Little update with my temporary patch job ... which I put a lot more work into than planned ... so hopefully they'll actually last pretty long.  At least I learned a few things that will be useful when I weld too, like cutting sheetmetal, using seam sealer, and removing undercoating (one of the least fun things you can do when it's 95 degrees out). I ended up cutting out all four rusted areas with a body saw, to solid metal, then cleaning up with a dremel tool and with a few different wire wheel on a drill. POR15ed everything. I then cut out three pieces from a spare front clip, because they were shapes that were to tricky for my metalshaping skills and tools. The fourth piece I had to fabricate because that part of the parts car was rusted. I trimmed up those pieces with aviator snips to fit over the holes, then pop riveted them in place with JB Weld between. Then I added seam sealer, then painted it all with POR15. I messed up when cutting the parts car (I started with a sawzall and did not measure carefully enough) and ended up not quite covering the holes, which I fixed with small fiberglass patches and POR Putty. Stupid mistake. But I think it worked out fairly well anyway. I'm a little worried about the air cleaner mount bolt being lined up right ... I'll find out when I get it all back together. The only thing left I have to do is find the correct bolt to run through the fabricated patch to afix the wheel well plastic liner to.
One question: Do I need to topcoat the POR15? Not going to see much UV in that location. I was thinking of painting it white, but not sure what to use that I can just paint on. Now I'm just thinking I'll leave the POR15.
Here are some pictures, if anyone is curious. Not pretty, but it doesn't matter.
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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)
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