quarter panel repairs - opinion

[roman.lysiak]

Fellow FAQers. I'm this far into repairing the rot in my passenger side quarter panel and am assessing how much to cut out? What do you guys think?

 

Roman

[Mike Self]

Your pictures show a removed front fender--"quarter panel" in 2002 parlance generally refers to the rear quarters--from doors' trailing edges to the rear panel.  That being said...

 

From your pictures it appears that the only perforations are some small holes towards the bottom of the cowl sides.  That's a structural area, where the inner sills meet the cowl/firewall, so should be repaired not only for structural rigidity, but also to keep water from intruding into the passenger compartment, causing further rust.

 

Were that my car (and I made repairs on mine in about the same spot but on the driver's side), I'd determine just how large the weakened metal is, cut back to sound metal and make patch panels for the resulting holes.  Then mig 'em in place, and treat that entire rusty strip with the anti-rust coating of your choice.  So long as your weld is good and tight (no pinholes) it's not gonna show with the fender back in place, so the weld doesn't have to be invisible.

 

cheers

mike

[Highnote1]

Yup. Cut and weld. Not bad at all honestly. I had to remake that corner. It’s all under other stuff so a good place to start learning. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just functional. 
 

 

[AustrianVespaGuy]

As far as rust + 02s go. . . I consider that 'Not at all bad.' Definitely clean it up and paint the metal to protect it, but whether you weld in a patch, patch it with fiberglass, or just leave the small hole. . . I think as long as you keep an eye on it those would all be perfectly acceptable solutions for a hole that small.

[TobyB]

How much to cut?  

 

Just a bit more.  The rust above the hole is pretty much cosmetic-

that strip just holds the FRONT FENDER to the A- PILLAR.

 

Grind until you can't see anything (but use stripping pads, NOT something that throws sparks and cuts metal)

major, enlarge the holes a bit so you get a good weld surface, 

stick a vacuum cleaner hose down your rocker panel to suck all the 

rust flakes out, then weld 'em up.  When the metal cools,

and EVERYTHING is painted and the paint's nice and hard,

go back in from the inside and spray the SHIT out of it all with 

Waxoyl or Rust Fighter I or Rusfre or similar wax until EVERYTHING is coated, including you.

And go up the A pillar too, soaking the inside of that thing.  Or down from the top, however you 

can get in.  But you want that puppy dripping like it's been caught outside in a monsoon.

 

When you're pretty sure there isn't any OTHER rust, hit every other seam you can find.

Insides of doors, structures in the hood and trunk lids, the trapped spaces in the trunk,

behind the rear seat side covers, the lower nose seam, and under your bed and inside your pillow.

If you have anything left of the 3 gallons it takes, spray some more.  If there's a drain hole that the stuff

isn't dripping out of, go spray it until it drips.  And drips some more.

 

Then you can go take a nice long shower, knowing that neither you nor your car will rust much tonight.

 

t

did I say 3 gallons?  It might take 4...

[roman.lysiak]

nice! I get the car oiled every year in the spring time. They've drilled into these cavities and fill them every year so I think I'm covered.  Thanks for the input. The rear rocker on the same side has some rot as well. I believe these pin holes at the front have allowed the water to get into that cavity and is perpetuating the rust along that side. Good to get this done before the driving season starts back up!

[tech71]

18 hours ago, Highnote1 said:

Yup. Cut and weld. Not bad at all honestly. I had to remake that corner. It’s all under other stuff so a good place to start learning. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just functional. 

Congrats, looks totally satisfactory and certainly not ugly?

Good job.

[stephers]

Or buy the correct replacement panel from Restoration Design    Use the whole thing or cut and use what you need    ||||||Will look much cleaner

 

A-pillar repair sheet, left

Product Code: BMW428L

BMW #: 41 11 1 430 007

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Regular Price:$143.00

 

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Qty

 

ADD TO CART

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[Mike Self]

1 hour ago, roman.lysiak said:

I believe these pin holes at the front have allowed the water to get into that cavity and is perpetuating the rust along that side.

And if you have a sunroof, the rear sunroof drain hoses discharge into the rocker panels at the very rear, just ahead of the rear wheel opening.  Not one of BMW's better designs.  You should re-route the hoses so they drain to the car's exterior.  PM me and I'll send you a column I did on that little project.

 

But Toby is absolutely correct.  Those rust holes are in a structural area, and you need to rustproof the entire inner rocker area--cowl to rear wheel arch.  It can be done via the small plastic plugs you'll find under the carpet that runs along the inner sills.

 

mike

[man_mark_7]

19 hours ago, TobyB said:

............................

t

did I say 3 gallons?  It might take 4...

You crack me up Toby. Your posts remind me of Calvin & Hobbes. The whole joke is told in 3 panels then, zing, the 4th panel is icing on the cake!

[TobyB]

Can I be the tiger?

 

t

tellin' tails.

[tp4pdb]

On 1/31/2021 at 9:47 AM, stephers said:

Or buy the correct replacement panel from Restoration Design    Use the whole thing or cut and use what you need    ||||||Will look much cleaner

 

A-pillar repair sheet, left

Product Code: BMW428L

BMW #: 41 11 1 430 007

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Regular Price:$143.00

 

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Qty

 

ADD TO CART

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I bought one of these a few years back because my driver's side has rust holes in multiple locations.  Has anyone reported on installing it in a previous post?    

.

Paul in West LA

[roman.lysiak]

Cut it all out and re welded it with thicker guage steel. I like the idea of accessing the rail from the door sill to fill it with rust proofing. Was going to clean and prime it all with a tremclad, then use an automotive seam sealer on the quarter panel, then shoot the entire wheel well with the chip proof paint protector.

 

I bought the restoration hardware front quarter panel, but the alignment above the head light looks off on first glance.

 

Any of you purchase and install one of these?

[TobyB]

Quote

I bought the restoration hardware front quarter panel

Hmmm.

They've branched out?

 

(hee)

 

t

https://rh.com/

 

[roman.lysiak]

1 hour ago, TobyB said:

Hmmm.

They've branched out?

 

(hee)

 

t

https://rh.com/

 

Ha.  Rh came out too easy there.  Restoration design....