I want to get a Del sol but in my area (Michigan), they all have rust around rear fender well....My goal is to have a clean looking car... I am wondering if it is something can be fixed easily or it's a deal breaker... I think they make a weld on panel for that area. Question is how much will the labor cost to weld it on and smooth the welding area... And any idea how people do to fix the sheet metal rust in the side skirt area?

Hood and fenders can be bought brand new relatively inexpensively. I think they have fiber glass fender as well, they look pretty cool.

 

Rustrepair.com

Can't answer on cost for labor but there are many threads of people who do it at home if you're willing to put in the effort of #1 searching and #2 doing it yourself. I've done a partial patch job, really the key is to go slow and let the panel cool off between welds so it doesn't warp (cheap flux welder).

 

You don't repair rust, you remove rust. Replace the quarter panels.

 

Hello fellow Michigander!

I did a but load of rust repair last year on my 97 civic, including the rear quarter panel below the gas fill. I learned the hard way that rust is a real pain in the rear to get rid of and most rust encapsulates don't work. I say encapsulate because there will be rust you cannot remove and if not properly encapsulated it will come back, ruining all the hard work and money spent to repair it.

One product I found that is simply amazing is called POR15, stands for "paint over rust". I have used it on numurous brackets, the cars underbody, and interior. I also plan on doing the subframe, knuckles, swaybars, axels and any other metal parts that like to rust.

POR15 has an end results that looks like a shiny black epoxy coating that has lasted through winter driving and kept the rust at bay for almost a year now, says it will hold up for 15 years too. It's $50 a pint but well worth the expense and goes a long way, you could probably paint the whole car with a pint. I highly recommend good foam varnish brushes to apply. Protect your skin too, take days to wash off if you get it on you.

You near Detroit? I have a welder and could help you out if you needed a panel welded in.

 

it costs a lot. nobody to my knowledge makes patch panels for the sol, definitely not the rockers. my advice- a 1 way plane ticket to florida is 300 bucks, go buy a clean one.

 

Best advice you'll ever get right here ^

Rust is miserable to deal with and 9 times out of 10 it will pop back through somewhere in 6 months to a year. Start with a good shell, build your car the way you want and undercoat it with something oily.