Thinking about body work

[whiteryder]

I really want to do something about the rusty bits on the MR2.  I'm not looking for a fancy restoration job, I just want the rust removed and the holes patched and sealed so that it won't keep getting worse.  At the moment I feel like rats are nibbling on the panels whenever I'm not looking.   

The options I'm aware of:
  1) Find a body shop that will repair rusted out body work - this could be difficult since body shops apparently make their money on insurance-backed collision repair and aren't interested in fixing rust.  (Would love to hear if there are any exceptions.)
  2) Learn to do metalwork and welding in a hurry.
  3) Learn to do fiberglass repair in a hurry.
  4) Grind and sand away the rust, and then spray the bare metal (what little remains) with Rustoleum.
  5)  ??

[rothaus]

I really want to do something about the rusty bits on the MR2.  I'm not looking for a fancy restoration job, I just want the rust removed and the holes patched and sealed so that it won't keep getting worse.  At the moment I feel like rats are nibbling on the panels whenever I'm not looking.   

The options I'm aware of:
  1) Find a body shop that will repair rusted out body work - this could be difficult since body shops apparently make their money on insurance-backed collision repair and aren't interested in fixing rust.  (Would love to hear if there are any exceptions.)

Labor is the most expensive part of that. the second hard part is to find somebody who is doing it right. so it doesn't fall off ayear later.

  2) Learn to do metalwork and welding in a hurry.

This is a good idea, everybody who want can learn it. JTCC actuall has classes for MIG welding. Some pieces can be purchased, some have to be fabricated.

  3) Learn to do fiberglass repair in a hurry.

It depends where. It's a big mess. most likely, it will fall of after a wile.
 

  4) Grind and sand away the rust, and then spray the bare metal (what little remains) with Rustoleum.

This is an option if you like to drive around with a swiss cheese car.

  5)  ??

Sell the MR2 and find a nice 944

Cheers

[2forSolo]

When i bought my 88 325is almost three years ago, i went through all of the options you describe.  I started by calling around various body shops and specialists to see about cost and willingness to weld in two new floor pans.  I found that as you mentioned most either were not interested or would charge way more than i wanted to pay for what i thought would be a simple job...

The best advice i got from a shop was the straight answer of for the price, i could buy the welding equipment and do it myself. At least after it was done i would end up with a welder.  The same shop even offered up a spare shell of a car that i was welcomed to cut out the floorpans from. 

As i am sure we all can relate to, a simple job turned in to a much more complex one as more and more rust was discovered.  The thoughts of "... Well, while im in here this far i might as well ____  too" got the best of me. 

With the help of my dad and his garage space, we bought the welder and associated equipment, a couple of how-to books and set to work.   Since the bmw is a unibody construction, there was no option of just ordering new floorpans out of a catalog. Over the next year, there were many frustrating nights trying to fabricate something out of nothing.  You know somethings wrong when you spend more time at lowes and home depot shopping for car parts and tools than you do at autoparts stores.  We ended up doing all the work ourselves and in the end it was very rewarding.  Most areas were welded, but i did get a crash course in fiberglass for some areas where welding wasnt an option.  All areas got several coats of various rustoleum products.  Depending on the areas that need welding, your experience may be better or worse than my floorpan/wheelwell/dash recreation.

Things to consider if you decide to take it on yourself:

1.  Space to work
2.  Tools- aside from the welder, hows your supply of clamps, hammers, bench vises, cutting tools, lighting, extra hands, grinders, wire brushes, torches for heating metal, etc
3. Time - by far the most time consuming piece was planning and fabricating. The more time you spend getting a piece to fit exactly right, the less headaches you will have when it comes time to weld. 
4.  " know your target and beyond". Whats behind the area you are trying to fix? Brake/ fuel lines? Wires? Something flammable?

I bought most of the sheet metal in smaller pieces at lowe's. There has got to be a more "commercial/industrial" place to buy metal but have not yet found it.

Anyway hope my experience helps in your decision, let me know if you have any more questions.

[rothaus]

Do you autocross your 325 ?

I know what you talking about. with the rust repair. I did a little restoration work on my '71 911.




Here is some info http://airboxer.com/911.html







Cheers

[whiteryder]

OK I think my head just exploded.   
I don't think I'm up for a black hole of repairs and expenditures.... really just want to drive this puppy!

What if I start off with option #4, grind/sand/spray the rusted areas, as a starting point?  Then at least I'll know what I'm dealing with.  Seems like the grinding/sanding will have to be done anyway, no matter what route I take for repair.  (Unless I luck out, and find a couple of un-rusted AW11 fenders somewhere!)

[Flynlow]

Where are the worst offenders for rust spots?  Twos R Us has some patch panels that may help:

http://twosrus.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_26

A little pricey, but I bet you'd save that much money in time/aggravation trying to make your own patch panels.

Or find a 2nd rust free one and GroupB rally this one:





Wasn't there talk of rally-x at the last meeting? 

[whiteryder]

Oh I see - just replace all the body work with plastic, which never rusts.  Brilliant!   

Actually I've made two important discoveries in the past few days:

  (1)  After taking a bunch of pictures of the exterior, there isn't as much rust as I thought.  There's one spot in particular where there is actual metal missing (left rear fender behind the wheel, which is one of the twosrus patch panels).  Then there are a bunch of smaller spots here and there, but not nearly as bad as that one.  I won't know the true extent until I start sanding, but I'm feeling more hopeful than before.

  (2) Rust-o-leum makes a paint called "rusty metal primer".  It's specifically for application on rusted metal.  I picked up a spray can today to try it out.

Took off the lower front bumper tonight as a starting point.  We'll see how far I can get with sanding and primer.  If it ends up looking awful, at least it's not the most visible part of the car. 

[Flynlow]

Oh I see - just replace all the body work with plastic, which never rusts.  Brilliant!   

Exactly!

On the rust repair, that wheel arch and the sill/fender on either side of the rear wheel is the most common spot I've seen.  Have you had your carpet out yet?  The rear trunk floor and interior floorboards are also common areas, and can be easy to check without full removal.

For the rust primer, I know POR-15 is famous for that as well (POR literally stands for "Paint Over Rust").  I re-did the floors on a '91 Camaro convertible and the POR-15 worked really well from what I saw.  It's still definitely worth wire-wheeling everything to get the rust off and back to bare metal.  It'll fall apart eventually otherwise.  Plus, you don't want to cone it and have the painted rust section break off (happened on my winter beater Miata).

[whiteryder]

All I know about POR-15 I learned from this article.
Sounds like pretty serious stuff.

[pipefitter]

I bought a 1973 Chevy Vega new, and autocrossed it until 2003. (it'll make a come-back soon I hope). I also restored an old Chevy truck, and my daily driver is a 1987 4Runner that has had a few too many trips to the Outer Banks. I know rust! Everyone who posted is correct. The best repairs I made myself were to remove all the rust by wire-wheeling, sand blasting or removing the panel and replacing. Mig welding is easy to learn, and the units are fairly cheap. POR is great stuff. I think it would stick to air. I know it will stick to anything you do not want it on, but it does what it says it will do.

[pipefitter]

Check "Cyberweld.com" for anything welding. I've bought stuff from them befor, and their prices are pretty good, AND they have free shipping. Or at least they did......