hello again, gonna try and tackle my massive rust hole on the left rear fender.
the rust out here is very large. approx 1 and 1/2 feet long and about 4 inches high,creeping up the rear 1/4 panel. this car is too far gone to do a entire body restore on it. What my plan is, is to just fix some smaller rust spots, and of course this large one. i just want it to basically pass a provincial
inspection,it does not have to be perfect,but at the same time i want to do the best,and also fastest/easiest job.
My question is this: what would be the easiest and fastest way to do this?
i have bridged some large gaps before with fiberglass but i think this one would need some form of backing before the cloth would be layed down.
like i said,you would hardly ever see it.what would be the fastest way to fix this? need some advice on some magic cure or something that i can place in there to form a base and then either fiberglass or bondo it?

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Pop rivet a piece of 22 gauge metal behind it, fill it and grind the pop rivet heads off. The metal should stay there. That's cheap, fast and easy.

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i have a large hole in my truck roof and i am planning on using bondo as the
base to support the fiberglass....but today there are miracle adhesives... some cars are even built with them.. you might just want to use an adhisive to hold the metal in then bondo over it...

The best way to get rid of body rust is to cut it off with a plasma cutter or a grinder then weld on new sheet metal, or you can just buy a new or used replacement fender. Bondo and fiberglass is the worst thing you can do. If you use an extensive amount of bondo in one area the bondo will shrink and crack and the fiberglass will also seperate from the steel with time.

If you only need a year or two, this is an OK repair for none structural areas..





Have a great day.

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My rust gaps are not enormous, but it sounds like the pop-rivet is the way to go. What sort of grinder for the rank amateur who is not trying to create a show car, but prefers not to have his wife mock him whenever she walks past the rear left panel?
Bill in nY

Wouldn't spot welding be better than pop rivets? What's to keep the patch in place once the rivets are ground off?

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