Fixing some rust on the Metro

[Daox]

With the engine issues sorted, its back to rust repair on the Metro. I just patched up a hole in the exhaust last night, and this weekend it'll be body workin time! I don't plan on making it perfect as its really just a daily beater, but I also don't want my daily beater falling in half or looking like a turd.

Here are a few updated pictures I've taken recently.

These side shots I snapped last night while working on the exhaust. This is the area I'll be starting with.

Driver's rocker forward.



Driver's rocker rear.



Driver's side overall.



These I shot a while back while having a Metro work day with another local owner.

This is the driver's side carpet pulled up.



And the rubber piece pulled up too. Yay, daylight.




I wire wheeled that whole side of the car last night, so I'll be busting out the grinder and welder tonight.

So, I have my work cut out for me. Any tips I'm definitely open to. The current plan is cut out what rust I can, weld in new structural / cosmetic metal. Convert the rust I can't cut out. Smooth over with body filler, then paint. I am NOT a body guy at all. This is actually my first real project doing anything cosmetic so it should be interesting.

[MetroMPG]

Worry about cosmetic later. You've got some welding ahead of you!

[deejaaa]

if this is just from salt, nothing to add. if there is another place where water is entering(cowl, firewall hole), i would patch that first.
had an 81 chevy 1/2 ton. cowl was rusting, allowed water to enter cab. rusted floor, moved to rocker then out cab at the rear. would have been so much work involved, i was this was in 1987. i didn't have tools, experience, place to work. long story longer, i tried to patch the rust by placing melted tar, liquid rubber, ceramic pump coating but nothing worked because i kept the rust in place.
why did i tell this story? don't know. felt good to let it out after 28 years.

[Daox]

Lol deejaaa, thanks for the laugh.

I started cutting the Metro tonight. I didn't get too far, but here is what I got:





I'll be welding new metal in tomorrow and also using Eastwood rust converter and rust encapsulator on any and all areas that still have rust.

[euromodder]

Forget the filler - it's where trouble starts all over again.
Grind the welds down, and leave it at that.

Use a rotating wire brush on what rust you can't cut out to get rid of as much rust as possible - that kinda paint helps, but it can't do miracles.

Degrease, prime & paint, then clear coat .
A decent quality automotive spray paint can will do.

When I repaired my crashed GSX750 m/c the spray paint I used (Motip) was better than what Suzuki put on in the first place !

[Daox]

The work begins... really really slowly and annoyingly. The Metro metal isn't exactly thick to begin with. Add some rust and it really becomes paper thin. This can be extremely annoying even when the welder is turned all the way down as you still burn through. Add tons of spatter from the remaining rust and arrrgh.

Anyway, I shall now share pics now that I'm done venting!


This is the first patch I did. I needed to cut the hole bigger, still battling too much rust.





All welded in, messy but solid. I'll be priming this before welding up the next section/layer.





Here is the next area to tackle. As you can see I kind of went a bit more crazy with the angle grinder, I'm sick of welding to rusty metal!





While looking at that area, I poked around a bit more, removed the plastic wheel liner and found this.





Then I literally poked it... a lot, and did this.






Darn you Metro designers and your lack of designing for salty environments!

Ah well, brakes over, time to go back to work.

[AbramWagner]

I feel your pain, I hate rust!! Good work

[hamsterpower]

If you are having burn-thru issues and not surprising you are. Clamp a piece of copper behind the weld. It helps support the metal and won't stick to the weld.
You can fill in rusty pin holes with just weld this way too.

[user removed]

I learned over time and hundreds of repairs to just cut away a little more to get to decent metal. have you tried angling the tip of the welder towards for a better view of the puddle.

regards
mech

[Daox]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try them out.