okay, so first off, I know almost nothing about body work (but willing to learn) and I already searched. Basically, I have an ED with the typical rear quarter panel rust, 95% of the rust is on the outer skin and the skin is separating from the inner metal. I will be eventually replacing both rear quarters but that won't be for a year or so because I will be repainting the whole car and need to save up. I have a few track days coming up and will be rattle canning the car for now, I don't have much time or money to do the repairs correctly right now.
So, what should I do for the rust? grind it all off and put epoxy primer to kill the rust from spreading or paint over it as is.
also where can I get really good replacement panels for the hatch? and how much, ball park, for labor on replacement of the panels? If you need pics I can get them up a.s.a.p? Thanks again

 

I would strip it down to bare metal with a stiff wire wheel brush, clean it very well and apply an Epoxy Primer directly to the metal. Check out this site, they make a good Epoxy Primer:

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com

 

If you wanna do a cheap fix then i would suggest cutting/grinding/wirebrushing out as much of the rust as possible.... then use fiberglass bondo hair and fill the area with that. Its similar to bondo but obviously since its fiberglass it is water resistant which is why they use it on boats. Bondo would work also but bondo will soak in water and crack off easier as well as let more moisture onto the metal its attatched to, causing it to rust again. Sand the area after its been dryed and once you get it to the shape you like, you may notice that theres pinholes in it due to the airpockets that were in the fiberglass... You can fill those with body putty, or even a light skim of bondo. sand that with light grit sandpaper to avoid scratching the area too deeply then spray it with epoxy primer. Make sure its all painted front and back and under to prevent any water from making it rust again. after you get alot of coats on it you can wetsand it with 600grit and soapy water, and make it nice and smooth. From there you can dry it, clean it, give it one more shot of primer and paint it your desired body color i guess.

The only reason i gave you this method was due to its affordability and total time it would take to do. Obviously it would be nice to cut out the piece and weld in a new one... but not everyone has a welder on hand to start welding up rusted body panels. Hope i helped.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by heavypork &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The only reason i gave you this method was due to its affordability and total time it would take to do. Obviously it would be nice to cut out the piece and weld in a new one... but not everyone has a welder on hand to start welding up rusted body panels. Hope i helped.</TD></TR></TABLE>

this is exactly what I was looking for, I will get my panels replaced in the future but right now I can't afford it so I will be trying this out shortly.

does any one have a rough idea of how much quarter panel replacement costs labor wise?

 

I had a friend who had done it to an eg hatch, and in the end i remember him saying it had cost him almost 2000 to do both rear quarters with the cost of the fenders. It aint cheap and i know most body shops wont do it unless its an insurance claim.