Please help the newbie....

[smokesilver]

Hiya, was really chuffed to find a whole website devoted to the 300 series. I love mine to bits, and have never understood why nobody else seems to!

Here's the problem though - she's obviously a bit of a grand old lady now (1988) and unlike the pictures of your cars I've seen, she's full of rust. I've patched up bits in the past with body filler, but it just comes right back around the edges of the filler 6months later. Now I've got a rust hole about 6 inches long along the top of the passenger door.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to how someone with only small amounts of technical know-how could go about fixing this (apart from the one I always get, i.e. 'scrap it'). I'd like the repair to be as permanent as possible, because my previous attempts haven't been at all.

Oh, and happy new year to all of you!

[volvosneverdie]

Welcome to the forum mate.
And a happy new year to you.

When you say 'along the top of the passenger door' do you mean on the door itself?
Pics would help.
Of the rust, and of the car in general!
We like pics.

Id be tempted to change the door personally. Or i suppose you might reframe it if the rest of the door is solid.

Youre right though, certainly dont scrap it!
Rusts lighter than carbon fibre after all, so the older it gets, the greater the performance. Er, possibly.

[SteveP]

Welcome!

Rear doors are notorious for rusting along the top of the door underneath the window. You may think the 300 mania cars look good but we all have auto-flatter mode on our cameras (apart from a select few!)

Permanent repair will need the rusty metal cut out to fresh metal and a new repair section let in, or a replacement rust free door or.. a maybe even a new door skin. If that's the most of your rust issues, then you're lucky... sills, valances and other structural areas can be a pain!

[magnumpi]

Happy Christmas and welcome to the forum.

Don't scrap it, the people saying that are probably the ones up to their eyeballs in HPi on their 09 reg whatever it is blandbox.
If it's the door itself as above prob easiest to just replace it but welding is possible. It is also true that we don't all have minters, we are all battling the tin worm in one way or another

With regards to rust repairs your better off doing nothing rather than slapping filler over it and hopeing it will sort itself out. The rust will just get worse and carry on eating away under the filler until it "bleeds" out on the edges as you say.

Cutting out or replacement is the only way

[trabitom99]

This is the worst rust I've seen on V300 rear doors, just to show it can always get worse


I'm fighting this battle on two of my cars ATM, and it's a pain to keep in check.

Welcome to the forum, and let's see some pics of your car

Tom

[volvodspec]

i've seen waaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than that tom!

on a 1992 registered car, a hole of 15x10 cm on the right rear door, it was about the same height as the doorhandle but a fair bit more forward

can't find a pic at the moment though

[SteveP]

i've seen waaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than that tom!

+1

[trabitom99]

Sounds gruesome

Tom

[smokesilver]

Hey there folks - big thanks for all the welcomes. Pictures on the way once I've taken some!
Sadly, the rust hole is worse than on trabitom99's picture - it's perforated right through, right up to the wing mirror (It's on the nearside front door). Should have tackled it much much earlier.

I'm interested in your suggestions of welding it - how long would a welded repair last, would you say? Would I be able to rent the equipment?

Volvosneverdie - I'm sorry if this is a really newbie-type question, but what do I do to reframe it?

I've got to be totally honest and say that this is by no means the limit of my rust problem - it's just the most visible part.

Many thanks again for all your advice

[volvosneverdie]

Volvosneverdie - I'm sorry if this is a really newbie-type question, but what do I do to reframe it?

Many thanks again for all your advice

It would mean a re-skin of the door as SteveP says.
I origonally thought you meant on the actual top of the door. like, above the glass.
Was wondering how rust would have sneaked in there.

If you cut out a bit MORE than is actually rusty (like cutting out a cancer) then a repair will make it 'as new'. Should last forever.
MIG welders are cheap enough to rent if youve got the skillz.

Cut out, make a template, transfer to steel, fit, weld, grind down, Bilthamber it and paint.
Sounds easy.

Or, take it to a fella.
This is normally my chosen route.
Being a hamfisted lazyboy.

[smokesilver]

Heya,

Sounds like a great solution, I'm quite excited - but I definitely don't have the skill.... as yet anyway...

Probably best to find someone who does, like you say.

[volvosneverdie]

shouldnt be TOO bad on the pocket.
£50-£70 quid ish.
Which is a lot compared to the value of the car.
But not when you consider the work involved.

[smokesilver]

shouldnt be TOO bad on the pocket.
£50-£70 quid ish.
Which is a lot compared to the value of the car.
But not when you consider the work involved.

No - and the likelihood of me welding my own eyeballs if I try it myself