Oh Look; More Rust

May 7, 2011

 

It seems that rather predictably, someone in the past indulged their insatiable craving for hitting something and then smearing on as much Bondo as their silicone spatula would allow. 

To placate the rig’s gaping wound, I mapped out a plan to patch in some new steel and give the beast some much needed rigidity. This began with some rudimentary sharpie work, and some exploratory wire-brushing to remove a few pounds of bondo. The rather extensive rust had eaten its way through most of the lower “dog leg” section, and by the looks of things, someone had done some brazing work with some new steel years ago. I grabbed the grinder and cutoff wheel and plunged into the body, slicing back until I was able to find good thick steel. 

This angular cutout then served as the template for my new steel patch, which I decided to tackle in 2 stages; the first part being the return portion that runs back into the door opening, and the second being the visible portion of the dogleg. I regret now not treating that rust on the inner steel of the wheelwell, and will likely have to tackle that in the future. 

After mocking up the patches using thick cardstock, I duplicated the patch out of either 18 or 20 gauge steel (not sure which). I learned years ago on another patch that it is best to curve the steel around a corner instead of welding right at the corner, as it makes for a cleaner bodyline that you can use when filling. Nipping the edge into little tabs allowed me to do the required compound curves on the steel to achieve the closest match I could to original.

With the first patch in place, I focussed my attention on getting the second, more visible patch in. doing the patches in this order ensured I would get the correct bodyline from the previous patch. I made the patch slightly oversized and trimmed it for an exact fit. By tack welding the bottom in first, I was able to progressively line up the patch and tack it in, finally using a body hammer and a dolly to achieve the small angular bodyline at the top (which was difficult to replicate). Some filler should bring the correct lines back, as the rest of this small panel had been damaged and repaired before.