Inner Front Fender Rust

[kermit]

The tin worm has struck my front inner fender (inside the engine bay). I coated the area with POR15 to stop the rust.



What do people recommend to fix this other than welding?


80 TR7 DHC
Brooklands Green

[silverseven]

as a temporary quick fix I've bonded metal panels together (I.e to clean up rust on winter beaters )

As a permanent fix however , you would still need to cut out the rust until you find some solid metal,form a replacement panel out of metal , then smooth out your seams and paint.....honestly gluing or welding is going to take about the same amount of time , plus with the fact that the inner fender is also structural , why would you want to cut corners ???

Ron.

[supercass]

I can't immediately recognise of what part this photo is but Practical Classics did some tests many years ago and in their (not necessarily representative) tests they found that a properly bonded panel was as strong as a welded one. However like welding there is a significant degree of skill and expertise required to properly bond a pane and the specialist glues used for this are quite expensive, supercass

[RUDDY]

If I am correct in that what we are looking at is the inner wing forward of the strut tower then the rust you can see follows the same arc as the inner wheel tub. It spot welds to the inner wing and rots from behind finally breaking through as in your photo.

The only correct way to repair it is to remove the outer wing, repair the inner tub and flange then let in metal on the inner wing.

The alternative is to cut this section out and patch it but the tub will continue to rot from behind over time

On the diagram below your rot is basically where 'A' is .

Cheers, Paul

[kermit]

It is the area noted as "A" in the diagram. I figured I'd throw the welding option grenade out there and see what came back. Clearly the bad metal will have to be removed to do it right. Removing the outer wing and tub may be a challenge. I will find a welder to patch it from the exposed side.

What type of weld is recommended for this location?

What about coating the area between the inner & outer wings with Waxoyl after the welding is done?


80 TR7 DHC
Brooklands Green

[RUDDY]

Theres quite a bit of shape in that area, best bet would be to get a decent section cut out of a scrap shell, you need to be MIG welding the repair, try to 'let it in' rather than patch on top.

There are far better products on the market now than Waxoyl, try some products by Bilt Hamber or Dinitrol. Waxoyl is too thick and sits across flanges and cavities, the others are thin like WD40, they get in every where then gel or flash off the thinners in them to leave a thin protective coat.

Cheers, Paul

[sonscar]

It is possible to repair this rust without removing the wing but access is very tricky and removing the suspension strut is almost certainly needed and then there is also the unknown amount of rust that is hidden.If you want an excellent repair buy new inner wings,outer wheel arches new wings etc,if you want a presentable driver repair it in situ and live with whatever happens next.\\\\\steve..

[FI Spyder]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by RUDDY</i>


There are far better products on the market now than Waxoyl, try some products by Bilt Hamber or Dinitrol. Waxoyl is too thick and sits across flanges and cavities, the others are thin like WD40, they get in every where then gel or flash off the thinners in them to leave a thin protective coat.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's why I thin my Waxoil (not the brand but wax type products locally available) 50/50 with turpentine so it's thin enough to get sucked up by suction of the engine cleaner wand as the compressed air goes through. The turpentine evaporates leaving the wax. Similar to the mentioned ones flashing off. Not sure if the brands are better than the Waxoil or not. But covering rusted areas is not very effective solution.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[rosey]

There is a standard repair panel available for this from all of the usual suppliers, it's known as the front inner flitch repair. It's one of the easier repairs apart from where it attaches to the headlamp filler panel because you can't access the vertical without removing the outer wing.
I have seen some horrendous repairs carried out in this area including 3 repairs over previous ones on the Grinnal, In my opinion the only way it can be repaired correctly is with the wing removed otherwise you will be unable to seal the repair with seam sealer and paint it before anti-rust treatment.
Make sure you make a good job of the repair otherwise you will be back there again in a couple of years to repair it again.

"Do or Do not, there is no try" - Yoda

1981 Purple Grinnal 2.0L
1980 TR7 Persian Aqua Drophead.
1977 TR7 4spd FHC Tahiti Blue