Rust repair Rear wheel well (pics) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rust repair Rear wheel well (pics)

I had the typical small rust spots appearing over the rear wheel wells. The rust damage was under a dime in size in a few spots and wasn't rusted through. Once I hit the damaged areas with a wire wheel and sander the holes just opened up. I finished the rust removal with a sandblaster which came in handy for the hard to reach areas. After removing all rust I glassed in the damaged areas (from the inside of the vehicle) with fiberglass cloth and resin (thicker gel variety). Once the fiberglass cured I sanded it down and skimmed some body filler over the area. A little more sanding and then 4 coats of sandable primer.

I removed the rear trim and you can see the obvious damaged areas. I sandblasted the area to remove all rust.
18205Wheel_Well_Rust-med.jpg

A closer look at the damage (and my rear tire!)
18205Wheel_well_rust_through-med.jpg

Here is a picture of the rear passenger quarter panel damage. The actual rust prior to this pic didn't look that bad.
18205Rust_through_rear_R-med.jpg

Once again you can see the open air via the rust damage.
18205Rust_through_R_Inside-med.jpg


In the pic below I used Rattle can Sandable primer (4 coats) and didn't applied a finish coat (yet)... I was planning on wet sanding the primer and then spraying some rattle can finish the following week. Well I guess certain primers (like this) are porous and will allow moisture to get in and bubble up the paint... This can be seen in the daylight picture below... I will be sanding it down again and recoating with POR-15 instead of the rattle can primer to ensure no further rust issues.
18205Primer-med.jpg

18205Rust_repair_R_Rear-med.jpg

18205Right_side_primed-med.jpg

Here is a picture of just POR-15 over the fiberglass repair. This area is covered by the trim so I didn't use any body filler to smooth it out.
18205Wheel_well_fixed-med.jpg
 



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Awesome work. Between this and your windshield thread, I think I've gotten enough info to try and repair the rust hole in my passenger side dog leg.
 






Wow, nice job. Looks great. :thumbsup: How long did it take you?
 






The entire job took a weekend not working that hard... As always the most time went into waiting for the primer to dry.. The Body fillers and fiberglass resin harden in 20 min so you complete that process very quickly. IMO the benefit of the fiberglass is that it is stronger and offers more of a foundation than body filler.
 






how do you use your sandblaster inside the truck without getting sand and everything everywhere?
 






mechanic021 said:
how do you use your sandblaster inside the truck without getting sand and everything everywhere?
That is an excellent question... I had some plastic sheeting and taped it just behind the rear seats on all four sides (roof, floor, and sides). I also put a small fan in the front seat blowing towards the rear to help make a positive ventilation.. I did get a small amount of dust inside the cabin, but it was easily picked up with my wet/dry vac. Obviously I had 5+ lbs of sand in the trunk area that I had to clean up. I did however get a moderate amount (a cup) inside the cabin during my Rusty Windshield Repair thread. This was due to the gaps in the sheeting I was using as well as the holes that opened up during the sandblasting..
 






well im gonna be doing some similar rust repairs to the inside of my blazer but it will be gutted inside all but the dash. will I be ok if i just prep good? I dont realy wanna have to take my head iner and things out if i dont have to.
 






You should be fine.. Just prep the best you can and cover the dash with an old sheet.
 






Congrats on the fine work!
Thanks also for the rear quarter panel pictures. I forgot what that space looks like. I will be trying to maximize work space in there, in my 93 Limited. My Explorer is a mail vehicle, so I will replace the sub amp with a five channel Kenwood amp. I will not use the rear sub, but instead find a gray normal quarter panel piece, and use that space for supplies.

I appreciate the info from the winshield thread also, I will most likely have my windsield out, and I know I have some rust also. That POR15 sounds like great stuff. :thumbsup:
DonW
 






Great thread!

I was thinking about taking a welding class this July, but I like this fiberglass alternative.
 






Only 8 years later, but just read this, Nice Work!
 






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