Any welder in the san bernardino or riverside who can help me fix this:

IMHO, the welder should come secondary to removing the rust. If you welded a plate over that spot it would immediately begin rotting from the inside out.

There are some great products that strip away rust.
Sand blasting works great.

If your ever in the SF bay area I can weld that up for you.

Good luck.

Great write-up on POR15 HERE.

Good luck.

Roger

"I" would simply grind it off and Por15 it....those things are worthless...but that's just my $.02.

And also make sure that is as far as the rust goes.

Probe the surrounding metal with a screwdriver, and see where it leads. make sure that the top of the long on the engine side is also sound.

Zach

Is POR15 purchased online only? None of my local autoshop sells them.

Maybe. I know I got mine online. When you do POR-15, do the entire process, from degreaser to metal ready to the paint. Read the directions, and don't get any on you.

Once that paint hits skin, there is NO getting it off. It has to flake off as the skin dies over the course of a few days. makes for an interesting meeting the next monday with your boss and her boss, and your hands are splotched silver... *sigh*

Zach

i just got rid of the rust and did some POR15 on it.

I will use wire wheel to rub the rust off. If this does not work then I will have to use the grinder. After poking around that area, all seems solid. what can I use to patch that hole so no dirt will build up inside?

If you have any autobody or auto paint stores in your area, check there. That's where I get mine.

Also be sure that after you grind away all the rust, be sure to spray POR-15's product called Metal Ready on all the rusty areas*first* and then paint with the POR-15 paint. There are full instructions on POR-15's website.