I discovered a small amount of bubbling under the paint on the bottom of my el camino tailgate. Picture, after I wire brushed and cut away dead metal is Here (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/rick/camaro014.jpg) There is probably still some rust between the 2 panels, but there won't be anything to hold them together if I remove much more. How do I proceed? Should I have the outer piece tacked to the inner? The inner piece seems to be solid except for surface rust. Any experiences out there from elky owners?

Just cut out all the rusted area, fab. a piece and weld it in. When you are done with the hot work rust proof the inside of the tailgate. should last forever.

HTH,
GOOD LUCK<
TROY-C,

Its rusting from the inside out and you need to remove the old outer skin to repair it properly. No amount of sanding grinding will fix this rust, the only repair is cut out the rusted metal and piece in new metal.

You can weld the new patch panel to the gate using a lap weld or butt weld. A butt weld will help prevent any future rusting problems as it leaves no seem for moisture to attack, but takes more skill and prep work to preform.

You could also glue the patch on the skin. If you do a search for panel bonding or glue you will find tons of info that will help you glue in that patch.

But no matter what that rusted metal needs to be cut out and new metal placed back...period. Thats the proper and only repair in my book...Eric

Thanx I think that I knew the "correct" answer but was hoping for a shortcut. And there taint none if I want it right.
For now I've cut out most of the worst metal but left enough to hold the two pieces together. The gate will have to come off to do it right and I'll leave that til the fall.