My 18 Y.O. son is driving a 2000 CRV that we rehabilitated together as a project. I bought it in late 2014 with a nearly rustfree body (it came from south of here, everything here in VT rusts due to road salt) and when I bought it I knew it had a badly failed head gasket. Due to the engine trouble, I got the CRV for $400, again, unusually rust-free body, four almost new tires, etc.. In looking at what I'd need to do to deal with the head gasket, I discovered I could get a low mileage JDM engine and transmission and AWD unit for about $1200- which was a steal [in terms of what it'd be after the swap] compared to what I'd sink into reviving the original compromised engine. 'While we were at it' with the drivetrain swap, I put in new front axles, a new radiator, and a new entire stainless exhaust, all of which I picked up at discounts cheaper than I'd have imagined, I guess due to the fact that places are clearing out inventory on models this old.

So.... old car now (as of 2015) has young drivetrain- with the hope that this will see him through a few years into and maybe through college. I have more $$$ into it than I would have guessed at the start of the project, but still a bargain for a reliable AWD+ABS 'starter car.'

Last fall I put it up on ramps to copiously spray coat the whole underside with chainsaw bar & chain oil to try to stave off or at least delay rust from the VT salt.

To my dismay, this summer a rust-through perforation appeared at the top of the passenger rear wheel arch, just above the cladding/flare trim.

My son goes off to college in a few weeks, so I wanted to see what I can do to slow the rust at the rear wheel wells. To my even further dismay, as I run my fingers behind the wheel well cladding/flare, my fingers are going right through perforated metal, with flaky bits falling everywhere. Ugh.

I definitely don't have the capability, time or money wise, to try to cut out and weld in new back metal. I couldn't even get metal worth welding in unless I sourced it from somewhere far south or west of here, and I just don't have the time to source it and to do all the cut out & weld back.

This car doesn't need to be pretty, just safe and reliable, with the goal of making it last as well as possible for as long as possible, for as relatively affordably as possible. It's just fine if it is an ugly duckling- (it already more or less is).

I would greatly welcome creative 'least worst' suggestions of what I can do- without welding- to close up/ seal/ slow the perforation that is going on. A friend who'd had an old Subaru that was melting away had surprisingly good success more or less filling the ever-living-daylights of his tender fenders with large quantities of minimal-expanding foam-in-a-can and then coating the outside with something more substantial (I forget what he used on the outside). The aerosol foam seems non-ideal, as it is surely not entirely water resistant- but maybe it'll still go downhill more slowly than gaping voids that are sure to take on water?

I greatly appreciate any and all suggestions- again, ugly is fine, priority is affordable and, as much as possible, durable.

Thanks in advance!

 

quick and ugly would be fiberglass or bondo, or just spray a good amount of rhino lining on it

 

I think I have come up with a solution. Thinking of and checking around about the aerosol foam, I learned of this stuff, which sounds much more water and weather resistant than the usual home-improvement-type:

Landscape Black Foam Outdoor Adhesive | Touch 'n Foam

I think I will use rust neutralizer, then fill the daylights out of the voids with the "landscape foam" then cover over the general area with aerosol truck bed liner to try to give some surface strength and cover vulnerable metal where the foam and metal meet.