Weld or Bondo?

[Coder24]

I have the most common rust of all in my rear fenderwells right infront of the tires and I was wondering is it better to just grind out the rust the bondo it up to look good or to have the piece cut out and welded in. Also i went to take off my back bumper and i ended up breaking off 16 bolts and there are 3 that are stripped out on top and cant get them out. Any suggestions on how I should get them out and then putting new in?

 

[4thsydecustoms]

for the rust, it all depends on how long you want the work to last. if you grind it, and bondo it... it will come back eventually. if you cut and reweld, that is much less likely..... as for the bolts......grind off the head, and drill out the center then retap them all..... for future reference.... apply lots of wd40 to old rusted bolts and let it soak in for 30-40 minutes

 

[Coder24]

for the rust, it all depends on how long you want the work to last. if you grind it, and bondo it... it will come back eventually. if you cut and reweld, that is much less likely..... as for the bolts......grind off the head, and drill out the center then retap them all..... for future reference.... apply lots of wd40 to old rusted bolts and let it soak in for 30-40 minutes

Yea i thought of that after I was already screwed over. I was looking around my garage and then I saw it and wanted to shoot myself form being a newb.

 

[dave99gst]

i would say it depends on how bad the rust is.
If it is all the way thru or almost thru when chop/cut/rebuild.
if its mostly surface rust then grind/wirewheel & bondo

 

[2DaTrakNow]

If you decided to bondo over it, the rust wouldn't come back any time soon, if it did at all. If it is all the way through though, instead of welding a new peice on, you could always grind or cut the rusty metal off, then go ahead and use long-strand fiberglass(resin and mats). By doing that, it would be stronger than bondo, and IMO it would be easier than welding a new peice on there. Also, the chances of having rust come back with the fiberglass would be just as small as it would with welding a new peice on. As long as you do it right, the rust should never come back.