Now, about that typical OBW rear fender/wheel well rust...

[jonathan909]

We need to cull the herd a little, and the '99 OBW is the best candidate, all-round, for getting a decent price.  The only real problem is those rust holes.

A local shop just quoted me ~$1500 to fix each of them, which is obviously a non-starter.  I've never done any body work and am eager to learn.  What is the typical DIY approach to these things?  I'm not too concerned about the finish - I think I'd be happy to leave the repair in primer - but would be happy with a reasonable minimum level of success in patching them.

[1 Lucky Texan]

maybe check youtube for some similar body work?

my 'gut' says, cut out any rot if needed, weld in some sheet that is close to the shape you need, grind/file it, beat/pull it 'close' to shape, clean meticulously and smooth it with Bondo, primer then , paint.

[FerGloyale]

Not worth the time.

Sell it for a price that reflects the rot and move on.

[moosens]

I agree , those bodies just plain bit for rot. No repairs are great although you sure can fudge it to look decent for a short term. 

Too much effort for me personally.

[lmdew]

Sell it as is!

 I"ve fixed a few.  Options:

1) Hit a yard that will let you do the work, cut out a good fender about 4" bigger than the rust you are trying to fix.  It's not worth welding in unless you are or have access to a great welder.  Grind down to clean metal.  Buy some metal epoxy and use sheet metal screws to bond the new metal on top of the hole.  Once cured you can grind off the head of the screws and bondo the seam.

2) Cut out the rust.  Put a temp tape or cardboard patch in place.  Get a bunch of fiberglass and from the inside of the car build up the hole with fiberglass.  It's a mess and a long job to get in there.  I've done it but would not do it again.

3) Cut out the rust and get some Aviation Speed Tape.  This tape is intended to stay in place.  Build up a few layers of tape over the hole.  Extend the tape 3 or 4" past the hole.  It will keep the water out.

[Mike104]

https://www.subiesavers.com/legacy

For replacement arch pieces

[lmdew]

Nice.  

[Numbchux]

12 hours ago, Mike104 said:

https://www.subiesavers.com/legacy

For replacement arch pieces

Came here to post that link.

 

Still have to cut, weld, smooth, and paint. That's where the expense comes in, and what makes it look nice.

 

I see chunks of scrap sheet, even diamond plate, riveted or screwed over that rust hole on cars all the time in this area. Looks like complete garbage, and introduces more rust points on the original steel. Not worth any of the time, IMHO.

 

Depending how bad it is, you can just hit it with a grinder back to bare metal, and then prep and paint over with POR15 or similar. It won't look great, but it's cheap and easy, and will stop it from getting worse.

[idosubaru]

On 7/17/2019 at 2:35 PM, jonathan909 said:

We need to cull the herd a little, and the '99 OBW is the best candidate, all-round, for getting a decent price.  The only real problem is those rust holes.

A local shop just quoted me ~$1500 to fix each of them, which is obviously a non-starter.  I've never done any body work and am eager to learn.  What is the typical DIY approach to these things?  I'm not too concerned about the finish - I think I'd be happy to leave the repair in primer - but would be happy with a reasonable minimum level of success in patching them.

After doing some...never again. My time is too valuable to try and scrape value out of rusty northeast subarus. In Oregon it's probably surface, light, easy.  In the northeast, usually a rust spot means poke your finger through it and surrounding paint, rubber trim, internal metal all disintegrate to a hole 4 times bigger than you thought.

We don't know how bad it is - if it's just a small hole or the corner section - cut out another section, use a punch flanger, and weld it in.  

Nibbler is nice for chewing through sheet metal or an  angle grinder, dremel, sawzall, which you'll probably need to get the hidden sections cut anyway if needed.  Cut it larger than the area you're replacing.

A punch flanger creates  a step so that the edge of the new piece slides behind the existing metal, giving you two layers of metal overlap which saves time trying to get the metal exactly the right size/shape/orientation, you don't have any gaps to fill with body filler, and provides a little more heat sink for welding.  But you can get away without one particularly if it's a small one off job. 

A welder, not too hot or you'll burn through it.  Spot weld, you don't need a continuous seam.  

But really if it's bad it's a miserable job - it's often much worse than you think - once the outside sheet metal is off the rust behind it can be atrocious - falling apart, rusted all back into the crevices and folds and joints that come together, it's untreatable and you can't get to it all.