So I parked my 92 4runner over winter to avoid the salt and just drove my 83. So now that the weather is nice I decided to check out all the little body crevices and see if any rust was starting before I started driving it. And I was unpleasantly surprised to find rust in 2 areas. One area is MUCH worse than the other.





So I have already scraped/grinded down all the rust/loose paint. The front fender is a pretty easy fix with POR15 and maybe a little body paint if it shows outside the trim. The area around the rear door is horrible. The metal on the top and the slider panel are all solid as well as the fender well lip. But the metal around the hole is thin and I can feel corrision from the inside. So I really dont know what to do. I know the proper thing to do would be to weld in a new piece of metal and get it repainted but I am about to go back to school and am dead broke as it is. So for the time being (half a year-ish) what is the best way to deal with this? Here is what I have been considering:
a) POR everything, leave the hole open so any water can escape the hole but that runs a risk of having that whole bottom rail rust.

b) make a galvinized patch and use POR sealer to hold it on and then POR over the whole deal, but as u can see its a big hole and I dont know if thats very realistic

The problem is that water will get in there either way from rain or from washing it but If im going to get it repaired the right way eventually anyway then maybe I dont need to worry so much about it. But I dont know if sealing off the hole is a great idea cause water is obviously able to get inside their from somewhere else which is how it started in the first place. Sorry for making this so long but its bugging me so much, especially because I cant afford to do the right thing. I am open to any ideas at all right now.

 

Looks like it might need a skin graft and some chemo-therapy.

The problem with hot dipped zinc galvy is it's difficult to weld and the weld destroys the galvanizing.
Were it me, I'd probably try to glass in some fiberglass mat (it doesn't rust) to preserve the contour, remove as much as of the rust as possible, spray/cold galv everything and wait for the money to come in.

 

new fender? or that door panel?

 

fender is easy but that other portion is a rocker panel..gonna take some time with a cut off wheel, donor patch and some welding to fix that...
pretty common for stuff to accumulate behind the inner fender well and collect...it sucks

 

can you order a piece to repair it with? Or would I have to find an old junk 4runner and cut it off?

 

cut it out and prime it to keep it from spreading. from there you can por 15 everything and just wait to fix it or do what abe said and glass it. good news is that it looks superficial and hasn't got into the structural parts yet.

 

Dude, I didn't know that you were talking about your truck at first, and it's not like I know you or anything, but that scared the flippin' crap outa me

 

I'd say look for a 4runner in the junk yard and cut that piece out of it. Be sure and cut it much larger than you think you'll need just in case that rust you found goes any farther. Cut the bad stuff out, trim the patch to fit and weld it in. Grind it close to smooth, hand sand the metal to match, body filler to cover any issues, hand sand again to smooth, tape and primer.


As far as the fender goes you could fiber glass that little area and be good to go.

 

you might be able to find a piece but you might have to buy the whole quarter panel. it is in to the rocker as well so you would have to order that too. you can look in a junkyard but its likely that they will be rotted out as well. check with some local body shops and see what they can get for you.

 

could I not just get a body worker to cut off the rusted metal and then mold up a piece of sheetmetal and weld it in? I dont think the rust has gotten too far inside so its not like the whole chunk has to be replaced. I know a couple guys who are really good with hand hammering/shaping metal (had the rear fender lips replaced on my old integra and it looked identical). It seems like it would only be a days work to do that. and its not like it would have to be perfect anyway considering the plastic covering goes over it.

 

yes, you could do that...you could probably cut it out and make your own patch i would imagine...

 

a days worth a $65/hr plus materials and you are probably pushin the cost of a new quarter panel. the problem with rust repair like this is that you are only delaying the inevitable, it will rust from the inside out. you cannot get to the back of the panels to properly treat the welds. i would try to find a replacement panel if you plan on keeping your truck in great shape for a long time.

 

ah thats not bad rust at all...you should see what we get up where i live. rust like that happens on 6 year old vehicles.

easy fix.

 

here is a source for replacement panels.

http://www.alfaparts.net