Car has cancer!

[WmWatt]

That was the first place on my Festiva that started to rust. It's got a couple of problems. First, it's an exposed seam in the wheel well where the outside and inside panels meet. Second, they stuff foam on the inside, I guess to prevent rattling, and that traps moisture right where the panels meet. When mine started to rust along the seam inside the wheel well I cleaned it up and sealed the seam as best I could with epoxy resin, then applied a couple thick coats of Tremclad paint. I had to use a mirror to see when cleaning the seam and applying the epoxy. About 5 years later I cleaned it out again, this time using a bit of fibreglass cloth behind the exterior surface for reinforcement where the rust had eaten through.

[lanemeyer14]

Wow, the more I poke around on the car, the more rust I discover. I found out that the passenger floorboard is rusted through, the driver's side is starting to rust through, and the rear driver side wheel well is worse than I expected. I'm starting to think it's gonna be more trouble than it's worth. I may end up scrapping it and looking for one that is completely rust free. I really didn't expect to be doing rust repair, I just wanted to learn about the mechanical side of things. I'm gonna see how much pullapart will give me, and if it's not enough I might try to sell it to someone who has the skills necessary to bring her back to life. This sucks!

[CharlieZ]

I just cut open the left side today. Oh me! Worse than I thought. And a lot worse than the right side. This car must have sat in water for a while. The left backing plate and control arm are caked with rust.
I'm going to do my best to fabricate some patch work to the "no-frame-left" around the suspension attach point. I know now, because of the outrageous price I paid for the car a year and a half ago, I can't put a lot more $$ into it. It runs good, drives good and the interior is decent but without a substantial chassis, I just dunno. But that's me.
This is my first try on embedding an image.

[lanemeyer14]

Geez, that is pretty bad. I just don't think I will be able to do the repairs on mine....I dunno, I'll think about it.