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  Feb. 23, 2011 5:09 p.m. longhorndude New Reader

  topic says it all

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  Feb. 23, 2011 6:33 p.m. Junkyard_Dog Dork

  Call Blake or Willy at BTDT racing or visit the ebay store. They're good guys.

  I love going to the Pull-a-Part because the dollar admission is cheaper than most car shows and you almost always see cooler cars.

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  Feb. 23, 2011 6:46 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

  "Best Way"?
  

  Most stuctural - new metal or complete new tub.
  

  Cheapest - expanding foam sanded down and painted over.

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  Feb. 23, 2011 7:03 p.m. Tom Suddard SonDork

  Sand down area

  Cut out rusty metal

  Trim replacement panel

  Weld in

  Grind

  Sand

  Paint

  'cause we're aliens, and thats how we roll.

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  Feb. 23, 2011 7:50 p.m. joey48442 SuperDork

  My Process?

  Step 1, Drive to Hotlanta.

  Step 2, Meet metalman, buy tub.

  Step 3, Rebody Miata over course of winter.

  Step 4, No more rust!

  Joey

  Oh yes use the longest screwdriver in the toolbox,use my shop voice and wing the rest!

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  Feb. 23, 2011 8:24 p.m. kellym New Reader

  Fly to California, choose from 1 of the hundreds of thousand rust free miatas we have, drive home, foam/bondo over old rusty car and sell for more than you paid for your new rust free car from CA

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  Feb. 24, 2011 4:59 a.m. willy19592 Reader

  we have some very nice repair panels http://btdtracing.com/gallery/v/Parts/rear+quarters/

  Willy@isellmiataparts.com

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  Feb. 24, 2011 6:05 a.m. NOHOME Reader

  As someone who routinely restores rusty MG shells, I must say "Welcome to the club"!

  Took ya 20 years, but if ever there was sign that the Miata will be a classic, it i s the fact that people are making rust repair panels!

  Best way to repair is to cut out the rusty area and but weld in a repair section. Make sure you are able to coat the weld bead from the backside or it will be the starting point of new rust.

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  Feb. 24, 2011 6:36 a.m. Raze Dork

  I'm with NOHOME on this one, WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Funny that 'the answer to every car question' now contains rust...

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  Feb. 24, 2011 9:22 a.m. Sofa King Reader

  If the rust gets into the fender lip above the body line it is probably best / easiest to buy a repair panel. If the rust is below that, it is pretty easy to fab your own patch panel out of sheet steel. Home Depot carries suitable pieces for about $8.00. I have done 4 cars making my own panels and they all turned out pretty well considering my limited skills. I have even discovered that the cheap bead roller that I bought from Harbor Freight has a die that matches the body line of a Miata exactly!
  

  Most of the rockers that I have done also required some replacement of the inner layers. also not too difficult, but make sure you cut out all of the rust and replace the structural layers!

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  Feb. 24, 2011 9:35 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  NOHOME wrote: Took ya 20 years, but if ever there was sign that the Miata will be a classic, it i s the fact that people are making rust repair panels!

  Or that they rust in the first place?

  Now they just have to belch magical electrical smoke

  During the Sound Check, nobody can year you scream

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  Feb. 24, 2011 9:58 a.m. Keith SuperDork

  Well, they don't usually smoke when the main relay goes out, but the car does fail to proceed.

  It's amazing what a couple of decades of aging will do to a car. I realized last summer that my Dad's 1990 Miata is now older than my Mom's 1964 MGB would have been when I was in high school. And when I was in high school, a 1964 MGB was a old car!

  Square left in 50 caution ocean!

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