A few years ago after I got brave enough to begin my own maintenance on my brick, I discovered a large amount of rust and rot in the floor and both rear wheel-wells.

It was a bit upsetting for me also, not only because of my attachment to Vlad but for financial reasons...I couldn't afford a bodyshop to make these repairs, only for the rust to reappear (been there once), nor did I want to spend the money in buying another brick with an unknown history. I've owned Vlad since 1990, and my mother bought it almost brand new before that, so I know his entire history. Mechanically, it was in excellent condition and had many more miles left.

So, I decided to tackle the problem myself. I removed as much rotted metal as possible, which became a hole in the floorboard big enough to put a basketball through. I coated the rust on the hole's edges with POR-15 to prevent the rust from spreading, bought some fresh steel plates slightly thicker than the original floors, cut them to size, and screwed and riveted them onto the surrounding metal. (Welding is better but I'm afraid to do that!) All edges and cracks were sealed with a super-strong filler from POR-15 and coated with fresh undercoating. Other smaller holes were filled with bits of steel or epoxy and coated similarly.

I even manufactured a rocker panel out of sheet metal and attached it to the car with rivets and screws to replace the rotted one.

The holes in the rear wheel-wells were patched in the same manner. It took a lot of epoxy and filler to get the contours shaped properly. I then bought some color-matched spray paint for the finishing touch.

That was two years ago and everything is still holding together. It's not tidy and professionally done, and may not even pass a thorough inspection, but most of the holes are patched and the car structurally feels much stronger.

Being a daily driver in the rust belt, the car goes up on ramps every summer for a thorough inspection and touch-up. Rust is a continuous battle and I look forward to contributing to extending Vlad's life as much as I can. The goal this summer is to coat the suspension.

It's a LOT of work - I've spend countless hours lying on my back grinding, cutting, painting and patching while the mosquitoes have a feast on my legs. But it's very satisfying knowing that I've kept an otherwise mechanically sound car on the road and out of a landfill.

My first car was a 1971 142, so I can understand the desire to hang on to it. If the engine, tranny and other core components of the car are in good condition, I'd consider repairing it in a similar manner as I did. All you can lose is a little money and a lot of weekends.
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Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 278,000 miles
Original engine, transmission, drive train, alternator, starter
Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15