StrayFromDaPath

Hey guys, im new to this forum as i post in the introduction section, i finished my 1st year of automotive technician fundamentals this past April and really enjoyed it, although the hands on experience was extremely lacking in my opinion, i managed to squeeze as much information as i could. I've been a huge hatch fan since i was 10 years old ( currently 21 ). Always wanted one but i come from a rather poor family so getting time to get my own car wasnt an option when i was younger. Now ive got free time and some money ive been saving for awhile and i got this, apologies for the size of the images, im working on making them smaller.

The body fairly rusty, surface rust and one panel is rusted through, but it could be worse, Especially since we get alot of snow here these cars dont last long if not taken care of. i paid 1200$ for it, Manual tranny , 177,000 K on the engine which is nice for a first car.







Some photos of the surface rust, both sides of the car had the same thing. im very thankful it didn't rust through because i didn't want to have to cut out any pieces. Did i mention this is my first time doing body work?







SO i started grinding out the rust, the process wasn't very lengthy, but in the process i had to remove the rear bumper, finding that the rear bumper brace was rusted through ( could move it with fingers) so that will need to be replaced. ill be posting more pictures, tomorrow will include bondo and such.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Well, if you're just going to put body filler over that... expect to see the rust return within a year or so. The driver's side quarter panel needs a lot of metal replacement.

97dssi

Yeah I agreed with toyomatt84.

The rust will come back sooner than you think it will last long with bondo covered.

Are you planning to repaint the hatch professionally? If so, better repair the metal first.

Good luck with your build!