Oh man - rust!

[ninelevenick]

Yesterday, after washing my car, I spotted rust on the door jamb close to where it meets the driver's side quarter window (See photo). It's amazing that after over three years of ownership this is the first time I've noticed it. No hint of rust anywhere else on the car; this is a Cali car after all. There's a good chance there's more in that area under the seals and window moulding. Seems to me that the water may enter where the window seals meet in the lower corner. Sometimes after washing my car I notice moisture inside the car below the quarter window. So, now I am seeking advice from my fellow Pelicans. How serious is this, and how would you go about repairing it?

[ossiblue]

Kinda hard to tell cuz the photo is a bit blurry, but you may not be too deep...yet. I'd start by removing the quarter window, it's seal, the metal trim underneath, and the door seal, to see the extent of the rust. From there, you'll be able to determine how far it has creeped, unseen. If it isn,t much beyond what your pictures show, and it hasn't penetrated the metal, you probably can grind of the loose rust, sand the perimeter to bare, clean metal, POR-15 the rusted area, and repaint and blend the spot. Because you mentioned you found water inside the car after washing, I suspect a rust hole somewhere under the seals. Cutting out and welding in would be the perfect solution for a rust-through, but I'll let the body experts offer other possibilities.

Regardless of what you find, now is the time to act. If you find the rusted area fairly limited, do the repair now, find out why or where the water entered, and fix that too. Then, check the other side of your car in the same area, if you haven't done so.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yea, the "right" way to fix it is to find a parts car with that area okay, cut it out with a sawzall and then patch weld it into your car and paint.

When it comes to rust, there's only one way I look at it:

"I say we nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."