My dads rear panal above the wheel arch has started to rot through in the last couple of weeks, there is lots and lots of paint bubbles now and it won't be long before it gets really bad.
The rest of the car is solid, its very reliable and although old it would be a shame to get rid of it.
My question is what can we do? How much is a professional repair likely to cost (in terms of hours really as labour varies from one city to the next). Is there any bodges and will this be an MOT issue?
Its just directly above the wheel arch on the offside, its a Fiesta MK4 R Reg
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OK, Rattle, no offence but the car is worth nothing on the open market so a professional repair isn't worth considering.
Probably not an MOT issue but it looks bad, doesn't it?
Grind the paintwork back to bare metal then Hammerite in a matching colour around the whole wheelarch and do the same on the other side to match.
It will look surprisingly good and once a good coating of Manchester muck off the road has applied itself to the repair, nobody will notice it.
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Doc that is what I have done in the past, the problem here is the there is no metal left to grind, the metal is now so thin only paintwork is holding it together. I really need to take a picture of this so one coming tomorrow.
I realise a professional repair is out of the question, it is just the rest of the car is solid, the car has been very reliable (a few niggles but always easily fixed) so it will be a shame to get rid of it just for the sake of a little rust just worried it may spread further up and then become too close to suspension mountings etc.
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the rest of the car is solid
How old is it.
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VIN March 1996, registration date Dec 1997.
I've checked the sills and they are solid, the chasis also seems to be ok its a bit rusty but certainly nothing I would have thought would be an MOT concern, compared to my old car this one is rot free.
The paint work is in very good condition, it always starts fine and it just does not feel the right time to get rid of it as I think there is still another year or so reliable and cheap motoring to be had out of it. Its a Ghia spec too so it has all a lot of nice luxeries which make it feel more modern to drive (such as a leather steering wheel).
I think we have two options, bodge it now and then wait and see what happens in the MOT in August, or do nothing and weait for the MOT.
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Rattle, it's only the outer skin of metal that's corroded and it won't affect any load bearing components.
When you grind down the bodywork, if you make any holes, just fill with fibreglass and filler.
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Thanks Dr, I will have a go at the weekend and see if I can do something with it. I used to treat my dads escorts wheel arches with K rust and hamerite as a result always looked a little bit of a mess but never got any worse in the 4 years we owned it.
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Rattle, to prevent this happening in the future, when you wash the car, hose or pressure wash the muck off the lip just inside the wheelarch.
I've bought used cars in the past where there's been enough dirt on this lip to start my own allotment!
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Yeah I did this last week, we have no drive or no hose pipe so I had to it my grandmas. Sadly it was an afterthought as I noticed the rot and realised there must be a lot of mud under there as the rest of the car is solid. I also clean under the sills when ever I can. I just need ot make this car last, I am having enough problems trying to find a car of my own yet alone my parents!
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I'll bet it's round the petrol filler area. This is a very common spot on old Fiestas.
Best to keep the jagged edges at bay with filler. May get a tug for dangerous bodywork but should only get a rectification notice to have it done and inspected by an MOT examiner. Whole new quarter panel the only proper repair but car not worth it cost-wise.
Regards Ted
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Ted ironicaly like my old car its on the other side, but my old car was rusty there, this one just has lots of bubbles all over the paintwork it looks rather odd and haven't really seen it on a car before.
At the moment as none of the paint as flaked off its still smooth but once the jagged edges appear I suppose I can always just use the filler bodge method. On my Fiesta car a maroon MK3 Fiesta it had rotted under the petrol cap I cut out a 2-3inch hole and then filled it with filler, passed the MOT no problem like that but looked a real mess.
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Why not fill it, sand it down and spray? It won't be perfect but it won't be a mess.
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I paid £400 to have both rear wheelarches removed, quarter panel ground back to clean metal, new arches welded in and the whole rear quarter area rustproofed and resprayed on my Mondeo.
Good value on my car but not sure I'd bother on an older Fiesta TBH.
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Blue yours was the MK3 (post 2000) model wasn't it? It is a much better car, realisticaly even if it passes this MOT all the bushes will need replacing long term so its just not worth it at all. My idea for the car is to try and get it through two more MOTs and sell it after the second one.
A Mondeo can happily do 300k, where as a pushrod Fiesta can't. So you're right its not worth spending anything like that sort of money.
The car I am currently hunting for will probably replace it as I get bored of cars quickly!
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Mine's a 2000 MK2, last of the old shape.
I doubt it will do 300K without major work to be honest, it has the V6 Duratec engine which is renowned for going pop at stupidly low mileage, never mind, I only intend doing another 20K in it so fingers crossed it will last me!
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Son ran a Mark3 Fiesta with similar rust for 5 years. Every two years I ground it out, treated it etc.. and then it started again.
As the rest of the car was sound, it made no difference.. Looked horrible but who cares. It went...
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Do not get rid of you dad's car, it is worth £2000 I have heard.
When are you getting your new car? Some of us can't wait much longer.
I saw a Seat Ibeza today, they look very sporty. Just the job for a young man about town.
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Quizman, it's Rattle's dad who is worth £2000, not the Fiesta!
Don't forget the bargain Seat Ibiza for £1250.
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it has the V6 Duratec engine which is renowned for going pop at stupidly low mileage >>
Panic! What sort of mileages are we talking about, please?
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My dads car is probably worth £500 in its current condition and short MOT.
I have halted car hunting for now as I have a business to run, for this week at least I just don't have time anymore. But I have now got a list of traders who i may visit again and a list of garages that I just thought were dodgy and will avoid.
I am phoning my insurance company tomorrow so see how much refund I am entitled to, if I won't loose too much by canceling early I may just halt car hunting until one finds me, my mate has always done this and he has never had trouble with his cars as they ahve always been genuine e.g family selling it.
I am still looking out but I really do think at my end of the budget the only way I am going to get value is from the private market and that is very slow atm. We have always bought privately but atm there is very few private sales.
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Cancelling might result in little money back. You also lose this year as one towards the NCB.
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Thats the problem Rob :). I've still got 6 weeks then I will have to cancel. In the mean time I have more and more cash to put towards it which means less debt and also gives me more options.
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I've still got 6 weeks then I will have to cancel
If you're more than 6 months into the policy you'll get very little back. Depends if you're paying monthly or not. We know because step-son cancelled a policy early on. They are front-loaded.
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About 5 months into it now. I was told I would get the payments I have been making now back at the end of the policy but I will still loose something.
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From step-son's experience be prepared to lose a lot. He cancelled about two months in but had to keep paying until all sorted. He get very very little back. Probably paid it for 3 months maybe.
Best of luck.... if you pay monthly then you probably will get nothing back but hopefully owe nothing. Depends on the insurer.
Edited by rtj70 on 11/03/2009 at 23:31
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When I spoke to them yesterday they said they would refund me the monthy payments I have made since I sold my car (20th of Jan) so thats about £140 so far.
All I can really do is wait and see what happens. Autotrader's website has been playing up too in the last couple of days so that has not helped.
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>> it has the V6 Duratec engine which is renowned for going pop at stupidly low mileage >> Panic! What sort of mileages are we talking about please?
Pretty much anything from 60K and up I think, if you check out the Mondeo Enthusiasts Group one of the most popular threads in the MK2 section is about the head gasket failure on the V6 Duratec, if it goes wrong then it can be up to a £1000 job to fix it and in many cases it is starting to write off the older cars. Many, many owners seem to have had some form of HGF. Another common problem is, IIRC, the crankshafts which can also start to go wrong relatively early in the engine's life.
As with all such things in life I just drive it and enjoy it, safe in the knowledge that if it does go pop then I can buy another car easily enough and will have had a lot of pleasure from my Mondog, I have to say that I will miss her when she's gone!
The same can't be said of my mate who says that my car is without a doubt one of the most unpleasant cars he has ever had to work on, every time he takes on even a straightforward task something doesn't go according to plan, and if I tell him once more about any more problems with the alternator I think he will set fire to it. I have to agree to an extent, I tried to fix a door rattle the other day and ended up taking a drill to it to persuade the plastic screw cap to come out, I'll be off to the scrapyard soon to get a replacement panel as it didn't go quite how I imagined lol.
I take it you're the proud owner of a V6 too? :-)
Sorry for the thread hi-jack Rattle!
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Its ok :) I know what you mean about the damn screws, I think Ford must source them have recycled Ladas.
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I take it you're the proud owner of a V6 too? :-)>>
Yes, two years old now - last off the line. Looks like the weak point and cause of HGF was or is the water pump impeller, and I now remember reading about that before buying the car, but I guess I just went into denial as I really wanted the car. Anyone happen to know if the Mk 3 V6's are improved in any way, asks he hopefully?
>>Sorry for the thread hi-jack Rattle!
Agreed.
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