4 replies to this topic

[austinmayfair85]

Hi everyone. I am tackling my first repair on my 1985 Mayfair. It's rusted through in two places: a hole in the rear of the wheel arch and then a corresponding hole in the boot. Any suggestions on how to approach the repair?

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•  1691689678648.jpg   43.53K   0 downloads

[stuart bowes]

well the only way to deal with a rusty hole is to cut it out far back enough to get the corrosion out, and weld in new pieces, I'm guessing that much was already obvious to you

 

it if was me (disclaimer, there are more experienced opinions to be found on this forum..)  step one would be wire brush on grinder / drill attachments etc until I was back to bare metal in all the relevant places and I knew where the rust ended, only then can you decide really what needs to come out and go back in 

 

but taking it at face value and trying to keep it to the bare minimum I would say there are three bits to remove 

 

A, rear valence closing panel, you might as well try and totally remove that and weld in a new one, it's just easier to separate at the seams and plug weld one back in as the last bit of the job

 

B, the boot floor which is probably the hardest bit to cut purely due to getting in at that angle, I found the air line buzz saw worked best for me, you want to leave the subframe bracket alone, cut around that, cut out around the hole without damaging the outer body panels, and weld in a piece of flat steel the right shape (0.9mm)

 

and C the lower section of the wheel arch where it meets the floor, it's possible that section is small enough you can leave the wheel arch bracket in place and just work from the underside to replace the grotty section

 

--

 

probably the best thing would be, take your time removing all evidence of that valence closing panel, wire brush back to bare metal all round the edges, clean up inside the rear valence, wire brush back to bare metal on both sides of the boot floor and the bottom inch or so under the wheel arch, then take the pictures again to show us what the real state of affairs is

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 August 2023 - 08:11 PM.

[stuart bowes]

if you click my build link below and start looking from the bottom end of page 6 you'll see a lot of pictures of that area with bits cut out if that's of any interest to you

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 August 2023 - 08:16 PM.

[austinmayfair85]

Thanks Stuart - really helpful. This is where I have got to with the wire brush and tin snips.  1691699189693.jpg   87.39K   0 downloads  1691699190329.jpg   46.54K   0 downloads

[stuart bowes]

ah well the boot floor doesn't look too sad does it, not spread as far as it might have

 

goes up the back corner of the quarter panel a little though eh, that's a shame (but quite typical) see if you can wire brush that back and maybe just get away with kurusting.  not impossible to cut and replace the bottom corner of course, just take it slow and keep the metal as cool as possible you don't want to warp an outer body panel (although, in that small space with the seams either side, it shouldn't be too much of a risk I'd reckon)

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 August 2023 - 09:02 PM.