Hi everyone,

I'd like to get some advice on the best way to fix the rust in the attached pic. Is it structual or not?

Thanks

 

 

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elfalcondoorrust.jpg [ 106.08 KiB | Viewed 379 times ]

might not be what you want to hear, but with EF/ELs so cheap at the moment, you might be better just to get a better one

The car has been in the family since new, and I'm not looking to get rid of it, so thats not really an option.

its not really structural but soon will be. it needs the panel opened up which overlaps it and the rust cut out and new pieces welded in . looks like it has spread down into the sill panel too. probably caused by a repair somewhere in the area not being resealed properly.

find the same piece in a car thats not rusty and cut it out and get a panel beater to weld it in and paint it, i'm going threw the same thing with my wagon at the moment.
EDXRSW

Thought it would be a little bit too much for bog. Not too good with a welder, will have to go to a panel beater. Thanks for the help.

They dont usually rust like that there especially in EF/ELs. I would say that the area has been repaired poorly in the past. It is hard to see in the pics but a bottle of killrust and some bog and paint should last a few years especially if you arnt near the ocean. Cheers

Have a poke around with a screwdriver and judge whether it is just surface rust or pitting.
Also you need to find out what's causing it if it's major - no point repairing it when it may return again in the short term.
Maybe your lower door seal is deteriorated, and causing drain water to stay there when the door is closed, etc.

You'll find with the wagons that the strip seal along the rear quarter windows has deterioration with the fastener seals - the foam crumbles over time - water runs down the window, past the fasteners (particularly the front ones), through the holes, down the front of the rear wheelarches, and collects in that cavity - having sound deadener in there holds the moisture in. You can pull the lower back seat out to check this.

The only damage the car has ever got was a minor front end accident years ago, so it wouldn't be the cause of that. Would a repair cost a large amount?

has it gone through the metal or is it just surface rust? if it hasnt eaten through just grab a drill with a wire brush on it, clean it up, paint a few coats of rust converter on it, then paint it body colour

your absolutely right, i got a rust free dogleg out of an EF and the sound deadener inside it was wet so it's all about time for when they will rust out.
My panel beater is going to try to get most of the foam deadener out and replace it with body deadener and fish oil , hope it works but then the other side will probably start.lol.
EDXRSW

Be a good idea to make a drain hole so the water can escape.
The bottom strips can be taken off, I used some sponge strip with holes, bit of silastic smeared on, placed over each fastener.
You might find some suitable rubber washers to use perhaps.

is rust converter the same as "deoxidiser and rust remover"?
i went to an auto body repair mob asking for converter and they told me this stuff is the same thing....
bloody hope it is!!!

Got to be careful with EF/EL's when they start rusting there or in the rocker sills underneath the door - you can't get those original panel parts from fraud to replace them anymore unless you want to get a whole side bodyshell for about $600+gst.

I went through the problem with my EL (rust was in the sills though not the inside door frame) - only solution was to have it cut out and either a graft from a donor car or scrap welded into it. Quoted about $1200 a side to go the $600 body panel route considering the amount of labour involved taking the whole side off the car and welding the new one in plus paint. I would have had to do both sides too!

Just be careful because if one side is doing it the other side might not be too far away either. Can also see a little bit of rust along the bottom side frame in that pic - might want to get it checked out to see how far that rust has gone in that pillar and get it professionally sorted out really quickly before that whole corner of the car rusts out and your up for some serious panelbeating work to cut it out and patch it up.

Hope it works out well.