Like death and taxes, rust is inevitable in a classic car. The inexorable march of oxidation will take its toll somewhere, and you’re going to have to deal with it. If you’ve got paint bubbling up with rust under it, don’t just slather on some body filler and slap on a quickie coat of paint. That move is for scumbag car dealers. If you are tempted to go that route for the sake of expedience, you aren’t fixing anything, you’re just hiding the real problem.
The real solution is to cut out the cancer and replace the damaged area with real metal. If you love your ride and plan on keeping it, the investment in time, tools, and materials will be well worth the effort to do it right. Our ’68 Nova project car has dealt us several surprises during its time at Outlaw Motorsports in Riverside, California, where our step-by-step restoration is proceeding nicely. Over the past few months, we’ve encountered damage in nearly every part of the body, and we’ve been documenting a variety of those repair procedures along the way. We’ve had to replace some of the sheetmetal, but other areas are salvageable. In the case of the rust in the lower portion of the left quarter-panel, Outlaw operator Ron Aschtgen suggested we save the panel rather than replace it, since it’s easier to save what’s there than replace the entire quarter-panel. (Unfortunately, the right side panel needs replacement and we’ll have the entire story for you next month.)
On the floor we laid out the patch stock and drew an identical 3x3-inch shape. Don’t worry about being too exact, the main thing is to make it on the slightly large side.
…don’t just slather on some body filler and slap on a quickie coat of paint. That move is for scumbag car dealers.
We discovered that repairing rust properly with a patch panel is pretty doggone easy, provided you’ve got the right tools on hand. In the case of this quarter-panel patch, we were surprised that the repair only took about three hours, not including stripping and painting. Obviously, a job like this is best done in coordination with a full paintjob or a restoration—which Outlaw Motorsports specializes in. If you don’t have a shop like Outlaw near you, don’t sweat it. This repair is about a “4” on a scale of 1 to 10, so don’t be afraid to dig right in.
…we were surprised that the repair only took about three hours, not including stripping and painting.
Stuff You’ll Need
MIG welder
Hammer and dolly set
Rust converter
Cutoff wheel
High-speed angle grinder
Tape measure
T square/straightedge
Neodymium magnets
22- to 24-gauge mild steel
