Ben123456789

I'm about to weld patches onto some rust holes on the rear wings of my 1997 UK Turbo 2000. Does anybody know the thickness of the steel? I'd like to weld on a patch of the same thickness.

Many thanks.

r1c

iTrader: (9)

Would you not be able to see how thick you need when you have cut all the rust out ?

Ben123456789

Yes, but I'd rather have the new plate in hand ready to weld on the same day as I've cut out the rust.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

I think your going to need more than a plate if you have rusting rear arches, normally eats through the inner skin first so much more work than you think.
How bad is the rust? If it's on the wing and it's up the side o said wing then your looking at alot of metal to replace

Tony

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

whats wrong with filler??? lol

CREWJ

It'll polish out

Ben123456789

Ha! Yes, it doesn't look pretty, I'm assuming it's eaten right through the plate. It is in the area of the bumper clips, which have both come loose from the rust.

My plan is to grind out the rust, weld a recessed plate into place, and then cover with filler and paint. I'll put a rust resistant primer on first, I'm looking into using POR 15 or similar for the bare steel. I'll apply the filler over the POR 15 to smooth it out prior to painting, but I think that the POR15 will be necessary as the filler is porous (from what I've read).

For the inside, I will drill a hole, then spray the inside with Fertan rust converter. I'll then spray sealing wax into the void to have a fighting chance of keeping the rust at bay.

This is the first time I've done a body panel, although I've welded plates to the underside of other cars before to get through the MOT.

I'm under no illusions about the difficulty of the job, but I have to do something otherwise it will just eat away the whole rear panels! This is going to be a somewhat experimental procedure, as I can't find much of a consensus on the best way of doing the job from online research / books, so my strategy is to just seal the steel from moisture and oxygen on both sides as best I can.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Have a look (search) the project section for mcrae 001 project, will give you some indication of how bad a job it may well be, but it is fixable

Tony

Ben123456789

Tony, thanks for the pointer, I've tried searching all those terms but nothing relevant comes up. Do you have any more details on the project that I can put into the search field?