My drivers side fender was rusting out really bad. I started tackling the job the other day.
Here's the before:

I cut out the rusted section and welded a patch inside on both sides of the fender and then covered the hole with a big patch.

It's sturdy as can be now. I put some bondo over it to fill in the difference and smooth out the paint some. I also ground down the rust on the bottom of the doors and then sanded it smooth. I am waiting on the bondo to cure and i will take some more pictures of the finished product. And the door's also.

 

That is how my door looked before sandblasting. It had a spot about mid door that went up a little higher, but mainly just like that. The main part of the rust was on the inside. I ordered my panels yesterday & they should be here by the weekend, I'll be posting some pics of my repair also.

 

Hmm, if the paint color is hard to match, what about doing a black section from the lower door skin and down to the rockers like the 2 and 3 tone trucks?
I love that black section on my truck. I got whacked in the left rear quarter and since its a small section thats a generic black, it took me all of a day to fill, sand and paint it.
The doors were the same way. nice easy repair since I didnt have to mess with the difficult colors.
You could always patch and prep and leave the painting to the body shop. Theyll prime, seal, color and clear it.
Maybe have them do a zinc undercoating inside the door.

 

J Lent PM sent.

 

I thought about rust proofing the doors and the rocker panels (first) and then coating it over with Line-x. To keep rocks from chipping instead of using paint. And get a two tone look like that.

 

That LineX looks like a PITA to get off if you need to do work. Id be careful of that.
Also, I drilled holes in the bottoms of my doors, rockers and fender so the water drains and I can squirt that zinc rust converter in there. Seems to work good.

 

The top half of my truck still looks good, just that the lower drivers door needs a fix. If I decide to paint the entire truck one day, I'll swap the door then. As of now, I just need to cut the rust out & repair it. I use my truck for work, we aren't talking about a show truck here.

 

cool thanks for the info. I almost got it done. I will finish it up tonight and paint it tonight also. I will snap some more pictures also.

 

LMC TRUCK is the shibby. I placed the order on Monday afternoon & the parts arrived at my door today [thursday] at noon. That was fast shipping!!! I ordered inner/outer lower door skins, parking light & door weatherstripping. I am totally impressed with the service/shipping of LMC & the lower door skins go up past the molding on my door, very nice quality panels. I will keep you guys posted on fit etc. I should have time this weekend to get them done.

 

Thats good to here. Take some pics of it as your working on it and post em up. Good luck.

 

Will do. My wife is going shopping, I may start on it tonight if my honey do list isn't too big.

 

How much would a body shop charge to do this?

 

I got mine fixed up. And i am just going to paint the whole fender when it gets warmer weather.

Before:

During:
Finished:


I cut out the rusted section and welded in some sheet metal and cleaned&primerd the inner fender really good. This is my first shot at body work but i think it looks alot better than before.

 

Looks alot better. I didn't get to start my truck. My cousin had her baby this morning & we went down to see the little guy.

 

If you ask me, that repair looks pretty darn good. White and black are a lot easier to work with I think.
Drill a hole in the bottom where it flattens out so the water cant pool inside. good for spraying in zinc etch treatment.