On my '02 two door Blazer, I now have rust holes in the rear quarters by the wheel wells - part #5 in the bottom diagram at Truck Parts and Truck Accessories

I plan to get a few quotes from body shops my mechanic recommended.
What should I be looking at for a shop to cut out the rusted panels (both sides), weld in the new, prep, prime and paint (colour is pewter)?

It would help to know roughly how many hours of work this is, in addition to total cost (our hourly rates can be much higher up here).

 

i did my drivers side panel last summer as i was kicking by boot off on my tire before hoping in (long story short) i kicked a hole right into my quarter panel. Come to find out from the factory it is filled with sound proofing foam and the tiny hole that started, let water in and the foam just sat there and held the moisture in rusting the panel from the inside out...

I went to a local parts store and got one primed ready to go for $90, not cheap i know. I was gonna tack it on there 1 bead at a time but then talked to a guy at work and he suggested body panel adhesive. its like $15 a tube, and i rented the gun that goes with it for $25 but got it back when i returned the gun. The adhesive is a two part mixture that mixes as it come out of the tube. SUPER strong stuff, and quick setting. I just cut the panel to fit the new one, put a nice size bead along the sides where it would meet the new plastic and put 3 or 4 pop rivets in it to hold it. Took about an 30 minutes to cure and is hard as nails.

I had to run the bondo almost up to the pin stripe in order to blend halfway nicely. then sanded, blah blah blahh. Got everything taped off and primed, then got a can of color match Dupli Color spray paint and put on 2 coats and 2 coats of clear. It looks good from a distance, but when your up next to it, there is a definitive line.

I plan on truck bed lining the rockers this summer as well as replace the other side, but i think i will take it to a auto body and have them repaint both sides.


as far as you are concerned, depending on how good you are at body work and what not, you might wanna do it yourself. shops around here are charging $50-60 an hour labor. Look me about 3-4 hours total plus the parts.

hope this helps and sorry for the rambling...

 

And if your wheelin it, who cares about how good the body work is. Your not entering it in competitions. I use this paint 17.00 a can but its an exact match http://www.automotivetouchup.com/cho...l=S10%20Blazer

 

automotive touchup makes great paint. I got a quart of it to be used in my auto sprayer and airbrush for small touchup jobs, its an absolute perfect match, good quality too.

As for the rust. why pay someone to weld it, get some 3m panel bond adhesive, its as strong, sometimes even stronger than a weld (just dont use it for structural purposes (frame, floor boards) just body metal, it would work perfect for what you need it for, and then you could do it on your own, save some money.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses.
Here's what the spots actually look like at the moment. I haven't stripped them down to see how far the rust extends.




A couple more questions:
1. Is it worth seeing how far the rust extends and cutting out and replacing only that much, or is it easier to just replace a size that matches the full patch panel? It looks like the LMC panel goes as high as the blue line added to the above pic.

2. Once cut, should the body panel on the car be flanged for the patch panel to meet up with it flush?

I'm fine with priming, sanding, painting it. I just want to make sure I get it on there right, and looking reasonable.

 

i would strip the paint back until the rust stops, but i would only cut out about 1-2" past the rust holes, if there is rust beyond that, clean it up, and spray it with a rust converter primer, and smooth it out with a little bit of body filler.

 

Slight update to one of my questions, should I decide to do the whole patch panel.
"2. Once cut, should the body panel on the car be flanged for the patch panel to meet up with it flush?"

It looks like the LMC panel might be flanged (tough to say for sure from picture)? If so, then I assume the existing body panel won't need to be. If the LMC panel is not flanged, should it be the patch panel that gets/is easier to flange vs. the body panel on the truck?

Thanks.

 

I am not sure i am following what you mean by flanged.. i have not heard this before

*edit* looked it up, I guess I am just old school when it comes to things LOL

 

exactly where my rust was. i cut the entire thing out and replaced it. because i'm sure there is still some moisture in there and i didnt want to have to keep putting patch panels all over it and trying to get them to line up and have the bondo blend nicely. just one big panel IMO would be the way to go. but to each his own.

and the panel i got went to about the same spot as your blue line, maybe just SLIGHTLY higher.

 

Thanks!