Rusty leak hole repair advise :)

Hi All,

After all the heavy rain we've been having I lifted up my load space carpet to find it was soaked all the way across, I'm going to replace it with closed cell foam and marine carpet but I thought I better find the leak first. I traced it up the back right hand side and removed the cover over the back window to find some rust. (see photo) When I looked on the outside I could just about see it has rusted through in the gap.

I've never fixed this type of issue before and just wondered if anyone could give me some advice about how to go about it. E.g. what sealants and if I should try and get rid of all the rust then paint it with something or seal it from the outside?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. As you can see she is a pretty smart 300tdi considering she's 17 years old and I'd like to keep her that way

I'd take the side panel off, rub the rusted area down and apply some paint. When replacing the side panel sit the seal on a bed of silicone.

Not expensive or difficult just time consuming.

Good luck and post pics if you can.

Thanks for the advice, I am assuming you mean the gray interior side panel? One of the clips broke on the back panel when I took that off, also will have to take the seats out which seem to be bolted from the underneath, will give it a go this week and stick some pics up. Thanks

tomltd said:

Thanks for the advice, I am assuming you mean the gray interior side panel? One of the clips broke on the back panel when I took that off, also will have to take the seats out which seem to be bolted from the underneath, will give it a go this week and stick some pics up. Thanks

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I think buehaze is referring to the [side] body panel which is between the body capping and the roof. This has a seal on the bottom of it which is where the leak has likely occured.

With a bit of help there is the chance that the side panel could be removed without having to take the entire roof off.

You could then treat the rust and reassemble with the added sealant.

wire brush, phosphoric acid or kurust, zinc rich then topcoat to treat the rust

trax said:

wire brush, phosphoric acid or kurust, zinc rich then topcoat to treat the rust

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Thanks Trax, that's exactly the info I needed, hopefully I can do it without removing any panels. Will post some pics ready for a mocking!

Turns out it's worse than I though, after I got the seat out of the way so I could get a proper look it appears the leak is caused by the fact there is a foam seal between the top half of the body work and the bottom half. (see pics) this has just been painted and is obviously not water tight? What are my options? I can only think to put a clear seal along the groove on the outside then try and get rid of some of the rust on the inside.

This is turning into a nightmare

solution is simple and was stated above.. perhaps not the solution you want to hear?

Unbolt the roof from the top of your side panel
Unbolt the bottom of the side panel
Remove the side panel.
Remove the old seal.
Do any tidy up your want to the rust
Replace with a new genuine seal

Its a simple job, just unbolt the 5 bolts that hold the side panel down and jack the side up, this will give you enough room to access the top of the rusted quarter panel without having to remove the roof or the side panel then fix it however you wish.

I would cut the rusted area out, fabricate a new piece, weld in place, paint with red oxide, then waxoyl, fit new seal if you want although black sealant will suffice and replace the five bolts.

That's how I did it, took about 2 hours in total and that includes a cup 'o' tea and a smoke

dodgyrob said:

Its a simple job, just unbolt the 5 bolts that hold the side panel down and jack the side up, this will give you enough room to access the top of the rusted quarter panel without having to remove the roof or the side panel then fix it however you wish.

I would cut the rusted area out, fabricate a new piece, weld in place, paint with red oxide, then waxoyl, fit new seal if you want although black sealant will suffice and replace the five bolts.

That's how I did it, took about 2 hours in total and that includes a cup 'o' tea and a smoke

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Thanks dodgyrob, that is the route I will take I think, should be able to manage that! Got all the bits today so just need to make a bit of time do get it done, I estimate it will take me a lot more than 2 hours

tomltd said:

Thanks dodgyrob, that is the route I will take I think, should be able to manage that! Got all the bits today so just need to make a bit of time do get it done, I estimate it will take me a lot more than 2 hours

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Weather it takes you 2 hours or 2 days, if you are happy with the finished result it will be well worth the effort. Good luck

I made sure that it wouldn't happen again for a while....

bluehaze said:

I made sure that it wouldn't happen again for a while....

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Wow! I'm starting to wish I never looked under the carpet!!

btw, I think red oxide and grey etc use zinc phosphate now; which is a bit less protection than zinc rich.. but y'know...get it galvd if you are that bothered