So yesterday I began to sand down some of the rust spots I have been neglecting to fix. The more sanding I did the more rust I ended up finding. The surface rust wasn't a problem and came right off but i discovered alot of dry-rot on the rocker panel and some on the quarter panel i believe its called . I started off with 2 or 3 small holes the largest being about nickel sized and the other dime sized. Once I pocked all the bad pieces away it turned into about 7 holes. not to mention the pile of rust i ended up with on the floor from trying to remove old rust from around the inside of the hole. I know the ideal thing would be to replace to whole rocker panel and part of the quarter panel but im on a really tight budget right now. Instead I got a decent amount of bondo for patching the holes. also one of the holes (left most one) has alot of rot around it(about the size of the hole itself) but i cant actually poke through it so i was wondering if i should still cut out the rot to prolong it or just fill it with bondo. So my few question(s) I have are if I get out the rot i can poke through and remove the surface rust how long do you think until the rocker panel is beyond repair or the car wouldn't pass inspection? also what would you do in my situation of having a very tight budget, i mean i feel bad my car is slowly eating itself to death but what can i really do except what im already planning on doing. This is my first car iv had(owned for about almost a year) Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated bc I am at a standstill on if i should keep the cav and do minor repairs until its beyond repair so i can save up money(id much rather do this if it can last last long enough for me to have enough $ for another car), or just patch it up as best as i can and sell it while I still can get a decent price out of it .

P.S - The other side of the car is more contained it has rust on the quarter panel and some on the rocker below but now nearly as spread out

P.S.S - I live in pa so the winter are pretty rough on cars(thats how the rust turned from bad to terrible lol)

Also Here is a link to some pictures.(holes may not look to bad but alot of the medal around the holes is pretty much one thin sheet of medal)

before sanding:
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000341_zpsbe6c1ffc.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000342_zps1852c48e.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000343_zpsc8a9fefc.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000344_zps999e0181.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000345_zps759b4360.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000346_zps96b497c2.jpg.html

After sanding and poking:
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000348_zps09314e11.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000349_zps0d483ae2.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000351_zpsa9537cb1.jpg.html
http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/05cavv/media/Cavi%20Rust/P1000352_zpsa461b848.jpg.html

Here is the pictures for convience.

Before sanding:






After sanding and poking:





This is the small hole that you can hear has rot around it but you cannot poke a hole in medal.

Do it right or don't do it.

Patch panels are cheap, obviously the install is more involved.

welcome to the world of 95% of all 3rd gen j-bodies on the road today. it sucks.



RIP silver car. You will be missed.

mines doing the same. thinkign about fiber glass mat as a repair with proper prep

Looks fairly solid yet to me.
Cut the holes into squares, butt-weld in some patches made to fit the holes with some aerosol weld-thru primer on them(keep an air blower handy so you don't warp the metal), dress the welds, use some all-metal filler to fill in any pitting, use body filler and sand to contour, D/A or scotch brite the whole 1/4, spray some etch primer on the bare metal areas, spray some sealer. Go to napa, have them mix you up some paint, spray Base coat and blend part way into the 1/4, clear coat the whole 1/4, and you're done! Sounds easy enough, eh? Lol. Missed a few steps but this is the gist of it. If you want it to be done right and to last years, this is the way. When it comes to good long lasting body work, there really are no shortcuts, and it doesn't come cheap.



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