My 3g has cancer!!!(pics)

[led_fut]

so, ive had this car for about three years now, and noticed alot of bubbling in the paint on the rear quarter panels and fender, especially this past summer. then i moved up to Orillia (hour north of toronto) for school, and the winter driving really did a number on the body.

the reason its so frustrating is that the car only has 225 000 kms on it, and runs great, and the interior is still awesome. so, im looking for opinions/advice on what i should do next.

the snow finally started to melt this week, so i snapped some pics (car is really dirty thoguh)

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/3193/rust001oq5.th.jpg (http://img410.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rust001oq5.jpg)

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/4272/rust002no0.th.jpg (http://img102.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rust002no0.jpg)

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1158/rust003fm7.th.jpg (http://img251.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rust003fm7.jpg)

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/6803/rust004om5.th.jpg (http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rust004om5.jpg)

tell me what you think

[mkymonkey]

its probably worse than you think, if you have the passion like some do, you'd get a couple doner cars ands tart welding. but if youre looking for a quick fix, i'd say buy a new car....

:\

[led_fut]

oh i know its bad... the bumper is starting to get loose too....

[Estimated Prophet]

You don't wanna know.

[MessyHonda]

yeah you will have to weld in new panels or just fiberglass the shit out of it

[led_fut]

i dont have alot of experience with fiberglass, but i was thinking cut out all the metal, then fab up some kind of backing, and just layer the fiberglass up... i dunno

should i be worried about grinding around that gas cap? i know there are some bolts there for the filler pipe, maybe if i take that off and cover it up some how. i dont need to start my car (or my dad's shop) on fire

[Beanshonda55]

u could just try to make some of ur own panels from some sheet metal and then cut out the crap and weld in the peice and the bondo the imperfections or watever. making the panels ant to hard it onlytook me 2 to do one right the firston a steel drum.

[mbc]

If your car is anything like mine... the worse ya treat it, the longer it'l last.
my car will see its 500,000th mile in a couple of months and it's plenty rusty.
Seriously though... the sooner you fix it, the better off you'll be:)
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6177/0000670qd8.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0000670qd8.jpg)
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3771/0000704ze2.th.jpg (http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0000704ze2.jpg)

[carotman]

You need to replacre both rear quarter panels. Honestly, this rust is really bad. You're looking at like 2000 for a decent job in a shop(complete paintjob)

Maybe ou could do this with a friend during the summer. The panels themselves aren't that expensive.

[led_fut]

yeah im in college so im definitely not bringing it in for a professional job. the car has some other problems (front coils, radius arm bushings, needs some brake work, some exhaust) but i really am not ready to part with it yet.

these panels you speak of, where can i get them, and how much? im pretty creative, and have some paint/bondo experience, so im looking at doing it on my own

[led_fut]

mbc, your totally right, none of my friends can believe that my car has lasted as long as it has with the beating i give it... the roads out here are absolutely disgusting!

[mbc]

My rust comes from sea spray so the 3G is attacked from all angles.
At first it really bothered me and I tried to stay one step ahead of the rust. I was a little disappointed at first when it kept comming back, but the car is still watertight.
In my particular case, the appearence of my car is second to its functionality.
There are plenty of 3G's out here (southwest) that are "survivors". If you really like these cars you can find one,buy it ,and use it only in fair weather.
Remember... rust starts from the inside. There might be rust where you don't see:(
Matt

[speedpenguin]

Oh sweet jesus.

That's a lot of rust, if you repair all that then you better wash out the undercarriage every time it snows from now on.

[Gemini2003]

Yeah take it from experience... you need A LOT of passion to get thoes rust areas fixed.

You would need to find a doner car with no rust and replace... It took me so long to get that step done.

good luck

[Ichiban]

This is what I did:http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51210

[Cheeseburger]

eeekkk

[Vanilla Sky]

I personally would pressurewash all the loose crap off, Por15the rust, then fiberglass over the crap well enough to keep water out. After that, i wouldn't worry about it. Save up some money for another car. If the car is in otherwise ok shape, drive it either until you can't pass inspection, or the car just falls apart.

[led_fut]

thanks for the tips guys. i had a bit of luck this weekend, found a 90 EX-R that is in really good shape (230,000kms), tiny bit of rust on the back fenders (which i will get on right away), and they only wanted $550 (CA)! i couldnt believe it. the only thing that is bad is the interior...pretty gross, the previous owners were smokers. But i'll give'er a good scrub, otherwise just rip it all out. ( i have another cb7 for parts)
here she is
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2528/90accordexr001oj3.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=90accordexr001oj3.jpg)
little rust here and there, nothing major, the door trim will need some work too.btw, its pretty rare to find one with wheels in that good of shape with the winters here