Question about fixing rust

Went to the recommended local body shop here in Richmond, VA, Burleigh, today to show them my rust "problem". Have paint bubbles at the tailing edge of the C pillar on and under the outside of drip rail. Both sides, though the left side is about 4 + inches long the right not so pronounced and about 3in long. Car is a 69 912 tub that has fiberglass RS flares added 4 or so years ago. (and a 3.2 in the back). Two ways to go with the repair. One, do one side at time and try to be local. Say $1000 to strip, grind, treat, prime and repaint. They figure a little less a little more per side and of course no guarantees. They worry about chasing the problem over time. The other way to go is new panels and flares and then a total body respray at $10k. Paint overall is in good shape, great shine, good depth. The car does not need a total respray.

Thinking also of a center fill, meaning hood gets cut, molded, and resprayed and the existing filler gets filled in and resprayed. And while I am at it, fix the front spoiler and oil cooler grille that was not installed very well.

Guess all can see my slippery slope.

With the incremental repair I will be in it for $30k+ with the full body respray, for $40+k.

Anyone with thoughts on how you would spend your hard earned cash?

I guess it depends on your goals. If you want to keep it on the road then do a little and drive 'n enjoy. If you want a permanent fix then you gotta go all the way. If / When you go to sell, be honest with your decisions and show the receipts.

In the past very few people would pay up for such a car. Currently with prices being high for almost anything you might get a good price for it. In the future who knows. Any restoration you pay someone else to do will be more expensive and take much longer to do than you estimate. I would sell.

Those C pillars rust from the inside out. When you get in there you will likely find most of the metal gone. This area is somewhat difficult to re-fabricate because of the complex shapes. If you repair the C-pillars you will likely end up stripping the car. There will probably be lots of metal work that will be expensive. There is no way to really know, but you should carefully evaluate all the rust inside and out, and check the panels with a magnet for prior fill areas. Or not.

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Originally Posted by savaden

Those C pillars rust from the inside out. When you get in there you will likely find most of the metal gone. This area is somewhat difficult to re-fabricate because of the complex shapes. If you repair the C-pillars you will likely end up stripping the car. There will probably be lots of metal work that will be expensive. There is no way to really know, but you should carefully evaluate all the rust inside and out, and check the panels with a magnet for prior fill areas. Or not.

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^^^ This

C pillar rust usually has its origins in the rear shelf, where a failed rear window seal has allowed water in. I usually test suspect cars by opening the engine lid and pressing upward on the horizontal panel outboard of the lid hinge mounts. More and more often, that area has succumbed to rust, and rust never sleeps. The full repair may be the entire rear shelf and interstitial pieces to the window opening. If it's typical, you'll be chasing it down into the rear seat buckets as well. Restoration design has stampings for most of this stuff... ask me how I know.

My thinking, as a chronic DIY guy, is to buy a $400 MIG welder, a $40 angle grinder and a selection of spot-weld drill bits and fix it yourself. It's a 912, so it's valuable--but not as valuable as a 911, so you have some amount of "pass" on using a Porsche to learn how to fix things.