The areas around the opera windows don't look that bad although once you start cutting away the rusty areas it may be worse than it appears. Assuming the indented part immediately around the window is solid that's not that hard a repair because all the surfaces are basically flat. The easiest way to do it is to cut a piece of metal 1/2 inch or so larger than the hole and lap weld it into place. That'll take a moderate amount of body fill to smooth out the lines but if its welded in without warpage the change in body lines shouldn't very noticeable if at all. If you want something closer to the original body lines you can butt weld in a repair but that's a good deal more difficult. You need a piece that exactly fits the hole you've cut out. What I've done to do that is take paper (tape a number together if need be), lay out over the hole and tape into place. Then trace your finger around the edges of the hole with enough pressure to crease the paper on the edges of the hole. Then remove the paper and cut the pattern out along the indentation you made with your finger. I found I usually need to go over the indentations with a pen first to make it easier to do. Then you need strips of metal about 2" wide to go around the circumference of the hole. Drill 1/4 inch holes 1/2" or so from the edge of the hole about 2 or 3 inches apart (support the back side with a 2X4 to keep from bending the sheet metal. Then weld in the metal strips with half of the width behind the original sheet metal and half the width exposed in the hole. Next drill 1/4 inch holes 1/2" from the edge of your repair panel and test fit it. You'll likely have to grind the edges of the repair panel slightly to get it to fit flush with the original sheet metal. Once you've got it fitting flush put it in place and hold there with welding magnets and start tack weld it into place with 4 or so welds equally spaced around the edges. If all is straight start welding the 1/4 inch holes shut, one on one side of the repair and the next on the other side of the repair to avoid heat build up. If you get any warpage on a given weld use a hammer and dolly to tap back into place before proceding or if absolutely necessary grind out that weld and redo it. Once you've got all the 1/4 inch holes filled start welding the join together. Do an inch and a half or so on one side, move to the other side of the repair and do another inch and a half or so and keep alternating sides until you've got the whole thing filled in. Again, if you get any warpage or the edges of the original metal and patch panel start to spread use a hammer and dolly to tap them back into place before proceding or if absolutely necessary grind out part of the weld if its too far spread to tap back into place.
I've found that its next to impossible to weld in a large flat area without getting warpage but I suppose if you're more patient than me and can wait 2 or 3 minutes for every inch and 1/2 you weld you could avoid it. If there is warpage you may not end up with a whole lot less body fill from a butt weld repair then you would a lap weld repair so the lap weld might be the better choice. Another possibility is to cut out the rusty metal, prepare your patch panel and hire a mobile welder to weld it in for you, or take the car to a body shop and ask them to weld in your patch for you. If all they're doing is the welding it probably shouldn't cost very much.
I can't really tell from your picture but there appears to be rust holes on the roof just above the windshield. That's going to be a more difficult repair. The windshiel and headlinger will have to come out. Depending on how far the rust has spread you may be able to patch it with a piece of sheet metal, or if the channel that supports the windshield is rusted through you'd be better off to seek a parts car with a solid roof and cut out the area you need and weld that in. The area above the windshield is a compound curve which is diffiicult to form from a flat piece of sheet metal although the curves there are gradual so maybe it wouldn't be too bad. One way to form a compound curve is to take your flat patch panel, place it against an anvil with the outside surface down and hammer lightly and repeatedly all over the inside surface with a curved hammer head. I found an ordinary carpenter's hammer has just enough curve in it for this job. The surface will gradually take on a compound curve which you check repeatedly against the roof to see if you've got enough curve. This will leave a dimpled texture in the metal and the whole area will need a layer of body fill to smooth out which it would probably anyway due to the welding join.
Topic: Not a fan of the sedan (Read 53273 times)