I have a 70 Malibu that I just removed the left fender on to see what was behind the bad attempt of a "patch" behind the front wheel.

Overall the fender is in very good condition with minimal light surface rust on the inside except in this "patched" area. The guy who did the work just spread bondo right over the rust so it was higher than the front part of the door where they met. It looked bad with the fender on to say the least.

My question is since I removed the fender, can I bring it to a respectable (if I can find one around here) body man and have him weld in a patch panel or would they need the whole car there for fitting purposes? The other fender is good.

Can anyone recommend what I should do from here? Thanks!

The bodyman idea is good, but it's ahrd to find someone like that unless you know of somebody. You CAN do this yourself. With the fender off, completely remove all rust outside and in, trimming away the rot if you have to. Get a piece of sheet metal and cut out a piece to fill the hole from the backside. Go to a local autobody supply store and buy some 3M panel adhesive. You can actually glue the new piece in and it will be 80% strong as a weld. Well past good enough. Grind it all down and prep as usual on both sides. Use filler and smooth the outer surface.

I wouldn't mind doing myself but I've always been under the impression that the less filler you use the longer it will look good. If I were to do what Jimmy suggests will I have a problem with it showing a year later? I don't want to drop a couple of thousand on a paint job and have problems with it bubbling up a year or two down the road. Will getting rid of all traces of rust eliminate the "bubbling up" effect. Will I have this same problem having a patch panel welded in? Thanks!

Just be sure to remove and neutralize the rust and it'll be just fine. The ammount of filler needed will be minimal with Jimmy P's technique. Go with it, it is a great do-it-yourself way without welding.

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'68 SS-396 1/4 stroker "54" (soon)
'99 GMC 7.4 Vortech
'01 T-Cat 1404 Hooper 2X156"
"no replacement for displacement"
-2 Below Custom Automotive
Fbks, AK.

THanks for the replys. As far as sheetmetal goes, can I just go to Home Depot and buy the stuff that they use for HVAC ducting or are there places that you can buy "automotive grade" sheetmetal?