Something put a nice cut in my right rear Traction TA at noon today, saw that it was flat in the parking lot mid-afternoon. Swapped on the never-been-used mini-spare, aired it to 60 and drove home after work.

But that's not the problem...

Happened to glance up in that wheel well tonight in the driveway, and couldn't believe my eyes. There's a freakin' rusted out hole right into the trunk, at the top of the wheel well, about 6" ahead of the shock mount location!! The undercoating had come off in that small area and it rusted right thru. I opened the trunk and pulled back the side carpeting to confirm what it looked like from the underside. I am SO f'n pissed off. I took a couple of pics and will post them later. Not sure if any kind of repair is possible or practical, or worth the expense. This may mean the Riv only has a few years left for me, unless I can figure out how to adequately get it repaired. What a crappy way to start the weekend.

And this hole was NOT there when I put on new air shocks last year. That's the scary part, how fast it progressed.

Thats balls...

it's repairable just not conveniently. At a minimum = Have to remove the stuff around the hole (and the carpet inside), wirebrush it to get the loose reust and undercoating off, then treat with rust converter (NOT naval jelly, rather the stuff that paints on bluegray and turns black) then scrape again and then paint with POR-15. Then fit an aluminum patch and epoxy in place if you can't reach the area with a rivet gun.

When it is all dry, schmeer body seam sealer over it (neatly) & paint the whole shebang chassis black underneath and (if you want) the trunk interior color inside. Then re-undercoat the underside with the 3M rattle can undercoat (it's pretty good stuff).

Wha-la.

Albertj

While that sounds like a good option, it's just not going to happen any time soon with my schedule and lack of free time. I'm afraid it will affect the shock mount before I can get at it. It's not far away.

Road salt?

Not much salt used around here, but the way the undercoating was cracked open, I'm sure moisture/dirt/dust got trapped behind it and that's never a good thing.

Did some checking on Monster Parts Online and found I can get a new wheelhouse assy for about $95 delivered. Need to check with another smaller local shop and see if they'd be able to replace it, or if they'd maybe cut and weld in a smaller piece if I cut it out of a salv. yard Riv... I know where there's a couple.

...actually, that sounds great - this is not a big deal repair for a collision shop to put in the new wheelhouse. couple hundred in shop time and supplies should do it.

Albertj

Couple hundred? Don't know about that... the shop I stopped by earlier wouldn't even work up a quote after I told them I had no intention of dropping a grand on the job. Reputable shop too, I've used them in the past. I'm going to visit another place that did a bit of work on my 68 a few years ago, maybe they'll be more reasonable.

My rear wheel wells were like the from the car sitting for two years....and on concrete. It IS scary how bad it can get in a relatively short amount of time. I have several other rust issues on the under body as well and my shop took care of JUST the wheel wells for about $80. All the rust together was like $400 but the wheel wells weren't bad, and they did the 'epoxy-in' method. Looks really nice - can't even tell. I'd find a place that's going to do it RIGHT though - just to be sure.

Yeah, I'd rather it was welded in. I have next week off and will check the other shop out.

WOOOO HOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally got the Riv over to the shop I used years ago for my 68 body work... and I couldn't be happier. They'll cut out the rust til it's all good metal, fabricate a steel patch plate, fasten with body panel adhesive, and recoat the inside and outside surfaces. Initial quote: $232.

These guys did excellent work for me on the 68 quarter repair, so I have no qualms about them working on the Riv. They didn't have much interest in replacing the wheelhouse with new panels, due to the very high labor hours that would be needed. If this gives me 5 more years with the Riv, I'll be happy, as will my daughter who wants it for her first car. I know it wouldn't make it til she's driving w/o this repair.

Thats great news. A good/fair body shop is a rare occurence.

Bert

Believe it or not, that particular rust hole is VERY Common on Rivieras and other Buicks. I have the same hole and a mechanic I spoke with said he has seen the same hole on LeSabres and Olds Delta 88's. Always the right rear. Very strange. I thought it might be related to a moonroof drain, but some cars without sunroofs have it also. It would be interesting to see if others have this rust hole. I bet a lot of cars have it, and the owners are unaware of it's existence. I mean, who looks up there, it's completely out of sight. Check your right rear wheel well. I bet it was there for awhile and you just never noticed it.

With mine, I just clipped out the rusted metal. Wire wheeled it, then treated it with a rust converter. I bought one of those self adhesive metal patches, applied that and undercoated the wheel well.