rust specific to old Camrys???

[jaansu]

I've seem to have noticed that other older Camry's of ~1990 vintage have the same rust problem as mine: around the rear tire well rims. I've tried to fight this on the cheap for several years by knocking out the loose metal, Bondo and paint, but it seems to only hold up for a year. Now I see for the first time a rust perforation at the front bottom of the rim that had been clean before.

I take it other old Camry owners suffer this too. Is there nothing to do but to take this to a body shop to replace the metal and repaint? This car has been great and low mileage (103K) but I don't want to spend that much on it still. Looks are not critical, if there is a fix I can do myself.

Jaansu

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by jaansu

I've seem to have noticed that other older Camry's of ~1990 vintage have the same rust problem as mine: around the rear tire well rims. I've tried to fight this on the cheap for several years by knocking out the loose metal, Bondo and paint, but it seems to only hold up for a year. Now I see for the first time a rust perforation at the front bottom of the rim that had been clean before.

I take it other old Camry owners suffer this too. Is there nothing to do but to take this to a body shop to replace the metal and repaint? This car has been great and low mileage (103K) but I don't want to spend that much on it still. Looks are not critical, if there is a fix I can do myself.

Jaansu

I've had rust problems on all my Toyota's but it seems to get better every generation. Getting a year out of a cheap bondo fix isn't bad. My 91 rusted through at least twice a year.

I did break down a buy new front quarter panels for my 91 a couple years ago, since they were rusted too badly to fix properly - if you're competent with a rattlecan and a wrench you can replace both front QPs for under $200.

[TBayToyotaBoy]

The only real way to fix the rear wheel arches is to re-weld and re-paint. It's a chronic and cancerous problem that will cause you more agony than it's worth unless you fix it properly.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.
CATENTRY_ID:2000530/p-2000530/N-111+200729270+600001014/c-10101

There's the pricing on repair panels. Try to find a welder near you who'll do it for less than the $2000 most shops will try to charge. A customer of mine is welding them for me this summer for $500...

As for front fenders, they're a total breeze to replace. Only problem sometimes is the two anchor bolts under the rocker panel--they usually snap in two and you have to drill and re-tap the holes.