Warning: Do not do this, I did not realize the extent of my rust until it was too late.

Car: 2002 WRX
Miles: 330,000
Total # Engine Rebuilds: 3
Total # Engine Replacements: 3
Total # Transmission Replacements: 1
Value of car: $1500?

For the rust repair, I have only spent about $400 on materials.

It has taken about 150 hours so far.

Goal: To have a winter vehicle for going to the mountains/dirt bike tow rig that I can get 5+ more years out of. I have been working on it, modifying, and tuning it for 11 years. Mechanically in excellent shape. Just rusty. But I love my WRX. This is a love story.

Just prior to beginning all this rust repair.



Oh I will just chuck these new rear quarters on and patch the rocker panels



Start digging...











Yikes.

So glad you're posting this. It is truly a reality for vehicles that are driven and used. Especially so in regions prone to accelerating rust. This reminds me of the recent Subie Sanctuary rust wars videos. I love watching them tackle rusty Subaru issues. GL! I'll be following.

Thanks!

Let's find some good metal.


















Ok, the plan:

Gotta fix a few spots before welding in the 3"x3" tubing.







Making spacer plates to tie the tubing to the chassis, these took forever to make ensuring that the tubing was in there perfectly level in all directions and square to the chassis.

Test fit complete on one side, time to get everything dialed in and symmetrical.

This is going to be fun to repair...



Removed test fit pieces, and removed all the original extra bracketry that tied to inner rocker panel, and cleaned everything up for final welding.





Phosphoric acid jelly to kill any light rust, and spot up front to repair on passenger's side before the tubing prevents access.











Little spot in the back

Brackets tacked in in final locations.



Fits perfectly.



Final bracket to fabricate, since both up front spots were repaired, they needed special geometry parts.





Starting final welding after everything checks out.



Final test fit on passenger's side after brackets fully welded to chassis.



Tubing was then prepped and epoxy primed in all the areas that will be hard to paint once installed. Tubing was then welded in. Note the stitch welding to the inner outer rocker you can see below the doors.





First time the car has been on jack stands on the rocker panels in three years.

This is great work to see you doing. If you don't already know about the Youtube channel Yorkshire Car Restoration, it will give you hope. They do work on cars that look 10 times as bad as yours, sometimes similar mundane, regular cars. Lots of E30 3 series (non M) and the like. They do just like you, cutting out the bad metal, fabricating new and welding in. It's a lot of work but with the cost of new cars, it's almost always worth keeping a car going these days.

Thanks, I will have to check them out!

I thought I was going to have to wait to see more. Incredible work!

I'm kinda here with my 2004 WRX. Had it since 2012. Love it. Rockers are rusty as hell. I've "patched" them with fiberglass bondo and some backing metal. It's been holding for years, but I've been wanting to get it fully redone. Just thinking of removing the side skirts scares me.

... this has me rethinking things.

Check up in the rear wheel wells, there is a wall in the inner fender up near the top where it always rusts out and then lets water get into the rockers and the strut towers and the rear quarter panels. How bad your hole is there is a good indication of how bad it will be internally. I repaired my rust spots several times over the years welding in new metal. I never got the chance to really properly fix the hole in the inner fender I am referring to, I fiberglassed it shut a few times but it never held long term.

Here’s a link to an early repair on this car, I have done some extensive repair several times but never documented it.

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2747055

i appreciate that you are not only keeping a good car on the road but keeping it safe...i see to many deathtraps on those mechanical nightmare videos...

Like, ?

Thanks guys, I am picking the car up tomorrow, hopefully doesn't break down after not really being driven for a year.

She's home, made it the 2.5 hour drive without any problems. Was a little rough for the first 45 minutes after not being driven for over a year, but the brakes wore back in, and the engine smoothed out a lot. Here are some pics I snapped of the repairs painted and seam sealed.











I picked a warm dry week to drive it home to avoid salt and water getting sprayed everywhere, however when I drove past Worcester I hit a massive snow squall. The picture does not do it justice, I could not see at all for about a 10 mile stretch.

Awesome glad you made the drive!

I need to do this to my 2002. Nice job patching this up.

Excellent work! I have a bit of an idea what you went through, as I spent last summer welding in 16 square feet of sheet metal to my brother-in-law's 1997 Buick Regal, which also had completely disintegrated rockers. I ended up forming repair parts with a sheet metal brake (in the driveway) and it worked OK, but I really like your approach of using the strong HSS tube.

A very well conceived and executed job. Looking forward to seeing the evolution.