My 02 Forester isn't a beauty queen, more of a work horse, but until yesterday I thought it was solid without any real rust.  Then last night I was washing it and I noticed what looked like a small hole on the rear-most part of the driver's rear wheel well right behind/above the mud flap.  I barely put any pressure on it and a fist-sized hole fell away.  That seemed to be the extent of it but I need to take a better look.  The other wheel wells were solid.  

I've never welded but an idea I had is to get a cheap flux-welder and weld a piece of sheet metal to patch it after making sure every bit of rust is removed from the hole.  

Thoughts?  Is there a better economical option?

Thanks

-Emt1581

Leave it alone.  Its going to be rusted WAY worse below what you can see.  Just drive the car into the ground and when done junk it.

Unless you really need an excuse for the wife to buy a welder, don't bother.

Unless you are trying to restore this just rivet a patch in place.


Clean up all the rust, undercoat the piss out of everything, maybe even fluid film over that.

Take your patch and drill your holes to rivet it in place.  Undercoat the back side of it and install it.

Undercoat the piss out of everything again.

That sucks!

Just had a similair experience, was washing my truck, noticed a bubble in the paint, poked it with my finger, and my finger wejt through the metal.  Nearly the rest of the truck is solid though, so i plan on fixing it, and i own a mig welder.  Flux welders will burn right though the sheet metal.

I have been looking for an excuse to buy one and for $75....

But I haven't rivited since middle school shop class.  If you could, please share what specific kind of riveter, rivets, patch, etc. just so I know what to search for.  And undercoat....is that just sprayable rubber in a can?

Thanks

-Emt1581

Flux core doesn't work too well with thin (even thinner from rust) sheet metal. Do some research before running out and buying one.

PA car? I'm sorry. Tip of the iceburg. Patch it, don't try and weld as you will burn through if you don't have clean metal. Don't use silicone for the patch as it is acidic. Get some body seam seal ands screw a patch down.

Edit...you don't need a riveter, just some self tapping screws. Patch material? Old aluminum siding works great.

THIS! I've worked at a body shop for 24 years. Once you have rust holes, much less a fist size one, the rest of the car isn't far behind.

I once thought that a fist full of self tapping screws was the way to go when i patched the cancerous flooring of my 73 GMC sprint.

Or at least till the next week when I was underneath the truck (yes it's a truck) pulling the transmission to send off to be rebuilt. Within 15 minutes the underside of the cab looked like a set from a Bruce Campbell film or The Tower dungeon ca 1544 from all the meat and blood adornment on the bottom of the protruding screws. Even in my dumber than shit 18 yo state of mind I learned to NEVER do that again.  In fact I don't think I've bought a self tapping screw in the 21 years since

I'll have to take a closer look and crawl around underneath this weekend.  You might be right but I certainly hope not.  This car has been an awesome beater!  Not ready to say goodbye yet.

-Emt1581

What is this "rust" you speak of?

One of the few good things about CA.....

Any kind of pop rivet will work, and you can make the patch out of anything, doesn't even have to be metal - plastic would work.  Yes sprayable rubber in a can undercoating, any kind.

I suspect you will have a hard time getting good enough metal to ever weld in a patch with some serious disassembly.

Your patch only needs to last as long as the car, which based on your description I'm gonna say 12-24 months.  Good luck. 

I tried pop rivets but my drill bits wouldn't make it through the steel.  I cleaned out all the rusted part which really was just concentrated around the area directly behind the mud flap.  Then I sprayed it with flex seal and attached a sheet of aluminum (took tin snips to a soda can) with gorilla glue and tape then hit it all with another thick layer of flex seal.  Held up just fine on the way to/from work.  We'll see how it does over time.

Thanks for the replies.  

-Emt1581