I have a rear passenger quarter panel below the bottom hinge for the tailgate that has a hole in the rust and I was wondering is it worth trying to bondo and fix myself or just take it to a body shop. And does anyone know how much a body shop would cost to fix this. And how would you go about fixing this thanks.
How should I go about fixing this rust?
- Thread starter Tzerambo
- Start date
I think what I would do first is go through the tub and frame, and find out what else the tin worm has gotten hold of. If you've got rust that bad in that location, you can almost bet that you have bigger issues elsewhere. Seriously, you need to crawl under your TJ and investigate.
No amount of bondo is going to fix that.
What you see there is rot. It's gone beyond rust and now it's actual body rot. Once you sand the paint down, you're likely going to find a big chunk of that panel needs to be replaced. The right way to do this is cut the old piece out, weld a new piece in, paint it, etc.
Unless you have the skills to do this yourself, you'd be stupid not to pay a shop.
If the rust is that bad in one place, I'm guessing you have a lot more rust like that hiding in other places.
What you see there is rot. It's gone beyond rust and now it's actual body rot. Once you sand the paint down, you're likely going to find a big chunk of that panel needs to be replaced. The right way to do this is cut the old piece out, weld a new piece in, paint it, etc.
Unless you have the skills to do this yourself, you'd be stupid not to pay a shop.
If the rust is that bad in one place, I'm guessing you have a lot more rust like that hiding in other places.
If you're in a crunch, you could cut out the rotted area, seal up the edges, and hide it under some aluminum corner guards
Ok well I don’t know much about bodywork I’m better with the mechanical inner workings of vehicles so if I took the to a body shop what do you think I should ask them to do like replace that whole panel if that’s possible or weld in a new panel in just that spot
Yeah I want to try to fix it permanently I’m not in much of a rush but I do daily it so I would like it to look better.
You'll want to take it to a body shop and have them take a look at it. They'll tell you what they suggest, and chances are it will be replacing that entire body panel would be my guess. I mean you could weld in a new piece of metal in just that spot, but it depends on what they think will be easier / more cost effective.
What is location history of that TJ? I am betting it spent some time in the North East or other Salt areas? Surprised to see hole like that on a TN jeep.
There are patch panels available for the rear corners that can be cut down to the size of the repair.
With the damage being under your tailgate/ spare lower hinge you need to get it repaired right. Lot of weight there.
Yeah I think I would want them to replace the quarter panel that would probably look the best
no the Jeep is from Pennsylvania and it came down here in about 2014 and we don’t use a lot of salt down here so most of that rust is from up north.
Pretty much. Drill some holes through the tub and bolt them right on top of the sheet metal. They're primarily intended to prevent damage from impacts, or to hide existing damage. They are much thicker than the base sheet metal.
https://genright.com/products/tj-corner-guard-set-standard-aluminum.html
https://savvyoffroad.com/product/sav-tjcnr/
https://www.extremeterrain.com/poison-spyder-stock-crusher-corner-guards-bare-steel-9706-tj.html
https://metalcloak.com/extended-corner-guards-pair-tj-aluminum.html
They usually come in various cuts and with various mounting options. The first two linked should accommodate stock fender flares. The second two are designed for use with the company's flares. They can usually be bought in steel (heavy, cheaper) or aluminum (lighter, more expensive). They are typically 3/16" thick, so steel corners get VERY heavy. But they can take a lot of abuse. Aluminum is also generally more corrosion resistant.
You'd still need to cut out the existing rust and prevent it from growing. But this gives you the option to hide less than perfect repairs.
Post some pictures of your frame and the rest of the Jeep before entertaining the thought of repairing that.
The frame is actually really solid just the body is just in awful shape. I went through and took all the surface rust off the frame and resprayed it with rust converter and new coat of paint.
Yeah I just have to find a good body shop around here hopefully they can do what I need I really want to just replace that whole quart panel do you think they can replace that without it being obvious that it’s been replaced?