right you should have very little spatter. I would pull the carpet up to the seat (especially the insulation, that stuff is like gasoline for sparks) and just put a couple of welding blankets on the plastic stuff, wrap the wiring in tinfoil if its within 1 foot of the welding area and make sure you disconnect the grounds for the ECM (just unplug it). If you got some sheet aluminum or can get a welding blanket to stay against the top plastic part then you'll be fine. Its not that big of a deal I had much worse on mine and i welded in a 8pt roll bar with the dash in place. The floor plates were about 4" lower than your hole. Your turning a 45 min patch job into a few hours.

Clean the welding area down to bare metal, spray some primer/welding primer on the back side of the patch panel and put in in. Then clean and paint and your done.

 

Good news, found the spot on the outside of the car. It's right behind the pass. side tire, very accessible. I think I'm going to leave the dash alone, pull the carpet back and disconnect the ECM and then patch from the outside.

Then, I'll clean up the inside, paint, body fill and seam seal.

 

If i remember right i think there are 3 peace of metal that sandwich together there...

 

no need to remove your dash, but you might want to take out your seat and pull back the carpet, your also going to have to check your inner fender well, i had the exact same problem, not much to it really, but if you have to fix your inner fender well do that first then your firewall, it makes it easier, its a place where water can sit cause theres no where for it to go, i left a gap between the two so water cant sit there anymore, i painted it then sprayed some rust check on mine and its great.

 

I had to replace that same area and the whole corner below the pass side lower door hindge was completely rotted out. I did it all and then on the firewall created a slight slope from the fender to the engine with a simple peice of U bent 22 gauge steel. Angled it down towards the engine and spot welded it in. Then painted, now if water comes in from the top of the fender/firewall it goes down the little slide and out by the headers. My Driver side was also very bad and had to replace most of the door jamb/inner fender/floor pan.

Make sure you start looking around for more areas to fix. If its just the once place your pretty lucky.

 

There is another spot on my driver side strut tower. Probably another patch from the inside job for me, otherwise it will get super expensive.

 

So I want to pull the carpet away from the heat when welding.


Any tips on removing the carpet from under the heater control area?




Also: I cleaned up the rust area from the inside. Should I use primer on it now or use the body filler and THEN primer?

 

Use the body filler and then the primer. Should be the same as any other type of body work!

 

Alright, another rust spot that's a problem which I think I mentioned already.


Driver side fender well. There is a hole just big enough to fit my finger in. Thing is, when I push the area around it, I hear some crunch for a few inches towards the strut. The crunching stops about an inch to an inch and a half from the bracket that the strut mounts to from the top. The rust hole is a couple inches up from the washer reservoir.


I'm kind of stressing this because I'm not a body work experienced guy What to do?

 

I'm going to leave the technical aspects of welding/repairing with the
dash still in place, to those who have actually done it.

But consider this.

That kind of cancer has been causing leaking of some degree or another,
for a long time. Since water always sinks to the lowest point available,
I'll wager dollars-to-donuts, that if you gut the interior, you'll find more
cancer in the floor boards. Not to mention how nasty the jute backing
will be.

Taking the dash out can be daunting, but it will provide an incredible
opportunity to clean out years of, well, crude. (Again, dollars-to-donuts
what you find in the heater box will be revolting.)

On the bright side, it will also provide an excellent opportunity to put in
new heat/sound insulation. There's another very good thread going on
about that right now.

Good luck, & keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the input!


I'm wrapping up college this semester and will be full time after this. The plan is to get then another vehicle. Then I will be able to rip the bird apart and get into the slow clean up of the body and interior. Right now I'm just looking to take care of the serious concerns. It's my daily driver to work and school so I am limited to weekend work for now.

 

why not consider body panel adhesive, no heat, no risk of fire and also when tested, welds often snap before adhesive does....do it up nice, clean it, glue panels in place, undercoat or whatever after

 

Can you send me a link?

 

Id strip everything from the area before dragging out the welder. Dont forget to cover up the glass too, spatter burns tiny divots in it quickly

A quick and easy fix is to cut all the damaged metal off, seal it with paint then rivet and seal a replacement panel in

Google panel adhesive to find what he was talking about, but keep in mind it works better for large panels. Small pieces either take a mechanical fastener or tack welds

 

Thanks. Someday I'll strip it down and take care of everything. For now it's not really possible because I drive this to work and school 5-6 days a week. I think I'm going to give this panel adhesive a try. Will weld the parts in the wheel well and battery tray though.

 

Be careful welding around the adhesive in the future. Most high end adhesives are sensitive to heat