http://mywebpages.comcast.net/markschoen/SE-R/rust%20001.jpg

This is my problem. :( Has anyone had any luck with stopping this damned disease on the rocker panels? I'm teetering on whether or not to take it to a body shop for an estimate. It's going to be expensive and I just don't know if the car is worth it. Has anyone had a shop do this? I'm guessing it will involve piecing in a replacement rocker panel from a doner car.

That sucks man. Thats what you get though for living in the east coast... all that salt in the water isn't helping. :(

Ben

My new classic has it bad too. It's infuriating. The previous owner let the sills fill up with dirt. Then, instead of cleaning it out they put a bead of calk between the fender liner, and fender to seal it up real good. the Moron. Bondo time, until I can afford a real cure.

my se-r has it right above the drivers side rear fender well. there, and right underneath the drivers side door. i hate looking at it, but it's hard to miss when you clean your car almost daily like i do. i think i'm doing it a favor (i hope). ;)

If you get rust on your car in Austin... you left it in the lake for too long! :D

Ben

Mark,
I'm going thru the same things with the rockers behind the front wheel wells as well as the trailing edge of the drivers side rear wheel well. Lots of grinding, digging, sanding, priming, bondo and painting. And I know I'll be doing it again and again every couple years. There is no good way to stop the rust unless you cut it out and weld in new metal.

Your pics indicate a more serious problem than "surface" rust. You will have to have that cut out and then have a new piece welded in. Don't waste your time paying some $100 to fix it. It will come back in a year. Pay the fee upfront--$400 or so and have them cut it out, weld a new piece in, treat it, prime, paint and clear it.


For surface rust---you CAN win that battle. Mine is going in to a friend at work next week. If you dig and dig and dig into the pits of the metal and get down to nothing but shiny metal, you will win. Get it to shiny metal and then dig some more. Then treat it with a rust sealer---few coats. Let it dry good and then prime, paint and clear. The guy is doing my rear fender lip on the drivers side and repainting my entire front bumper for $150---that's a deal if you ask me. I'll post pics when it's done.


Curt B. Shumaker

Thanks for the input all. I know the right thing to do is to have the affected area cut, pieced and prepped. I just don't know if it's worth the cost. If it were not for the rust eating both of my A pillars at door hinge height, I'd spend the $$ and fix the rocker panel. The A pillars are terminal and there is no real cost effectiveway to fix those. So, I'll probably just put a temp bondo fix on it and then look for a new SE-R in a couple years. It's just heart breaking. I've owned this car since day one. :(