This spot has been festering the whole time I've owned the car. I think it was there when I bought it, but I didn't find it until my second year of ownership!!

I've taken it upon myself to fix this mess of an inner fender now, and need some advice!

1) how structural is this area? It is very weak, and at first I thought it was where the front sway bar mounted, but that concern was laid to rest(thankfully!) by poking around a bit.

2) is this area going to be hard to weld a patch in? I will farm this part of the work out-- I don't know how to weld nor have a welder.

3)What generally causes such damage? I'd like not to do this job again! I know the car sat a long time prior to my buying it 2 years ago, but did the battery leak? The winshield washer nozzle?

I've already done what I can for it, wire brushed it and sprayed rust converter on there, but I want to not have a giant gaping hole in my inner fender! It doesn't seem like it is structural apart from weakening that side if I hit something fairly severely, but am I kidding myself? Am I driving a death trap?

The car is a 1979 w123.

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