Bodhi and I are having another existential crisis and I could use a little advice and/or encouragement. Or a lot of it.
The car has been going fantastic lately and I haven't really had to do anything but oil changes and an aux water pump swap. I was actually itching for a project so I decided to take off the passenger front fender and clean up some lumpy old rust repair on the fender itself. While I had it off I decided I might as well clean up the wheel well, where, with the fender off, I could spot some of what I thought was surface rust. I should know by now what to expect from "surface rust." The pictures tell the story. Now I have a giant hole, plus the air cleaner mount is barely attached and the two front bolts that hole the wheel well lining on are gone (that's where the rust started, obviously). It is obvious to me patches need to be welded in. I have a part clip with the area of the big hole, but I'm not sure about the two rear areas because the mounting is different on the diesel.
I was wondering if anyone else has had an issue with rust in this area, and how did you deal with it? On the bright side, I am more motivated to learn to weld than ever, so maybe after seven years I can finally get over my fears and actually do it. It's kind of my white whale in terms of overcoming apprehensions. On the other hand I'm looking at the positioning of this job and getting overwhelmed. I think it would take me months to get to the skill level to attempt welding in the engine compartment, and I don't want my car out of commission that long. Could I rivet in a couple patches, POR the heck out of it, and come back to it when I reach that skill level? Or would that just be asking for worse rust?
If I did weld it ... I understand from previous advice and Googling that an arc welder would not be suitable for the job. I guess I need a MIG? I don't care if it's ugly but I don't want slag flying all over or to end up slicing the fender up. Also, would I want to weld smaller patches in at each rust point (assuming the metal between is OK ... I haven't scraped all the paint off yet), or just cut out that entire front area of the wheel well?
I guess those are kind of vague questions, but I'm really just fishing for what other people would do, and I know there's a lot of experience AND imagination on here. I do realize a lot of you would just put the engine in a cleaner car, but I am not considering that as an option at this point. Too much of this car is too nice to do that.
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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)