rust repairs, mk1 style

[spudgun]

Last spring I noticed the my mk1 had a few soft areas that were going to need looking at, so over the last week or

so I pulled the wing and door off and had a bit of a poke around.

The A and B pillars were a bit rusty as I thought they might be, but I found a bit of grot in the front wheel arch

area as well.

I used a dremel to cut back to good metal and the pics below are the extent of what I have to weld in.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/1139/dscf0424nb0.jpg



http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3198/dscf0425mv2.jpg


http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7194/dscf0426ax4.jpg



I wanted to start repairing yesterday but I ended up replacing both the front suspension control arms on the focus

to try and stop the odd tyre wear problem it seems to have.

Anyway I repaired the rust in the wheel arch bt laying 1" strips, vertically. I bent these to match the cross

sectional profile of what used to be there. Also, rather than weld them along the bottom, which would be out of

keeping with whats there all ready, I drilled an 8mm hole in the lower part of each strip and welded throught this

onto the existing flange simulating a spot welded to the best of my tooling.

Heres the area welded and cleaned up

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7695/dscf0431el4.jpg


I now focused my attension on the rust at the bottom of the A pillar.

This was a fairly straight forward job of making a card board template of the repair area, marking it out on sheet

and welding in place. I also did the "8mm hole and welded through" trick along the bottom as this was spot welded

orginally.

Here it is just welded in.

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/6826/dscf0432et1.jpg


Here is the same area dress up with a bit of anti-rust primer stuck on. This has yet to be filled, primed and

painted. I also want to seam seal all around as the orginal metal didn't have this, but it will help to keep the

damp out.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5844/dscf0434qo0.jpg

Moving back to the wheel arch now. Now the primer had dried off I put a coat of seam sealer on. Just wack it on and

work it in with a brush. Job done. This will now be treated to a number of coats of stone chip followed up finally

by a coat or two of underseal.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/7622/dscf0436tz2.jpg


I have to say its going as well as I hoped, bearing in mind I'm not a professional, just someone working in there

garage at home with a few power tools.

I will stick up a few more pics once I have done some more, if anyone is interested :).

All the best

Steve

[Marksman]

Perfect. And a great example to other's that body work is not something to be scared off. Best to jump in at that stage rather than bury head in sand and have a far more extensive job in 18 months time.

Stirling work Sir :thumbsup:

Owen.

[Shorty]

Good work there. I must be really lucky i think. Not a single spot of rust on mine. It was sprayed with tectyl early on so it`s perfect.

[Paul Woods]

nice job steven! just how it should be done :thumbsup:

[randomfactor]

Nice job. I had to do similar on mine, but the rust wasn't as extensive

[spudgun]

Thanks for the positive press chaps, always nice to hear others opinions good or bad.

To be fair the rust wasn't as extensive as the holes show, but I don't see a lot of point welding to something which is nearly rusted through. You might as well cut back to good metal.

Next job, weld up the bottom of the B pillar.

[adamh]

have done them exact same repairs spud, check out the front end work thread. good work :) its nice to get it all done

[podge]

bloody hell steve how ya doin mate long time no see will have to meet up cant believe my eyes tho rust actualy dared do come on you car fool as what it was all the best podge

[spudgun]

How do Podge, long time no see and all that.

Things well your end?

Rust, you gotta be realistic with that stuff. It always going to be around a old car. Just can't get away from it.

[spudgun]

Hello again.

I thought it has been a while since I updated this so here we go.

This is where I was up to until mid week.

I had plated all areas and tided it up with a bit of filler. I then prime it all up.

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6786/dscf0452ul2.jpg

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/47/dscf0455hb6.jpg

It took a while because you would miss a few imperfections until you primed it up, so then it was out with the filler and start again. Anyway I got my air brush out this morning and started on the red.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/2117/apillargn6.jpg

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1999/dscf0459iu1.jpg

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9420/dscf0461tf4.jpg

I'm really pleased with the results as they stand at the moment. The pictures don't really do it justice, but the finish is first rate. Just a bit of cutting back with 1000 grit and a bit of clear coat and we will be away.


I had a look at yours Adam. Well impressed with what you achieved considering how far yours was gone. Well I think it was yours anyway :)

Still a fair way to go, but have to get it ready for the Nurbergring trip later on in the year.

[adamh]

yeh was mine mate, similar to yours .. we could scientifically chart the stages of toyota rot on this site with all the pics lol . super work again, whats the black stuff at the bottom of the work over the high build?

[spudgun]

I reckon your on about the seam sealer Adam. They didn't bother with that in the factory on the bottom of the A pillar, so water could soon creep up in behind.
A bit naughty really.
It should already be there at the bottom of the B pillar though.

[adamh]

i think i recall sealer at the bottom of the b like where you have laid it. the a' pillars i dont know as there wasnt much left lol . i used por 15 inside the pillars after repairs and cavity wax up the sills. i'll also be blocking up the top of the a-pillars with fire foam or summat.. the amount of stuff that got inside the a pillars from the top of the arch was amazing.. old wrappers, pile of leaves, half a pound of mud even!.. gob smacked.