how do I fix rust?

[mookandairin]

if you ever seen a lark,some have the rust threw the lower part of the fenders behind the wheel.how hard is it to cut and patch such a problem? I am a certified welder so "buzzing" the piece will not be that hard to do at all.but the mud/bondo/fill I am not to good at.

[Pat Dilling]

There are patch panels available from Classic Enterprises and other Studebaker vendors. Easiest solution is to cut out the rusted area completely, trim the patch panel to fit and weld it in place, grind the welds smooth then prime and finish. When welding do your best not to let one area get too hot as you can warp the metal.

Pat

[52-fan]

Check out this site and others on the SDC tech tips page. www.raylinrestoration.com has a good tech on repairing fender rust.

[jimmijim8]

Before cutting rusted metal away sometimes it is a good idea to mimic the shape, size of the area in cardboard and masking tape to hold your pattern or pieces of the pattern in place. Sometimes it will take more than 2 pieces welded together to mimic one areas shape-contour. {puzzle like sorta}. Once you have designed your patch, transfer it on to sheet metal. Try to be exact so it will be easy to finish it up {body filler} so you can't tell. Your first coat of filler should be the water proof type. When using filler just use enough to do the job. You can always add easier than sanding down excessiveness. Takes paitience and if you don't succeed in your first pattern keep on keeping on. Cardboard patterns are easier to cut than ill fitting patches. Shoot for perfection and even if you don't get there you would have tried your best. Before welding patches or pieces of patches, consider using sheet metal screws, clamps, vice grips, to hold in place. Try not to do the slab over thingy and cut you patches to be but welded. Sometimes you can visit a local scrap yard and find sections of metal fabricated in near the same shape you need. Cut away what does not apply. Be creative and let your imagination help. This is very time saving. Tools needed. Straight edge, scissors. tape, poster cardboard, tape measure. Any job worth doing is worth doing to the best of your ability. Ask many questions here to save yourself frustration. See your project to fruition and be proud of it. I hope I am bit of help but it is hard to teach body work in a brief paragraph. Others will chime in with tips. cheers jimmijim

[57studesilverhawk]

If you take a card board template of the whole rust area plus extra, as what you now see has come from the back side working its way to the painted serface side. I have always gone larger the first time and made a patch to fit that area, then fold it around the rear of the fender , the way the factory did. When that fits the shape of the door and the fender, you can then take a felt marker on the exsisting fender and your patch panel. remove patch and check to see if all is large enough, remember rust is still growing under the paint from the back side. Make sure patch is large enough. Then using the felt marker lines and cut the old mettle fender inside of the line about 1/4 - 1/2 inch, this holds the fender while welding the new mettle in place. as others have said take your time and you will be happy with the completed job. I started in the Body shop industry back when my new 59 lark was fixed at a local dealer and I was not happy with the job they did ,so I started from scratch and repaired the complete job and repainted it, and I havent regretted any of it in the past 50 years. Good luck with your current project never give up, and you will always improve.

[Guster]

While a common problem, What was the underlying cause of the Larks and Hawks rusting in that spot.

[Bob Andrews]

While a common problem, What was the underlying cause of the Larks and Hawks rusting in that spot.

Poor design. It's caused by having a brace along the inside behind the wheel spray, with no type of inner fender or guard. They had to know it would be a severe problem. It's one of those endearing annoyances of our cars

[Skip Lackie]

Back before a lot of you were born (1974) I attended the first Carlisle swap meet and the first national meet of the Milestone Car Society. The Avanti, GT Hawk, and 53-54 C/K were already certified Milestones, so there several Stude people there. MCS started out with a bang, with Brooks Stevens and Bob Andrews (no, not THAT Bob Andrews, the Robert F. Andrews who worked on the Avanti, among other cars) as speakers. I asked them about the Stude fender rust, and they said that they had fought long and hard to get the company to change the fender design, where the rear of the sheet metal is folded over and spot welded, but not sealed in any way. Because of its antiquated facilities, low volume, and high labor costs, Stude's cars already cost about $100 more to build than those of competing makes. Improving the design of the front fenders was estimated to cost 35 cents per fender, and the company was unwilling to make their cars even more expensive and uncompetitive. So they kept the same rust-prone design right to the end.

[COMMANDERPINK1]

Best bet at repairing studebaker rust is to build a time machine and go back and buy a new Lark, but some will say that studebaker was building there cars with rust into them. guess that wont work either. LOL
Tom

[Bob Andrews]

Excellent info, Ship. My father used to curse the bean counters as a generic concept on all brands. Many times he'd be working on a part that was hard to work on or access or just low quality and say something to the effect of "Y'know, this wouldn't be a problem if they had done 'x' but the ****in' bean counters figured out they could save two cents per car so we have to put up with this sh**!"

'Course, that was a lifelong flaw my father had- he was a worker, as opposed to a pencil pusher

[sweetolbob]

if you ever seen a lark,some have the rust threw the lower part of the fenders behind the wheel.how hard is it to cut and patch such a problem? I am a certified welder so "buzzing" the piece will not be that hard to do at all.but the mud/bondo/fill I am not to good at.

Soap

Pat's reply is a good start but let me follow up a bit. If the rust is a strip and has not compromised the rear of the fender where the bend is all you need is a piece of 18 gauge metal. Cut out the area by a low heat method, I like a thin 3" wheel on a die grinder. You can then make a pattern of the area that needs replacing and cut it from the sheet. Leave a gap about the width of the wire .023 anhd just weld it in in small shots. You can form the bends over a pipe or just by hand.

As Pat said, go slowly and you will not get a lot of distortion. Most can be gently dollied out and the most filler you will need is 1/16 or less after you have ground off the welds. SLOWLY!!! with a 4-4 1/2" grinder.

As you are close to the edge, warping is less of an issue. If you have not warped the panel, there is little filler and finishing necessary. You can get by with hand sanding. Just be sure to use a flexible rubber backer under the sand paper to spread the pressure of your hand.

That is one of the easier rust repairs on a Studebaker.

Bob

[mookandairin]

well the hole is all the way threw and the edge/back is kind of gone also. I will take pix and post them for you guys to see what you think.if I can fix it I will I am trying to avoid the big money to replace them.the rocker face is falling off to and the edge is too rusted and thin to tack weld it in place so I was looking at the rockers o e-bay. the more I dig into the car the more I see how much more work I got.----------DOES IT EVER END???????---------------I am having a hard time seeing the end of the tunnel on this build. I thought the car was much more solid than this.seeing how I am NO body man this puts me in a pickle.pont up the dollars or try to fix and fail..............humm................I got to try to fox it,that is just in my nature, I am hard headed when it comes to that...damn genetics!