okay so i have a 95 integra 2 door RS.

the bottom quarter panels on the rears each side r rusted out.

i cut them out with the grinder and now have big areas that need to be patched.

see these pictures.

i have sheet metal im just wondering how do i weld them? i know nothing bout welding and wanna sorta have a clue what i'm talkin about before i bring it to a shop so i dont get ripped off.

do i cut the peices to fit and keep them extended just a tad bit longer and place them in behind the car metal? or out on top. weld around the edges? also what kind of welding would i need?

Please take a look at these pictures and tell me step by step what i should do. shops want 2 grand to do both sides, i think thats pretty retarded due to the fact the metal is like 50$ a sheet and well i have the rust cut out myself.

or would it be easier to go to a scrap yard find an integra and cut the exact shape/pieces??

problem is though my rust extends into the door sills where the doors close, it would be hard to cut and shape the little ridges imo.

i need to know the best way to go about this. thanks!

also would you use a torch or grinder? or what kinda tool to cut the metal from the integra if i do goto a scrap yard and decide to get the pieces.

 

any ideas on the best way to go about these holes?

dont wanna just fiberglass and bondo them.

 

You will either have to cut these pieces from another car or buy new quarter panels and doorsills/rocker panels. The shops want 2K because it is a lot more work than it looks like it is.

 

Like what 88hatchy said. You can't just slap on a flat sheet of metal and make your contours with bondo or you might as well just fiberglass it. You need to either make your own pieces with contours or cut from another car

 

Ebay has new replacement fenders for civics going for $80, Im sure you can find them for a integra...
Hope this gives you a idea of what is going to happen,
http://members.***.net/rustrepair/index.htm

 

got any links to these quarter panels?

and yeh i would much rather replace the whole quarter panel due to easier cutting and welding then patching

 

if you dont remove every last single tiny bit of rust, its going to come back.


do it once, do it right.

2k for rust repair isnt that bad at all.

 

FWIW on 2 Eg's getting redone I've spent about 8k on the rot fixing alone. I'm talking inner fenderwells too, you never know where this stuff gets to!

Also, be careful with cheap metal. I buy my quarters right from majestic honda since it's much cheaper than a local dealer as well as an OEM quality metal.

I recently had some rust touched up on a Subaru I sold for 300 bucks...I felt like total crap after seeing how bad they did so I didn't add any extra to the price. HACK JOB.

So, like a broken record...do it once and do it right. 2k is a good price to have both sides done properly.

 

I could not find any on ebay for a integra. These are for civic's just email the seller and ask if they can get you some for a integra. Or just use the civic fenders, lol

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

 

Well, you can bend your own steel to closely match the panels. Integras are VERY simple in those areas you have cut. You can get sheet steel and cut to shape. Use construction paper or poster board to cut out some templates. Use the pieces you've cut out to make them close. Bending that stuff by hand isn't terribly difficult.

There is the option of cutting it out of another car, that's certainly a little easier, but either method works...I've done both.

Once you have the panel fit, the easiest method is to use some magnets to hold the made panel flush with the car panels. Clearly, you need to grind away any paint on the edges to allow a nice weld.

On the welding you need a MIG welder. You're not going to weld constant, all your gonna do is tacks. Tack, tack, tack, tack...moving around to avoid overheating the panel. Your going to tack in random spots until the entire seam is solid weld.

From there you'll grind down the welds until they are smooth. ONCE again, you need to avoid overheating the panel. Doing so will warp the panel and you'll have to use filler and block the panel straight again. Not horrible if it happens, just more work and more filler. What you don't want is a lot of filler...the least possible.

One thing that also helps is to cut your rust out in simple shapes like squares. Dont' cut it out in curves and wierd angles, which makes making your panels more difficult. Use whatever you can to shape your panels. A simple body hammer and dolly goes a long way. Also, you can use scrap hoods or fenders for material also.

 

nice, yeh i once worked at a sheet metal shop, i still talk to the owner so i have access to all size breaks and shears, so i can bend the metal in seconds to any degree.

where would i get the magnets you speak of ? im guessing two sided magnets?

the little holes are easy for this area like you said.

but when i get into the doors , i might have to cut out the sills and just get new ones cause the lines/contours and indents will be impossible to bend.

some very nice info here from you guys, thanks so much!.

i dont think majestic honda ships to canada which sucks, so i might have to go the ebay route.

thing is see my wheel well r getting rotten too so i figure it would beeasier just to replace the whole pannel.

me not knowing how to mig weld ill have to rely on someone else.

my buddy says he has a mig welder, which isnt lies ive seen it and he said he would do it, but i honesty doubt he will pay attention to detail and not over heat the metal like you've said.

 

LOL, you should do it yourself then, its not that hard. Just borrow the welder from him and practice practice practice, the welds dont have to look pretty.

 

i dont know hwo to weld, or how a mig welder works.


its not that i dont think he wont pay attention, and i know welds arn't to look pretty cause their to be grinded anyway its just..... hes the kinda guy who promises you hed do something then when u ask him to do it he trys to do things a quick as possible to get it done cause he really dont wanna do it, he just hopes u dont ask lol

 

Welding two patch pieces like that, when I can still see rust in the metal you're going to weld the patches to is just fail in the progress, especially since you cut them out into that shape without much consideration.

What I would do is get a replacement piece (easier to do the job when you have ready moulded parts) and replace it whole from say 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom (below the center where it goes inwards.

Then you'd want to make a flange to it, theres two ways of doing it, but since I assume you guys dont even have a gas-mig and experience, so you use a tool like this
Then you measure so that theres overlap on the joint and spot weld it on.
After that, grind the welds down, tin it with proper prep chem and then you can smooth it with bondo if needed. The tin will block any pin holes left from welding, bondo wont help in the rust dept. Then after that spray rust protection wax on the side where you cant paint.

 

im just pissed because the entire car is CLEAN, MINT, everything works 100% and most the engine and interior is brand new.

the only problem with this car i have is this rear quarter panel on this side and the other side, ive had the car laid up for a year now inside until i can get enough knowledge and or money saved to get it fixed, i wanna take it to a shop for professional repairs but most of the shops around here are not reputable, the reason why its like this is the first place is the previous owner 6 years ago had them fixed but with fiberglass/bondo when the rust was only patches really small, then it started to rot, therefor i had to cut these pieces. and it expanded into the door sills.

the car has only two owners, the original owner from 95 up until i bought it, and its been indoor stored except for 2 years when ive owned it, one year it had to sit in a snowbank due to the fact i lived at an apartment when i got with my fiancee to save money for our house now.

money is just tight to get this repaired at a shop, they want 2-3 grand.

i have a kid on the way and well that 2-3 grand is needed in bills etc.

i have a 96 civic si i bought for her last year, and have it running nice and in good shape for her, this teg is my car, and well i cant use it like this.

sorta makes me sad and mad at the same time.

i wish i could weld or do this myself but it seems with everytime i read a diff post from sum1 it involves more n more welding/cutting ((((

what is that tool even called or where do i get it?

being in canada with every1 on here mostly in usa its so damn hard.

every1 i know arent into cars here and icant really get any help whatsoever, my fiancee helps me with any work i do and she really doesnt understand why im working on the two cars so much.

i try to explain that hondas r awesome and if kept up they will last forever but she just thinks u get up get in and go with no work needed.

its just so damn hard doing everything myself.

and every shop i goto they either try and overprice like mad, one shop wanted 6 grand, one shop will do a slap job, and another shop i went too wanted to fiberglass it.

idunno its just so frustraiting.

ive spent morem oney in parts and peices and attempts to fix this so far i just wanna burn the damn thing.

i gave it to one shop 6 months ago, and when i went to check on the car, they had it filled in with two sided tape and started to fiber glass theh oles, i instantly took the car out and i had to recut everything off again cause it was all fiberglass...

so i lost money there time and back to square one with bigger holes.

its so damn hard to look at this car and see these quarters the way they are, it was my first car when i bought it 6 years ago and the car ive always wanted and just makes me so depressed to see it liek this now and cant be used.

also it sits in a storage 8x10 that i cant even move around to work on it, and i dont rl have anywhere to things apart and do work, esp now being winter

its like everything itry to do or go i get smacked in the face with this issue.

 

I hate to say this: Cry me a river.

Before you ever started to make any cuts at all you should have done some research on what it takes to get this type of repair completed. There are other options to welding, but since you haven't done anything to move this along you don't know about them. I can't believe you don't have a clue after two years of the car sitting there. Where is your motivation?

Edit: The car isn't "clean" or "mint" if there is rust on it, anywhere.

 

... ive been busy with life and raising kids and getting into my house and getting married, and money eas tight i just simply couldnt put it into a car, so i kept it in side storage.

i did do my research b4 cutting, i had intended to get new plates from another teg but just havnt goten around to it.

ive also considered cutting it out to see if there was more rust so when taken to a shop i could get most of it removed to reduce labour costs.

 

Man just get some 22g sheet metal tack it on the top and tack on the way down while your making the curve.

 

if you arent experienced with welding at all then i def. wouldnt try to weld in a patch on a quarter panel. especially that thin of metal. most likely you will warp it and that means more time invested in straightening and more body filler! yikes. that will hust cause more rust to come back. also when you do figure out what to do coat the inside of the quarter panel with POR-15. it is a rust prevention treatment used by auto restorers everywhere (my profession).

 

^ exactly. sorry to join in on it, but you dug yourself in this hole. when it comes to a novice doing repair work like this, you gotta know what youre getting into before you go cutting away. howd you expect to complete the job without knowing how to weld in the first place?

 

sell your car, all your problems gone.

 

PM sent