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Had a chance to tear into this last parts car to cut a test panel for *B2*, who is wanting a patch panel for the fuel door area.

Once I got it cut out, its very apparently why it rusts, and how stupid GM is.

This section I'm holding with my thumb is what you normally see when you look in the wheelwell.


Peel that section back and you can see the black foam looking material that holds water and starts rust.




The black foam looks kinda soft, but its hard as a rock.

As far as I know, there is no real prevention technique, or a cheap fix. You have to cut out the old section, weld in a new one, and repaint.

Just thought I'd share.

Thanks, Andrew. I had the body shop explain what the problem was, but it is a lot better to actually see what he was talking about.

picture is worth a thousand words,

now I dread the day mine ever starts.

*Shudder*

thanks for the pics. Always wondered what that was all about.

Actually my car's going to get repaired in a couple of weeks. I figured since the rust/decay? is at its earliest stage, better now to get that fixed.

I have the same problem in mine. Sucks big time :( its not bad , YET, just a little bubble, but I know whats coming .. So other than cuting out and installing a new 1/4 theres nothing to hold this off or prevent it from getting worse?

SLEighride03 wrote:thanks for the pics. Always wondered what that was all about.

Actually my car's going to get repaired in two weeks. I figured since the rust/decay? is at its earliest stage, better now to get that fixed.

I dont think it really matters.. Once its there , and you start grinding the metal is just going to get thinner, weaker, and more prone to rust

from what I understood about the repair, they're going to actually remove all the foam, grind down/cut out what rust is there, then, depending how bad it is, replace the panel or just prime and paint the repaired area.

SLEighride03 wrote:from what I understood about the repair, they're going to actually remove all the foam, grind down/cut out what rust is there, then, depending how bad it is, replace the panel or just prime and paint the repaired area.

what was your quote? Mine was $1600 to RnR the entire 1/4... For 1600 bucks.. Ill actually wait til it looks like crap.. For that kind of money on a 10 yr old car you might as well let it get bad before you fix it

$525

SLEighride03 wrote:$525

yea.. I like your guy better already

Sweet, I'm excited to see that patch! I think I'm going to do my repair myself, so, assuming I have a little free time I'll take some good shots of my damage and repair process. I'm pretty sure I've been repaired before, and it looks really bad(probably due to the improper initial repair). It's gonna be ugly.

BTW, if anyone is wondering, my plan is to remove all of the bad metal, clean the entire area to bare steel, butt weld in the new panel, and properly epoxy(impermeable to moisture unlike other primers). Let's hope this lasts at least 10 years.

So is the water coming in from the larger seam at the outer edge, or somehow from where the filler neck attaches?

The water gets in around the fuel door and sits in there. Plus if your trunk leaks...

00Beast wrote:The water gets in around the fuel door and sits in there. Plus if your trunk leaks...

Ya its coming it from the seam around the fuel door. This has nothing to do with trunk leaks though, its completely enclosed away from the trunk, hence the reason you can't see it when you open the trunk.

It would seem to me there must be something that could be done to help prevent this. Possibly coating the inside of the fuel door area with a sealant of sorts maybe?

I thought about that too. Worth a shot to someone that doesn't have any signs of rust.

How would one get the undercoating spray into that area?

I'd like to try it because I have no rust and if someone ever drives this car in the rain or worse yet, salt, it's a good preventative measure......like my mudflaps that never get any real use.

Andrew --

How are you going to get the fuel neck housing off of the quarterpanel? (Is that the part you are after as a "patch?") Can you break that black weld seal stuff with a chisel?

Ken_W

Car manufacturers are using more and more of this structural bonding material in new cars to replace spot welding. It is supposed to seal better and offer better corrosion protection.