bodywork advice please

[woodman]

Hello

I have a bit of rot! I've tried uploading a couple of photos but my internet connection is on a go-slow, so I'll just describe it. On the outside, the seam at the bottom of the O/S rear wing is splitting along it's length from the end of the bumper to the wheelarch. Also the leading edge of the wheelarch is a mess of bits of rust and bits of badly done filler jobs from the past. Inside the boot, the floor was quite wet when I took the rubber mats out (we did have some very heavy rain yesterday). It looks like the wing has been replaced in the past. The triangle of floor between the wing and the main boot floor is totally shot, and you can see daylight from the wheelarch, but the main floor section looks fine.

Now, please bear in mind I'm not in a hurry to spend money at the moment, but I am planning on keeping the car quite a few years as my main transport, and want to do repair jobs properly. So my basic options now seem to be:
a) leave it alone for a while, save up and do a proper job later (maybe later this year);
b) do a good quality cosmetic job now, but know that it will always be a repair, rather than a restoration.

The motor body shop I've used before (for modern cars) seems reputable and often has interesting cars in for work, such as a 1970s Rolls Royce and an E-type Jag. Their proposal is to cut out the rot and do a fibreglass reconstruction inside, cut and reconstruct the wheelarch leading edge, make up and code a paint colour that can be replicated for re-use elsewhere on the car in the future, and spray the offending panel inside and out. They're quoting me £200 for that.

Now this price seems to be very reasonable for the amount of work and would be a good option (b). But what I'd like to understand, with your collective wisdom, is whether I should hold out and get some steelwork done to fully repair the floor and wheelarch, even it means that in the short(ish) term I have to stop the water leak, cover up the rot and pretend it's not there until I can afford the steelwork. (I do know an excellent panelbeater and welder, who would no doubt love to get his teeth into a proper reconstruction, but no doubt he'd be more expensive and I'd probably still come back to the aforementioned body shop for the paint job).

What would you do?

[Burdekin]

Is it an Amazon or P1800?

I'd ask your panel beater to have a very close look at the whole car to determine amount of work required. Be prepared to lift the carpets and any other bits to get the best idea you can.

Have a search on here to find out all the usual problem areas and check these areas at the minimum.

I wouldn't go for the fibreglass repair myself and it will probably be a waste of £200 if you're planning on keeping the car.

[amazondean]

First question is, what car is it.

If you have been quoted £200 to do a good bodge that sounds promising. The area is bodged anyway so a good bodge for £200 sounds a bargain. You could spend thousends and still end up with a mess. You may find the cheap option may last a few years as well.

[Derek UK]

If I read this right the area we are talking about is the fluted panel and its junction the bottom of the rear wing. This panel also includes the "triangular", your ref, part of the boot floor. Means that they both get replaced at the same time. I could have picked several cars on the Swedish Amazon Club site which show this repair, but this link might be useful. Arch repairs included.

http://amazon.forum.bilia.se/phpbb3/...=9373&start=45

[woodman]

It's a 121 saloon. Keep the advice coming...!

[woodman]

Blimey Derek that's a seriously detailed link, thankyou very much! Yes that's the exact same bit that needs attention, and though my Swedish is patchy I can assume this is much more than 200 quid's worth of work. Hmmm, I'm tending towards keeping it together with duct tape and hope for a little while and then going for the full-on repair when finances allow...

Originally Posted by Derek UK

If I read this right the area we are talking about is the fluted panel and its junction the bottom of the rear wing. This panel also includes the "triangular", your ref, part of the boot floor. Means that they both get replaced at the same time. I could have picked several cars on the Swedish Amazon Club site which show this repair, but this link might be useful. Arch repairs included.

http://amazon.forum.bilia.se/phpbb3/...=9373&start=45

[woodman]

Better internet today, so here are the pictures of my rotting metal. I suppose a crucial question really is, if I hang on and save up to do a really nice job on this, how long will it sit there in its current state without getting noticeably worse? I don't think it's got to the chassis leg that runs alongside the fuel tank and out to the bumper anchor, but that would be the worrying bit if it started to attack that. If I can stop the water ingress, how long have I got, do you reckon?

[222s]

Of those areas that you show in the pics, is there any filler? They don't look too bad (I've seen far worse), and as it is a saloon, both the side valence panel and a repair section for the lower edge of the rear quarter are available.

IMHO, the £200 for the bodge would just be wasted money.

[woodman]

Originally Posted by 222s

Of those areas that you show in the pics, is there any filler? They don't look too bad (I've seen far worse), and as it is a saloon, both the side valence panel and a repair section for the lower edge of the rear quarter are available.

IMHO, the £200 for the bodge would just be wasted money.

No, the only filler is round the wheel arch edge. I'm tending to agree with you about the bodge, and am in the process of getting an estimate for the proper job. But the bit of floor between the chassis leg and the valence panel is gone, and I think a bit of wheelarch too. I know it's not terrible, but I'm just not putting a screwdriver anywhere near it for now so as not to make the job more urgent than it needs to be.

[222s]

Originally Posted by woodman

But the bit of floor between the chassis leg and the valence panel is gone

Is that the outboard floor area that meets the rear quarter? If so, that's actually part of the valance panel