Rust....uh oh...

[ZohanIsBack]

So I have rust on the side panels just four inches in front of the rear tires on both sides. I also have rust in the wheel wells . This is pretty significant and goes through the entire material. What is the best step in fixing this problem? Eventually the entire body needs to come off for painting, etc, but for now I would like to get these taken care of. What are the wheel wells even made out of? It seems really thing and almost fiberglass like....

[epsark]

I'm not sure about how yours is since there are no pics, but mine were rusted out and filled with some kind of very hard foam. Then it was body filled in over that with a fill that was almost like it had fiberglass mixed in with it. Had no idea that area was even rusted out until I took it in for an extensive paint job and to work on the rear fenders, and they found it from taking the paint off. The area is normally refered to as "dog legs". I believe I bought my replacements from Black Dragon, since they had the best price. The area will need to be cut out and the replacements welded in and then filled in if and where necessary. I actually have both the left and right sides still, since I ended up having to replace both rear fenders and I didn't realize that those replacements would have the "dog leg" section included. The wheel well area is called I believe the wheel "tub" and Black Dragon carries that as well. I had to have both of those replaced too. It can be a bit of money to have a shop do it, but unless you know your way around body work well, it is well worth it IMO to have them do the work. I have included a pic of the passenger side of my car in the process of being re-done. Hope this helps and is what you are refering to. :classic:

-Eric

[ZohanIsBack]

Yup, that's the place where the rust is, I'm pretty sure. Okay, so what if the wheel tub is rusted back by the passengers foot area, could it lead to damage on the body itself?

[grantf]

Got my doglegs from tabco I remember them being the cheapest. Not the best fit but with care they do work.

[esmit208]

ZOHAN

You will have to have this area completely taken apart to know for sure. I have the same problem on both sides of Project 3/72. The tub itself looks ok but I have more disassembly to go. As well I had to remove both valances beneath the doors. The weather strip seam that joins the valance to the car in most cases was not sealed well allowing water to drain back into this area. So be sure to remove the weather strip around the doors. Chances are you will see rust underneath this area as well and maybe even a hole or two. I will post pics of the cutaway valance soon. Good Luck.

[blue 72]

The best way to fix this problem is to first cut out any and all rust. Behind the rusty panels you see on the outside there will most likely be other rusty panels which will need to be cut out as well. Once you've eliminated all of the seriously rusty and thin metal, then you begin to reconstruct all of those areas with new metal. Luckily on the Z cars there are a few patch panels available.

I replaced the driver side dogleg on my Z a few years ago (there was about 4 square inches of visible rust damage) and used a Tabco patch panel. I still had to recreate two successive layers behind the dogleg, then hand make the bottom of the inner fender liner / lip (about 6-8 vertical inches had rusted out, the entire lower section). Only after that could I weld on the Tabco panel over my other repairs. You simply don't know how extensive the damage is until all of the rot is out of the way.