Fixing Honda rust yourself?

My '91 Accord's rear bumper is rapidly attempting to secede from the
rest of the body, and I'm afraid it may do so at rather high speeds in
traffic. Methinks it's time to get the rust fixed.

But I'm cheap. If I can do it myself I will. Bondo'ing it is not a
solution, as that's already been done once. Anyone with some
experience care to comment on the difficulty involved? I'll pay to
get it painted, but if I can get most of the rust repaired myself,
that'd be good.

Otherwise, can someone recommend a good (read: cheap, does good work)
body shop in the Downers Grove/Naperville, IL area?

-moitz-

 

(Moitz) melodiously murmured in

Your bumper is committing treasonous action because the hangers in the
quarter panels (at the rear of the wheel well lip) have rotted out. There
is NO fix for this short of cutting out the rotted metal and welding in
new. Ain't worth it.

The best you can do at this stage is to remove the bumper and attach the
quarter panel's plastic hanger brackets to some strapping or other sheet
metal device. You will have to attach this strap/strut etc. to what's left
of the inner fender by using sheet-metal screws.

If you don't mind a really geeky appearance, just attach a metal strap on
the outside directly from the quarter panel to the bumper skin.

You won't want to pay what they want you to pay. A proper fix will run you
over a thousand.

 

Found a good procedure from a link on the 3geez.com site:
http://www.geocities.com/accordlxi87/rust1.htm

 

That's the answer I *didn't* want. Since I found out (quite by
accident) that I indeed have access to an arc welder as well as some
body shop tools, I think I'll try my hand at this. Can the hanger and
the well lip be purchased anywhere? Even if it's crappy aftermarket
steel, that's better than rust + crappy bondo. As far as worth, the
rest of the car is immaculate, and I'd like to keep it nice for as long
as possible.

So...any other helpful suggestions (aside from "don't catch anything on
fire")?

-moitz-

 

Probably not. It's not like the car is an MGB or TR-6 or anything
collectible. Google is your friend here.

Other than that, I guess you'd have to find a crumpled copy in a wrecking
yard and get them to cut off the relevant section of the quarter panels
with a torch with enough excess that you can trim it down to size.

An arc welder may be too powerful and you will probably blow holes in the
thin metal or warp it. A MIG welder is a better body-steel choice.

 

Shoulda done that first. Or heck, just tried
http://www.rustrepair.com. WAY cheaper than using parts.com to find
body parts.

Thanks for the advice, hopefully it turns out looking decent.

-moitz-

 

The cheap way fixing is in classroom. Take a autobody class at a local
college. You will learn in learn less than 6 months.

 

If it's like my 88, the wheel arch holds the leading edge of the plastic
bumper cover; the bumper itself is solidly bolted to the car under the
trunk. I managed to repair the attachment area with a fiberglass patch and
soon will drill holes and add new fasteners, and I don't see why you
couldn't do the same. Or forget it. Mine has gone without any attachment
here for some time; it's not noticeable.