Access to weld a wheel arch

[bigegg]

Surprisingly, I've found some bad rust on my land cruiser.

Im not even sure how to describe where it is:
It's called the "rear inner wheel arch outer".
The quarter panel/outer is fine.
The wheel arch inside the car is fine.
The bit of the wheel arch above the wheel which is (welded)/folded onto the quarter panel wheel arch and inside the box section is completely rotten



The red bit.

I'm thinking that I might have to cut away part of the (green) quarter panel to gain access, even though it seems solid.

Any other ideas - would it be more usual to cut the spot weld that hold the lilac part to the body?

land cruisers are body on chassis, so there's nothing structural near the rot.

 

[mr haynes]

Nonstructural then poprivets

What is your access like when jacked and wheel off?

 

[bigegg]

Nonstructural then poprivets

What is your access like when jacked and wheel off?

Probably be easier if I wasn't so fat.

TBH, I haven't looked yet.

 

[Bullet2012]

so there's nothing structural near the rot.

Can be structural if within a certain distance of a seat belt mount. No idea what that measurement is, hopefully one of the MOT bods can advise

 

[jo1010]

Anything less than 30cm from suspension or body mounts needs welding repair....
The other problem with overlapping metal with rivets is the rot that develops between the overlap.....depends if job is to last more than a couple of years.....

 

[bigegg]

It is _absolutely_ going to be fixed properly.
I want this car to last me the rest of my life.

 

[Dcal]

Can you not repair it from under the wheel arch? Access isn't nice but certainly doable.
Couple of photos would help.

I'm working on a mates KDJ90 and it's as rotten as a Transit.

 

[OJCar]

Assuming that you can't manage to access OK jacked up with the wheel off
I would be looking at removing the lilac/blue bits rather than cutting the green.
Depends on how you view the cosmetics of the vehicle.

Proper photos would help.

 

[premmington]

Can you not repair it from under the wheel arch? Access isn't nice but certainly doable.
Couple of photos would help.

I'm working on a mates KDJ90 and it's as rotten as a Transit.

Thats very bad then...

 

[Dcal]

Thats very bad then...

Indeed, not worth fixing but he's had it from new.
At least you can get most repair panels for Transits.

 

[bigegg]

Video is too big to upload, but this shows the issue.
It's rotted out all along the rolled edge - but only on the inner piece.

Im going to get it up on stands during the Easter holidays and get it properly cleaned up so I can have a good look.

 

[Morris]

Seat belts or body mounts within 300 mm of rot will fail. I had exactly this on my Sorento. Miles of rot

 

[mike 109444]

Have you looked to see if replacement panels are aviable ?
Not so much to purchase (no doubt ££'s) but if there are images, these may give you an ideal of how it is all constructed and could be deconstructed for repair.

 

[mr haynes]

If i'm interpreting photo correctly, the rotted part rolls down onto the arch and spotted onto quarter ala a typical inner arch.
Straightforward, cut back to sound, clean up and shape some sheet.
Make repair in more than one piece if awkward to get curves in the ballpark

 

[Blobber]

View attachment 534967

Video is too big to upload, but this shows the issue.
It's rotted out all along the rolled edge - but only on the inner piece.

Im going to get it up on stands during the Easter holidays and get it properly cleaned up so I can have a good look.

Once you start cleaning I fear you will find it extends a bit more than the picture shows