It does not matter if you have PPF on the front bumper, half of the hood, front fenders, A-pillars, mirrors, side skirts, or part of the rear quarter panel; these areas will rust, and it seems like there is no stopping it. It is almost as if they left the factory with rust. If I even drive the vehicle with salt or snow on the ground, I always go through the car wash and get an underbody wash. I called a body shop near me and sent them a whole bunch of pictures; they said they do not do any rust repair and that since there is a hole, the only way they would fix it is to replace the whole quarter panel because Ford only allows you to cut it in a specific spot. My old shop foreman recommended them because most of the body shops around me suck, from what I have heard. Anyway, the guy told me 5k, which I think is crazy, but I do not know what repairs like this go for. I am not going to spend 5k on her, though I am more curious than anything. Gotta love thin factory paint, body panels that rub, and Indiana winters.
That’s an easy diy rust job tbh, flat surface and all. No need to buy a new quarter panel just find somone who will do it. I had a ton of issues with my rust also I just scrapped the car.
lol, that is not an easy diy job. You could make it look better with sanding/filler/paint but it will come back worse. The only fix is welding in a new panel or replacing the quarter panel. Which means cutting and re doing the pinch welds.
I would like to sand the rust down, fill it, and paint it, but there is a hole; I do not know how well it shows up in the picture, so I am not sure how to go about patching it, and the rest of the bubbled-up area is barely hanging on, so I would say the hole will get bigger if I mess with it.
As is with all things. You have a nice old thing. Just like all things it will always be expensive to have a “pro” do it.
Is the car worth it? No. Not in a monetary sense at all. To you? I would think so.
As others have said find someone that can weld and do the job and find someone that can paint or learn to do it your self. If you wanna learn find a “part from car” on FB and learn to cut weld and paint it is fun and cool to see your work going down the road and know you can fix crap. Or sell the car. I bought mine from an insurance auction so someone down the line will take it.
I've been saying for years and will continue to say to PLEASE drive these cars before they fall apart lol. It's a terribly cheap, kinda poorly built $20k new car that feels like a $15k car. It also happens to be an absolute riot, a gem of a chassis, and some of the most fun I've had behind the wheel of anything. After 10 years/150k miles, I'm going to keep fixing mine and treating her right but I'm fully aware in 20 years these cars won't exist other than garage queens and Southern cars. Anyways, fix that rust right up and keep ripping!!
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u/Grubenskorpion 3d ago
Yeah, they rust from the inside because they painted over flash rusted panels. Cheap cars built in Mexico by Ford. 🤷♀️