Hey guys, I am looking to give my Crx a better overall fix for its rust on the rear quarter panels. Both quarter panels have very limited rust, as its very isolated to a small hole on each side (front of arch on pass side, rear of arch on drivers side. The rust did not spread along the quarter panels, it was very minor but a hole none the less



When I bought the car with those small rust holes and bubbling, I chose to simply grind out the rust and fill with fiberglass enforced filler, and then Rage fillerto get them oem shape. I gave the car a cheap Krylon satin paint job after that and was very happy. Thought it would last

I then got involved in a hit and run in a parking lot, took a minor hit to my driver rear quarter panel, bent the nice oem body arch line, and 2 nice dents. It was winter and in my single car garage I simply bent back what I could, bodyfilled, sanded and resprayed. But it looks like crap from 10 feet, my bodywork is smooth, but I lost the oem arch line, you can tell work was done.

On that same side one area where there was rust has bubbled or is coming back and looks odd and is no longer appealing.

Where Im at with this is I dont know what to do. Summer is almost here and I want to address these areas, not having the nice sharp wheel arch bodyline really bothers me. And Id like to switch from a Satin black single stage paint job. To a BUDGET automotive black basecoat/clearcoat paint job.



Should I cut out the cancer as minimally as possible and weld in new patches (is 20gauge to thin?) and go for the respray? Or am I in need of some major work that I wont be able to handle in my garage with my mig / grinder / bleeding fingers and a long weekend

If I tried to go easy with the grinder, would I be able to not have to remove any of the rear interior to get access to the patch pieces from the back. Id love to avoid breaking rare mint rear interior pieces that are very brittle after 23+ years. But I fear the new metal pieces and welding would require some sort of attention from the rear...... if the patches would last for 5+ years without rusting out from the rear I would be fine with that.

Just an amatuer in a small garage... how do you guys recommend I go about this

 

And my friend says I forget just patching in small 4" patches (guessing) and suggests simply cutting off the entire rear quarter panel, this replacement panels are quite tall aswell, and the weld line would be hugely tall and long, but would replace the entire arch and would possibly give a better result.

As I aparently have no "eye" for that body line

 

bump

 

Remove the rear interior so can you see the inside of the quarter, the rust will be worse on the inside than the outside of the panel. Cut out whatever is rusty and weld in new metal. If you're using a replace quarter panel or wheel arch (which I would recommend) you don't necessarily need to use all of it, you can cut out the section you need, but sometimes it's easier to just use the whole panel. Any place you weld in new metal make sure you put a bead of seamsealer around the seam or it will rust later, it's also a really good idea to spray the inside of the panel with an oil based undercoating after the car has been repainted.

 

use kitty hair body filler as it is water resistant, so if there are pin holes in your welds.

 

I agree, any time you have surface rust it will be 20x worse underneath. Im replacing my quarter panels and im trying to do everything i can to prevent rust from coming back. Do you recommend putting down etching primer, then basecoat and then seamsealer? or seam sealer to bare metal and then primer and paint over it?

 

I believe when Honda used seam sealer they used it first then paint over top. I'd do the same. It's probably not a bad idea to paint the inside of the quarter as well, which Honda didn't do. The big thing is the seam sealer though, and oil based rust proofing.

 

uggggghhhh now I have the patch panels, and notices the oem body line has that significant arch about 1" around the wheel well that is pretty obvious, but there is also a small body "bump" about 3" above that

So to retain all these body lines, I would have to cut out quite a large size patch

Do the holw patch repair and have a 50 inch weld seam?

 

You will have to either weld the panel on or use body panel adhesive. here are two threads where people welded there replacement panels on.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/appearance-build-threads-122/eg-project-95-civic-si-rust-bucket-2398771/
http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=24

 

Would it be stupid to use panel adhesive ?? Would hiding that seam with filler not be difficult?

 

Don't do panel bond adhesive for patch panels. later on you'll see a lot ghosting and you'll be able to see your repair.