So the rear bumper has come off!! (At last, see screw help)
And this is what I can see! I have been told as it is over 30cm for major suspension parts and seatbelt things and bumper mounting brackets that it will not effect the MOT, but I still need to sort it out before it eats the whole car…
So after abit of digging I found that the hole as twice as big! (well I thought it might be looking at the bubbling paint) See below
So now I have some questions for you experts out there…
After cutting away all the rust (and as far as I can see the metal around this join is solid and rust free)
Do I put that rust stop thing on after have taken it back to shiney metal?
Then I was going to shape some alumium mesh to follow the contour inside the boot.
Then fill that with that filler that has glass fibre in.
Then smooth and fill with fine filler.
Then Prime it or do I need a special primer over bare metal and filler?
Then spray???
Does this sound the right order, is this the best thing to do??
Answers given are assuming you couldn’t get it repaired by welding in new pieces of steel sheet. Make sure you get rid of all of rust. There is some treatment that actually turns any small amounts of rust in to metal but I can’t remember what it is at the moment. I will find out for you and post it later today. .
if you have or can get access to a welder, the best way is to cut out all the rusted steel and replace it with new steel, clean up the weld and etch primer the area before painting…
however if your only option is to fill the hole i.e. you dont have a welder, then treat the area with something like this http://www.wilcodirect.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1602 follow instuctions for application… and as well as the mesh use a fibre-glass sheet and resin/hardner mix … do one side of the mesh and once dry do the other side to give it a bit of strength… prime and paint.
the other alternative is to replace the whole panel… but unless your are pretty good with a welder and other tools needed for this approach i would advise having this done by a bodyshop… hope this is of some use
Personaly I’d cut out all the rot, fabricate a new piece and weld it in. If you can’t weld then I’m sure a good bodyshop could take care of that in a day, plus then you know its right and you’ve got the strength back in the panel, to be honest I’d be mortified if I bought a car and found a repair using wire mesh and filler.
Well I asked a few garages and they reconed that the weld would discolour the paintwork on the outer panel and maybe distort it + then it would need a professional spray job, and as that whole side has been sprayed before then the whole side would have to be sprayed to match up!!!
Therefore cost big money???
Should I try some more welding places???
If I filled and sprayed it the part that would need respraying would be covered be the bumper when put back!!!
