Need advice on what to do about rust *Repair Update* 2/24/14

[Seijuro3366]

Here is the lowdown:
In 2006 I bought this car off another Club4AG member (I see the forum has been reset since then?) and landed a solid car. Over the years I've been trying my hardest to save money to paint it CORRECTLY since I lack any skills, knowledge, and tools to do it myself.
Rust being the cancerous jerk that it is has spread itself slowly around my car in various places. It's to the point where the rust is spreading and growing faster than I can hope to save money and fix it. I showed it to a few people who had their cars restored and told me to pay AT LEAST $10,000+. I love my car and all but a $10,000+ restoration is completely out of budget.
Here are some pictures:








Not pictured is the hatch which has the common rust spots on it. I'm just going to replace it outright. The trunk is also mysteriously leaking water which is driving me crazy because I can't find the source.
I don't know whether or not to grin and bear restoration costs since the car's value isn't remotely close to that or to just sell it and cut my losses. Or just wait until it rusts and keep it as a track car. Some of the spots look serious like the ones on the pillars.
Anyone have advice? I'll check back in a few days.

[Deuce Cam]

It can all be fixed, but it's probably going to cost more money than it's worth unless the labor can be done yourself. If you're forced to pay retail on the body work, etc. you're better off starting with a rust free chassis. This is all depends on location though.

You may try some reading on the http://www.aeu86.org forum. There are many builds there that involved rust repair worse than yours.

[Jeonsah]

This solution is to go full race car. Then if that doesnt hit the spot for you, save up for another rust free one. Im in the same boat as you so dont let it get to you!

[SidewaysGts]

Having rust is like having cockroaches. When you see 1 youre missing the other 99.

I hate to say it, but i agree largely with the posts before mine. Thats some relatively terminal looking cancer. Youll need to remove all of it and then replace what was eaten. If yo ucan do it yourself awesome, if not youll have to take it somewhere to do it- WHich as stated, may cost more than a clean chassis to begin with.

[Seijuro3366]

Even after reading the replies I was still very much against the idea of letting the car be eaten by rust. After a lucky break of finding someone on Craigslist who would be willing to take care of the rust, he did a good job for less than $700. Plus, WHERE ELSE are you gonna find a clean chassis Corolla GTS nowadays?
Even after taking the windshield off we found more rust ALL along the edges that were hidden by the trim. Apparently the window was taken out before some time ago and was not sealed correctly which allowed water to seep in over the years.

Anyway, if anyone cares, here are some pictures I took of the rust spots welded and cleaned up. He even went out of his way to color match the metal part of the dash to the rest of the charcoal interior.

[firsttimmer]

if you havent already make sure you get some sealer on that primer or all that work will be for nothing. primer is very porous.

[Jeonsah]

His work looks clean but Im skeptical to see whats still under it. Regardless, looks good!

[aukword1]

glad you got the rust out, i had to do the same thing with mine but i did all of the labor myself...took about two weeks to wire it all down and get it all off...phosphoric acid is your friend when it comes to rust too...