Rear 1/4 panel Rust+ cruise delete?

[matt167]

Everyone knows that I want to/ will when I have parts put a turbocharger on my Forester.. Reason is, they were available elsewhere but not till the later XT in the US. I happen to like the SF5/ more utilitarian appeal than the '03+ models.. I doubt I'll find a 5spd in better shape than mine within my budget if I were to buy another.

 

My Forester is pretty clean for pushing 230k miles on NY Salt roads. Only rust that's a real issue is rear passanger 1/4" which isn't rusted through yet but it's close and a bit of the wheel well lip is gone. I currently sanded it, primed it with rustoleum rusty metal primer, then grey primer and rustoleum 7592 pro white ( really close match. can tell up close but, it's close enough )

 

I have heard that Subaru 1/4 rust is not repairable. question is why?  If this were any other car, I'd cut it out, make a patch and weld it in. But I'm not about to go cutting on a car that's " not repairable " because I've never seen inside the panel to see what's up.. Anyone make a patch that wasn't bondo and fiberglass?

 

Also, are there blankouts available for the buttons beside the steering wheel? Turbo goes where the cruise is and I don't use cruise anyway, so I'd like to remove the cruise stalk and cruise button and install a blank.

[heartless]

pretty much anything is doable if you have the knowledge, materials and time to do it.

 

and yes, there are blanks to fill in button holes - best bet is to either find some from a junkyard car, or ask in the buy/sell section of the forum