1993 4 door severe rust repair

[adb140275]

i got a 93 XLT 4 door for $600. and its rusty. even the spring hangers are rotted. i consider this a challenge to myself. this will be a slowly progressing thread, i'm still in high school so i dont have a whole lot of time to work on this. i hope that's no issue.

warning, this is NOT a professional job whatsoever, i didnt buy premade parts, and it wont look excellent when its done. as long as it passes inspection when im finished, i dont really care. i just wanna beat on this for a year or two. it cant die in shame.



lets see what i started with. i have two 2x6 foot pieces of steel at my disposal.

both rockers are gone from the front of the B pillar on back. oh, and the back metal too.



check this. replaced the back metal on the drivers side. i'm finishing the drivers side before i start the passenger side.


painted the frame because i didn't like looking at the rust


heres the piece of rocker i made. not fantastic i know, but, it sure is a rocker panel. im leaving everything long, trim later. you can cut it twice but it will still be too short..


i'm not a noob to explorers as far as maintenance and repair goes. my mom bought a 1997 xlt v8 in 1999, when it had 3000 miles. we still have it today. it's been an excellent vehicle, but i preferred the older ones and i wanted my own to beat on a little. we love explorers at my household.

thats all for now. i'll work more over the rest of the week and post pictures as i go. i seek some encouragement here too, everyone so far except for a couple friends, have told me to junk it. it can't die in vain...

to be continued. thanks guys.

[GuardianSport]

That is looking superb.

[adb140275]

made more progress today. attached my partial rocker, and i pretty much finished it up to the dog leg. yes, it looks terrible. don't be scared. i can stand on the one i pieced together, and it doesnt collapse, so i feel good with it. i'll have bondo or something in all of the seams to make it look better, in the end.




now i must tackle this hood type thing over the filler neck... this will be a tough one.


and this fender, too. and the body mount associated. both rotted off.... fender on the other side is perfect though.



the body mount will be the hardest thing to fix by far. we'll see how this pans out. i'm determined to drive this thing....

[adb140275]

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[adb140275]

[Rich52490]

Have to give you props, you are tackling all the rust areas I need to have repaired on my truck

[CDW6212R]

Good luck with that project.

I have a 91 that I should have sold ages ago. It needs a front trans seal, and now doesn't wan to start. But this is the kind of truck to start with, because rust is hell to mess with.

Buy a gallon of Eastwood Rust Dissolver, and use it well by spraying any rust you see, and into any cracks. That is one product which will weep into seams, and possibly stop rust which you can't see.

Best of luck there.