Rust Repair And Restoration - Busted The Rust

The quarter-panel on the right side of the car was actually in good shape. It is either a GM part taken off a donor car or a good reproduction, but we needed to take it off to get to the rotted wheelhouse behind it.

The quarter had also been plug-welded in the rear where it wraps around to meet the inside of the bed. We ground the welds flat and whacked each of the centers with a pin punch to give the drill bit something to bite into.

There was a string of small tack welds at the seam where the quarter meets the B-pillar that were hard to get to with our grinder. In oddball locations like this, you can sometimes use the cutoff wheel. Hold it perpendicular to the stuff you want to grind off and run it back and forth. Be careful with this technique-it's very easy to cut a huge groove in a part of the panel where you don't want one.

As you break through the welds, you'll see a seam form at the spot where the panels separate. Gently pry them apart with a panel separator or screwdriver. You may need to grind more material off in some areas to completely separate the parts. Take your time and soon the panels will split. We were then able to remove the quarter-panel and set it aside.

The inner and outer wheelhouses were joined together in a way we'd never seen before. It looks like the two were passed through some sort of roller that acted similarly to a spot welder. Each of the shiny spots on the arch was a fused joint. We decided to try and separate them with a chisel attachment on our air hammer rather than drill out each one of those spots.

Our El Camino had been hit in the side some time ago, and the inner structure was a mangled mess. We began straightening out these sections with a big slide hammer to get them roughly back to where they should be then a hammer and dolly to get them as close to straight as possible.

Yes, we love our acetylene torch, but this is more than just a gratuitous fire picture. Excessive hammering, bending, and pulling actually hardens metal, causing it to become brittle. Just like a wire coat hanger will eventually break if you bend it in the same spot over and over, the same can happen with automotive sheetmetal. Heating steel up to a dull red color softens it and makes it more compliant, allowing you to shape it more easily and without cracking or breaking it.

Check your progress often as you work. Though still not great, our rocker panel support piece is straightened out and now aligns with the mounting flange on the new outer wheelhouse.

Things weren't so rosy on the backside of the wheelhouse. The lower inner extension panel was totally caved in and required more metalworking skills than we possess. We decided to cut that section out and weld in a new piece.