Rusted rear wheel arch
 

Hi guys,

My 99 blazer, 299K has spent most of it's life in Mn and now Wi, needless to say the undercarriage is rusty and I've done what I can to mitiigate the rust. I am retired so, I don't drive it more than 2x a week during the winter.
About 3 yrs ago, I cleaned out the rust areas, filled with bondo and then spray coated the bottom section with bedliner.

Fast forward..today I was looking the truck over, getting ready for winter and noticed some rust showing thru on the rear wheel arch, so started to investigate and found more damage then I was prepared for. :(

So, I'm guessing a patch panel to repair it...... that seems more like a summper project.
However, wondering if I can get by this winter with a modest repair, perhaps use some light aluminum panel to fabricate a small patch to fit inside and give bondo a surface to cling to?

What about adding some new wheel flares?

What are your ideas for this?

Also, for those of you that have done the patch panel, how did your project turn out.
Anyone of pics of their project and the steps involved to complete?

Thanks,
Chris

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...d5a14d864d.jpg

I highly reccomend against putting bondo anywhere near that. It will just make a mess, and make doing the actual patch work miserable when it comes time.

do it right the first time and patch it. If you can't do it till spring, just don't mess with it in the meanwhile.

OK. Thanks for the info.

I found these replacement panels from MillSupply.com has anyone purchased from them and did you find their products good?

link: https://www.millsupply.com/rear-whee...l.php?p=118643

Anyone used either of these suppliers of patch panels from Millsupply or Fixmyrust?
The few online discussions/ reviews I have found regarding either of them is mixed.

Did you find the products and service to be good?

https://www.millsupply.com/rear-whee...l.php?p=118643

or

https://www.fixmyrust.com/Item/1995-...ch_Driver_Side

Thanks.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if both of those are the exact same part, made in the exact same factory. I haven't used anything from either of those companies, but I have used patch panels before, and they're not bad. You'll still have a fair amount of bodywork to do (cutting, flanging, welding, and blending), but it's better than trying to rebuild the wheel arch out of fiberglass.