W114 / W115 rust repair (journey with pictures) -PART X
by Patryk Rebisz

Rear bottom right wheel arch

1. The spot was repaired in the past but because it has the very complex jack point with complex curves and shapes, the repair didn't last (and to be honest, the spot rusts from the factory):

2. What's hiding behind this corner construction is a part with a complex curve. Though you can buy the repair part, matching it to the curve is not easy (not to mention awkward angle to weld):

3. Here you can see holes cut out for spot welds on the repair patch to the good original part. Again, this looks easier than it is as you need to make sure a number of planes line up. You want to make sure that the curve rests firmly on the original shape and that the bottom edge stays truly straight with the rest of the rocker arm so that there is no issues when attaching the bottom of the replacement rocker panel:

4. Welded and painted:

5. Time to manufacture the repair patch for the inner wheel arch. This is a simple metal sheet curved to shape. I made it a bit larger on the bottom right corner so i could trim it accordingly to the shape of the replacement rocker:

6. Test fitting the replacement rocker. Notice that I opted to have the jack points welded shut to simplify the repair (and make it last longer). The car will be lifted by the spot that is used to hold it up right now with the floor jack:

7. Test fitting inner wheel arch replacement patch:

8. Inner wheel arch welded in and painted. (Notice how I trimmed the inner wheel arch sheet to follow the rocker more closely):

9. Fitting in the patch of the outside fender:

10. Welded in and the welds grinded away:

11. Rocker welded in:

12. Finished, painted and ready for body filer:

Part XI in the next post.