Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

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Ryanhill
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Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by Ryanhill »

After recently buying my MR2, I was cleaning out the rear wheel wells since there was a bunch of mud in them, and my hand went through the bottom corner near the boot. When I looked closer, under the boot lining, a bunch of that too has gone basically completely (Any touching of it at all and it disintegrates) and I was wondering what to do? The car seems pretty great rust wise otherwise, so I'm surprised its so bad in this one spot.

Is this a known area for rust?

How severe of a task is this? How urgently do I need to get this done? Am I just going to have to take it somewhere and get them to take the rusted metal out and weld new stuff in place? If so, any idea how much it'll probably be? I've just had to get roll bars and headlights done so I dont have a great deal to spend atm.

Thanks!


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martin42006
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by martin42006 »

yep very well known for it.
Your best bet is to find a chassis you can chop the good panels out of then weld them into yours. just be sure to chop all the old rust out first.
You could probably find a good bodyshop to fabricate the panels but that wont be cheap.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by Ryanhill »

martin42006 wrote: 20/03/19 19:29 yep very well known for it.
Your best bet is to find a chassis you can chop the good panels out of then weld them into yours. just be sure to chop all the old rust out first.
You could probably find a good bodyshop to fabricate the panels but that wont be cheap.
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Oh damn, wouldnt it be pretty hard to find one that isnt also rusty? At least, for less than I already paid for my one? I don't have the ability to weld myself so It'd have to be done at a shop either way, which is a reason I was hoping I wasnt going to have to have any welding done. Thing is, it passed the last MOT not very long ago, just before I had it, with no advisories even, about rust. So has this happened suddenly? Or is it not an issue when it comes to MOTs or that?

Edit: And I assume noones made panels for that area then? I know when I was looking the topic up before, someone suggested MR2 Ben was looking at maybe doing that, the same way he already makes sills since theyre a problem area too.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by GJones80 »

I wonder how "nice" the solution has to be.
That lower back section doesn't have anything structural attached to it right? (Apart from the exhaust hanging off the floor but that's further in?)

So even not perfectly formed but solid and water tight solutions could be an option if you want to save cash.

That said I paid a reputedly good workshop to redo my sills and the top of the wheel arches... after they started they soon came back telling me the exact same place had rusted. They fixed it, but its not water tight and now gets filled with water if I drive when it rains....

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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by Ryanhill »

GJones80 wrote: 20/03/19 19:46 I wonder how "nice" the solution has to be.
That lower back section doesn't have anything structural attached to it right? (Apart from the exhaust hanging off the floor but that's further in?)

So even not perfectly formed but solid and water tight solutions could be an option if you want to save cash.

That said I paid a reputedly good workshop to redo my sills and the top of the wheel arches... after they started they soon came back telling me the exact same place had rusted. They fixed it, but its not water tight and now gets filled with water if I drive when it rains....
That's what I was thinking, the bits that have rusted through (The rest around there seems fine) seems really thin already, so It cant be anything structural or that, and even then, its hidden up inside the bumper, so you'd never really see it. So I was thinking it wouldnt have to be the most elegant solution.

I was just expecting really to have what is rusty cut away and some sheet metal welded in place, since It shouldnt even need to be painted (Although I'd assume id get it painted in something to protect it) rather than having to get whole new donor sections from other cars. I was just wondering what even that would cost, but I guess I could just take it to a shop and ask for a quote.

But yea, I can imagine if water gets in things just start going again straight away, could you not go and get them to fix it to a watertight standard? Seems like that'd be pretty important for a reputable shop.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by martin42006 »

they do turn up occasionally.
I payed considerably more for a donor car than i payed for mine, and that was before i realized how good the panels were on it.
Yes mr2-ben did mention looking into making panels. panel making does take time to setup but since nothing has been mentioned for quite some time its possible they have given up.

Yes it should fail the MOT with any serious body corrosion, its possible the MOT center didnt look very hard or it was done by a friendly station.

If its bad there i would have a real good look at the inner arches and sills.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by Ryanhill »

martin42006 wrote: 20/03/19 19:55 they do turn up occasionally.
I payed considerably more for a donor car than i payed for mine, and that was before i realized how good the panels were on it.
Yes mr2-ben did mention looking into making panels. panel making does take time to setup but since nothing has been mentioned for quite some time its possible they have given up.

Yes it should fail the MOT with any serious body corrosion, its possible the MOT center didnt look very hard or it was done by a friendly station.

If its bad there i would have a real good look at the inner arches and sills.
Yea I guess its probably that with the MOT then. I've had a look at the sills, and I know they were done a little while back and they seem fine at the moment, hopefully good for another few years.
I guess all I can do is email them to see if there is any update, but like you say it probably hasnt happened.

And I would buy a donor car, but I dont have anywhere to put the car where I live, since I have to pay for a parking permit where I live and its max 1 car per person, and even then I can't really afford the road tax again on another vehicle being a uni student. Ill have to have a look and see if theres any being sold as parts near me though.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by angpozzuto »

I had the same issue when I had a rev3 na. As it's all hidden behind the bumper I bought a second hand mig welder and some sheet steel and learnt to weld. It wasn't pretty or fancy but it was less rusty than it was before
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by Wheelnut »

Getting it refabricated must be cheaper than buying a donor car.
If you can remove the rear bumper you will save on labour costs.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by peteV6R5 »

it doesnt have to be pretty as covered by plastic bumper. yes common issue but dont go down fibreglass route as no strength in that fix.
seen quite a few done now but lucky enough caught mine years ago and stopped the surface rust becoming more than just surface.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by Ryanhill »

peteV6R5 wrote: 21/03/19 13:57 it doesnt have to be pretty as covered by plastic bumper. yes common issue but dont go down fibreglass route as no strength in that fix.
seen quite a few done now but lucky enough caught mine years ago and stopped the surface rust becoming more than just surface.
Just wondering, whats the issue with using fibreglass there? I understand its not as strong, but is that area really load bearing at all? And if it was an option, would fibreglass not be better, since it would not rust? So that area wouldn't have to be redone?

I was planning on going metal anyway, but was just wondering.
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by paulharry »

I went and cut a rear quarter off a scrapper and just in the process of welding it on

I also had to do the sill as well because of the sponge behind the door
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Re: Rust in rear wheel wells / down below boot lining?

Post by paulharry »

I have cut the bottom section of rust away as well now and repaired that little section as well

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