I took off my rocker panels yesterday to shoot them black. The po had them bright green
I spotted a tiny bit of rust around the passenger side jack hole area. I decided to poke at it with a screwdriver.
then a grinder.
and then a sawzall.

My little project turned into this...
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What have I gotten myself into?


I wanted to drive her around and enjoy my new little car for a few months before I go crazy with a full restore.

That's never good, I've got donor chunks of metal if you need them....you just have to cut them off the car.

Jeff

That looks bad but totally fixable. Aren't you glad you found it now instead of having it collapse on you out on interstate 5?

From an East Coast perspective that is just a speck of rust (and if that's all you have you are nowhere near collapse). Fix it and drive!

How did the hell hole look?

Do a search here for "hell hole". There are several really good threads about fixing that area.
Repair panels are readily available from Restoration Design. They also run a banner Ad here.

i am having the same experience. my last one appeared pretty solid, turns out not to be the case. all very repairable. it looks like your motor mount is compromised in your first photo. good luck with it.

Let me know if you need some help, I'm local. Once I get my alternator back in, I'll have mine back on the road.

The hell hole looks pretty good just a little on the battery tray. The donut is hanging by a thread and I am a little worried about the engine mount dish thing.

Thanks biosurfer. I plan to weld in a patch panel to box the long back together until I tear it all apart and do a rotisserie in the fall. Is that just crazy? I want to keep driving it on the weekends and i am still planing on making the bay area meet on the 8th. I just love the go cart feel. I got it bad!

Here is how it worked out. Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment[attachmentid=365
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I'm back on the road. I'll re work the interior of that are and the motor mount when I dismantle everything in the fall.
Thanks for all of the help and advice.

Did you spray weldable primer on the back side before hand?

I would have also sprayed rust inhibitor or even just primer in the area before you sealed it up.

But hey a patch is a patch!

Don't be "That Guy" Andrew.

That's an amazing repair that takes most guys here 4 years to complete.

Hey great job, that was fast. Might want to fix that motor mount before you drive too far. If you go for a drive this weekend, stop by, looks like I'll have your door here. Should get it today from Mike (kg6dxn).

Jeff

Sounds good Jeff. Are you gonna be around on Saturday?
And thanks Andrew. I didn't prime under the new plate. This started out as a temporary patch it turned out way better than I thought I could do.
I'm learning as I go. Do they sell the weld thru stuff at Home Depot for next time?

Yep, Jeff should be here soon to pick up your door. It's a perfect matching color of red. Should look great on that white car...

Note to self....DON'T poke my car's jackpoints!

(sometimes, you just don't want to know)

Seriously! The passenger door shuts a lot better now

Thanks again Mike. I'll just throw some white primer on it for now.

You mean this door?

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Saturday works after 1:00, I have an appointment with clients in the morning.
I'll PM you my address.

Jeff

That's gettin it done. Nice work.

Dude, you made a big hole in your car and had it fixed the next friggin' day?



Awesome!

I know man I got obsessed about it. First time too!
My wife was a little irritated that i was so focused so I told her I was fixin it so that she could have the garage back.

It's beautiful
Dude you either have carpet in your garage or your wife lets you park in the living room.

Wow!...am I reading this right, that you fixed this in 24 hours? Shipping usually takes longer than that. What's your estimate on a full restore, a week? Eric appears to know his way around metal.

Shipping... I made my own piece. No time for shipping.

Do you have time to come down and do this to my car? Truly amazing!

Great job on that repair man !!

Post number 914...wooohoooo

Yeah but now you screwed it up and are at post 915!

If you post a reply you can be at 916... very rare indeed...