Hello all,

on my 72 Cutlass 2 dr hardtop - I just pulled the front fender off - wanted to get some surface rust off the inside of the fender - when I pulled it off I realized that the bottom of the fender where there are 2 bolts that attach to the frame just below the door hinges is rusting through.

The original metal looks like it had two holes punched in to allow for the bolt / alignment etc. one of these holes has perferrated through and now looks like a semi circle.

wondering if I should use sheet metal (really small piece) or fiberglass to fix this area up?

Also there appears to be some form of spread gasket like sealer under the fender on the body part of the car wherever there is a seam. Anyone know what this is and what I should replace with? almost looks like a paintable caulking of some type.

Thanks in advance,

Louie

 

Use metal for sure. Fiberglass will crack and break on a stressed area like that. If it's that low on the fender it won't be noticeable and finishing it should be easy. and Yes the stuff is most likely seam sealer.

 

Louie, can you post some pictures? This is a common place for rust, but the two bolt holes on the bottom should be open on one side. More like a letter U than a round bolt hole. If the support on the backside is sound you can patch the sheetmetal. Look through the major builds and you'll find examples of how other members have dealt with this problem. John

 

Here's a pic of the bottom where the bolts go through to hold the fender up under the firewall/cowl side.

NOTE: This shows the outer skin portion only...the inner bracing is not in place on this fender but it has the same "clearance" slot in it....not a closed hole.

And yes, that is seam sealer....it's an oil based stuff on there from the factory and it dries out a bit over time. If you replace it with some other seam sealer you need to REALLY CLEAN the metal under the old seam sealer well....the oils from this stuff seem to migrate into the underlying metal and you want that metal super clean/oil free to get the new seam sealer to stick to it. Better yet, shoot some sort of good paint over the freshly cleaned metal first and then apply your seam sealer after the paint has cured well.

 

IMG00195-20101114-0712.jpg

Great news on the U bolt hole issue...maybe less work than initially thought.

 

IMG00199-20101114-0827.jpg

here is another shot once removed from the car. Not as bad as I originally thought given the U bolt attachment hole.

Cheers,

Louie