20 replies to this topic

[SAL 821X]

While prep'ing the bodywork for etch primer over christmas. I found there was an area about the size of a dinner plate worth of filler under the paint on the rear corner of the van. I started to investigate with the wire brush cup and unearthed this under about 4mm of filler.





Do I cut it out and seam weld a new corner?

Or

Do I reweld whats there and do a better job at grinding down / filling it to the rest of the panel?

So what would the masses suggest.

[corrado vr6]

On the plus side at least it's not rusty!! Or is it...?

[Brams96]

It looks like it's been overlapped & the edges are pretty rough, so if you want to do a better job of it I'd carefully grind down the welds to remove the panel & recut the panel so it's butt welded together. Then seam weld it, grind it flat & use a skim of filler. You'll never know if there's masses of rust being hidden untill you remove it & re-do it properly.

[corrado vr6]

I wonder and not to sure from the photos as to how good that patch is but it looks like it fits in all the right places but hard to tell, could you use a 1mm cuting disc and follow the line of the repair then flush the panels up with clamps and re weld but this time it will be flush only worth doing if the repair is good everywhere else though and rust free of course!

[SAL 821X]

Its looks fairly solid but as you say I wont know till it comes off.

Im not sure if im able to get a look behind the panel to have a look as I think its closed off.

[SAL 821X]

I wonder and not to sure from the photos as to how good that patch is but it looks like it fits in all the right places but hard to tell, could you use a 1mm cuting disc and follow the line of the repair then flush the panels up with clamps and re weld but this time it will be flush only worth doing if the repair is good everywhere else though and rust free of course!

Thats the thing from what I can see there isnt any rust around the patch, so I dont really want to have to start cutting out if I dont have to.

Someone mention to be about maybe beating the seam where the two panels meet inward to create a V then weld the depression and grind that back.

Does that sound like something you do?

[SAL 821X]

Could I get away with just blending the two panels with filler better?

As you can see from the first picture the previous filler went about halfway up the car.

[Brams96]

Ask yourself, why was it patched over in the first place & why didn't they butt it & seam weld it properly? Laziness! Which means they may not have even got rid of the rust underneath.
Do you want to spend all the effort of repairing the rest of the shell, all that money respraying it only to have rust bubbles appear a few months after you've finished? Investigate now while you can, if you dont believe me look at my project 'Fern' (pg10 on) at a 'professional' repair job from a garage, you can't see much on top but underneath . . .
Carefully grind the tacks away & peel it back or use a 1mm cutting disc along the seam to see what's under that panel, at best you can reweld it back on, worst it'll have to come off for proper repairs.

Edited by Brams96, 06 January 2012 - 01:35 PM.

[SAL 821X]

understandable brams.

Its never going to be concours but your right I want it to last alot long than a few months.

[Shifty]

Thats a strange looking repair panel?

The usual sections have a joddled edge to allow them to be welded and flush fitted.



The problem I see with removing it is that you'll have to extend the repair section as the proper repair sections don't go that high.

[SAL 821X]

Thanks shifty that looks so much better..... Looks like it will be coming out then when I next get on the van next weekend.


How tall are the repair panels normally?

Edited by SAL 821X, 06 January 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[SAL 821X]

Just looked in MMachine catalogue at how much the panels cost and for £8 its a no brainer might aswell do it properly.

[dave1293gt]

Can you not see the inside of this panel on a van? I cannot remember if its double skinned there or not.
May give some clues as to it being a repair for rot or other damage

[malynch27]

Id say get it off while you can. Theres nothing worse than shelling out for decent spray job only to have rust bubbles galore and then having to take the rot out at a later date ruining all of your hard work now. At £8 for the panel, like you said, it really is a no brainer.

[Brams96]

SAL 821X - How have you got on? Did you chop it out yet to see what was underneath?