Warning: That quarter panel repair took me 14 hours instead of 4

Went to fix a dented rear quarter on a 2018 Civic and kept chasing hidden rust under the seam sealer. Anyone else run into rust issues that just keep expanding once you start cutting?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannahs712d ago

Went through this exact thing on a 2004 Tacoma bed. Thought it was just a small rust spot near the tailgate and ended up cutting out a whole foot section because the metal was flaking away underneath the paint. The seam sealer hides everything until you start grinding and then it's like opening a can of worms. Ended up welding in a patch panel that was way bigger than I planned, and it took me a full weekend plus a couple evenings after work.

butler.shane2d ago

Man, that's brutal. I remember reading an article in a truck mag a few years back about how Toyota used some cheap seam sealer on those early 2000s models that actually trapped moisture. It basically turns the bed into a rust factory from the inside out. You think you're just scraping off some surface crud and then bam, you're welding in a whole new bed floor.