Howdy!

For the past several years I have, for various reasons (none of them great) ignored the body of my ’83 240 wagon. While living in Arkansas it wasn’t a big deal, but after three years in upstate New York it is now a problem. I noticed quite a bit more rust on the rear wheel well areas this past winter, and told myself I really needed to do something about it this summer. Then during a good rainstorm this spring I heard a sloshing sound coming from the back. Sure enough, the holes all the way through the wells into the car were pretty big. Check out some pictures at http://home.rochester.rr.com/bthart/volvo/

So, I guess I’m wondering what my options are. I’d like to keep this car for as long as possible, but not spend extravagant amounts of money (so, for example having the damage repaired in a professional manner is probably out of the question). I’m not opposed to doing a moderate amount of work, so long as it isn’t a wasted effort. I’ve thought about different things… simply stuffing a bunch of Walmart sacks in there to hold back the water and hoping the rust holds off for a while… fillng the cavity with some of that yellow expanding foam, then Bondo-ing from the outside… Installing some type of form-fitting plastic lining… I’m pretty inexperienced at body work, and am just not sure what my options are. It seems that on the right side a LOT of metal would have to come off if I was to try to eliminate any damaged metal – How could I reshape afterwards?

Anyway, I love my car, and feel pretty guilty about the whole thing. She has 210K on her and still runs pretty well. Thanks for any advice or guidance you can provide!

Brian