holes in inner fenderwells

[dogstar]

well, i discovered a leak... to hell with a leak, i thought was gonna have to get a bucket and start bailing... its a hole.

in the upper quarter of the front of the wheel well, on the right side, ive got a hole , about the size of a nickle... and its pissing all over the interior.
ive got it plugged with rags (yeah, its ghetto) but i dont think thats gonna do much good.

basically what i need to know is:
is this a structural area?
can i just cut out the rust, primer, and weld this shut?
should i start looking for a new car?

basically, i like the car, it seems real solid except for the usual quarters rusting out, and i cant really afford to go buyin some minty mint car right now, even if i can get a good sale price for this one.
what im hoping is that i can weld new metal into the fenders and its not a major structural component.
anyways,
thanks in advance folks

[pdupler]

Yes, you can weld a patch in place, or if its small enough, put a fiberglass patch over it. Inspect it tho to see how far the rust extends inside the wheelwell. If its just patchy where the undercoating has been knocked off, and there aren't other holes, clean all the old undercoating off, knock off the scale with a wire wheel, treat it with Ospho or similar rust-converter, prime it with rustoleum primer and spray it with fresh undercoating. Its not a professional or completely permanent fix, but will probably stave off the rust for several more years.

Phil

[dogstar]

thanks :)
i wasnt expecting this to be permanent, just a couple years or so, till i can afford to import a nice rust free shell, because ive pretty much given up finding one here.

guess ill be doing that this weekend... ive since found out there are a couple other holes, all fairly small. damn old cars, its always something. :mad: