sidekickin Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 (edited) Looking to repair the rust on the rear quarter panels on my 96 Outback. After digging into the passenger side rust, there is a hole the size of a softball that needs to be repaired. The car came from the mountains of Pennsylvania, so all that road salt ate the rear quarters up. The driver side is not as bad, but it needs to be repaired also. Fortunately, the underside of the car is pretty much rust free. What would you guys recommend doing to fix this? I was thinking about using a fiberglass cloth kit. Since the car is white, it shouldn't look too bad if i paint the area myself after the repair. Also, what is the exact color of the grey striping on the Outback models? I'm hoping this will be an easy fix. I still have to do head gaskets on this car and the Duty C solenoid replacement. I'm on the fence right now as to whether the car is worth fixing or if I should just junk it and get something in better shape. It has 142,000 miles on it. Thanks for your help. Edited February 27, 2011 by sidekickin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I've never been able to find replacement panels for Subaru. Or I'd get the cars I redo done where the rear fender wells meet the rear bumper cover. If they are rusted into the door openings I just pass on the car. If you find a good source for patch panels please post here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I've been cutting sections out of rust free junkyard cars and welding them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidekickin Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 It would be nice if there were patch panels available for the Outback. I've been searching for some, but haven't been able to find any. The portion that is rusted out is the rear fenders right above the bumper cover. The passenger side is also rusted out in the wheel well area just behind the rear door. Subaru360, I like your idea of cutting out rust-free sections from junkyard cars. What do you use to cut out the sections? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 It would be nice if there were patch panels available for the Outback. I've been searching for some, but haven't been able to find any. The portion that is rusted out is the rear fenders right above the bumper cover. The passenger side is also rusted out in the wheel well area just behind the rear door. Subaru360, I like your idea of cutting out rust-free sections from junkyard cars. What do you use to cut out the sections? Battery powered sawzall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brycarp Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 It would be awesome if there was a pictorial how-to for a job like this, including matching the cuts on the donor piece and the target car, welding in place and then grinding smooth and surface prep/painting. Does anyone know whether such a howto exists online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Ive done 3 rust repairs in this area of the 90's cars. The procedure is cut, fiberglass, bondo a few times, and paint. You can get it as smooth as you want with the bondo, sand, bondo etc. The only thing that I have learned is that if there is a 1/2" rust hole, then cut a 3" hole out. You have to get rid of the partially rusted area or the rust will be back in a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 It would be awesome if there was a pictorial how-to for a job like this, including matching the cuts on the donor piece and the target car, welding in place and then grinding smooth and surface prep/painting. Does anyone know whether such a how to exists online? does this help? http://www.economysuperstar.com/milesfox/gallery/rust/ I saved these pics from online Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidekickin Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Here are some pics of the rust... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 you still got more rust to cut out. pull the interior plastics, trim pieces. pop rivot som sheetmetal from the inside (license plate, old scrap metal etc). Then skimcoat it with bondoglass or kittyhair. Sand smooth. finish off with primer sealer coats, then some good paint. gotta appreciate the rust free ones when they show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpar Mod Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) I've restored a couple old cars and this subject is one that restorers have gotten down to a science. One thing that frequently gets overlooked on rust repair is treatment of the affected areas before refinishing. Rust is insidious. It hides in small pits in metal and looks like nothing is there until long after you refinish the surface and it comes through again. What has to be done is using a chemical rust inhibitor before you start puttying or primering. This is an absolute must when doing rust repair as it's difficult to remove all of the rusted metal in many cases. SEM makes a couple good ones and they are sold at professional body shop suppliers, the same place you would buy paint or other supplies. One SEM product is called Rust Mort. The other is Rust Seal. Rust Seal is thicker and holds to metal better. Rust Mort is more of a water like consistancy and will get into areas better and can be sprayed. Both are acid based and you should use caution while working with these products. Wear nitrile gloves and watch splashing. Apply according to the directions on the bottle. Don't be shocked. The last time I bought a quart of Rust Seal, it cost $40. It's well worth the price, though. If you can get metal from a donor car, you can prep it to be applied to the vehicle by using an air tool that notches the metal panels so they will fit flush before welding or bonding with body panel adhesive. The tool is available through body shop suppliers also and is not expensive. I have one. The problem with just using fiberglass and Bondo on large surface areas is that over time, the putty will crack in many cases. The stuff is just not well suited for large, thick use that well. I've seen it happen. Replacing metal is the best option. Repair panels or quarters must be available somewhere. How do body shops do collision work if they aren't? Edited February 28, 2011 by Allpar Mod added info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidekickin Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thanks Allpar. I will look into Rust Mort and Rust Seal. My 87 hatchback's rear quarter panel was repaired with bondo about 10 years ago when someone backed into it. And now the bondo is starting to crack. So I want to avoid that possibility with this repair. There are six 96-99 Outbacks at the local pull and pay yard here...all with head gasket issues. I'll give them a visit and see if any of them have rust-free quarters. It's amazing the number of these cars that are junked over the head gaskets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_bard Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) One thing that frequently gets overlooked on rust repair is treatment of the affected areas before refinishing. I've heard good things about POR-15. I haven't had the "opportunity :-\" (thank the Big Guy Upstairs) to test it on any sizeable amount of rust, though. I did order a sample size from them about a year and a half ago to cover some surface rust starting up where the paint had been knocked off my OBW. I just cleaned up the little spots of surface rust by knocking the loose stuff off and lightly sanding the area. Cleaned it up a bit to get rid of the dust (can't remember what I used), then painted POR-15 over the areas. It adhered well to the rust and bare metal. It does not adhere well to existing paint, but that's to be expected. Assuming you don't paint over it, it's will fade to a dark grey when exposed to UV. It hasn't cracked under UV, though. Edit: I read up on their site, since I've been doing some research for waterproof/toughness coatings for skin on frame kayaks. They do recommend topcoating the POR-15, since UV will break it down and cause it to fail, doing more damage than just changing the color. Edited March 1, 2011 by the_bard Correction on UV resistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) Kitty Hair. good stuff. we are talking a 3,000 dollar car here, not a 67 Camaro worth thousands if restored with new metal. Make it nice, cheap, and proven to work. Don't pay a body guy hundreds to fix a 3000 dollar car. And from your quote, many get junked due to the HeadGasket. A 1000 dollar repair on a car worth 3g, well, not worth it, easier to junk it. Edited March 1, 2011 by bheinen74 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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