Rear Quarter Panel To Wheelarch Repair

[Fox 3]

In its past life, my 205 has had the lower quarter above the sill replaced.

 

They appear to have failed to seal the joint between the inner wheel arch and outer quarter panel, this has obviously led to water and dirt getting into the area behind the interior trim.

 

How do I go about rectifying this? Is it welded or just stuck together with seam sealer?

 

I intend to clean the area up to remove any loose rust, treat with KRUST or similar, apply seam sealer, then paint and underseal to provide a water tight seal. Does this sound like they best solution?

 

The wheel arch is not fixed to the inner arch at all, and can be moved away by pushing with my hand!?

 

 

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

When I have repaired this area before, I have got a couple of decent stitch welds between the panels, this stops the flex/movement which eventually will cause the seam sealer to crack/split and you are back to square one.

 

Surface prep is also important to get a good bond between the seam sealer and the steel panel.

[Fox 3]

Cheers Tom, I'll clean the area with a drill mounted wire twist brush first and go from there. Is the brush applied sealer better in this situation, or can I get in with the cartridge type gun?

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

I prefer to use a gun as you can better push the sealant into the gaps under pressure out of the nozzle. Then go over with a paintbrush dipped in thinners to make a neat job of spreading it (the thinners makes it a bit less claggy and makes a neater job).

 

Also make sure the area is 100% dry before you do the sealer, if the car is indoors it should be OK. But if in doubt go over with a hot air gun first. I would also consider acid etch priming the surface before sealer.