how to FIX a rust hole in a rocker panel (fast, low-cost method)

Fixing a rust hole on the rocker panel can be expensive. I've done body work on cars for a lot of years, and have developed some techniques to make the job fast, easy and cheap. If you're trying to get a car through inspection and you want to car to look acceptable there are some shortcuts that are effective. Most rust on a car happens on the rocker panels. I use structural foam to fill the holes and then coat them with Body filler to give it some nice structure. Then I paint the bottom black so there is no finish work. The entire process takes about an hour. And it only cost about $20. Hope you enjoy the video.

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[midasiscariot]

This is a miraculous method my man. Did this to my car a couple years ago, and now all the rust is gone! Everything's gone! I mean, the whole car is gone from the rust... but this mean the rust is gone, too.

[richardtodd]

'Structural integrity'. Almost pissed myself laughing at that one lol.

[jayg]

love how he fixed the passenger side and then showed the drivers side.

[scottmcculloch]

I did this to fill a rocker panel hole on my 13-year-old Impreza. Body shop quoted me at least $3000 to fix. Cost me 50 bucks and I just passed inspection. Thank you!

[BrianLChristopher]

I’ve repaired my Town & Country the same way. It’s worth more in scrap metal than resale so this is an ideal low cost method to pass inspection. Instead of a bag, I used wax paper for easier release. Works really well. I’ve also covered the bottom of rusted doors with aluminum fascia and self tapping screws and painted over it with truck bed coating. Some ideas for those reading the comments section that drive cheap cars in the rust belt like me.

[lukemartin]

That bag trick is awesome. You've got a lot of good videos and tips

[gordgoroth]

Buddy of mine was super broke one time years ago so he used paper mache to fix a rust hole to get his car on the road. Looked ok. Held up long enough for him to get a job and fix it properly.

[rj]

Did this a couple of weeks ago; worked for the most part. Anyone who's thinking about doing this, make sure to wear gloves! I had rust shard foam mittens - spent like 4 hours trying to get it completely off my hands.

[Suesonly]

WoW! Haters seem to really be hating here. Well I thank you so much as I need to get my '03 Yukon to pass inspection and there is a hole the size of a fist in the bottom of one of the rocker panels. I will definitely be trying this. For the people who think this is a horrible idea - Meh... my vehicle will be driven by me until it is scrapped and this will give it another year or two on the road. Thank You so much for the idea. (Also, professional driver who has never had an accident more severe than hitting a deer. Fixing a hole would not change much of the outcome of an accident safety wise- now if it was replacing the whole rocker panel this way I might cringe.)

[gamecliphub]

I have a RHD JDM GC8 and I just discovered I have some rust under my left side skirt area. This is genius. I see where my weekend is going now lol you’re like the pappy I never had, thanks bud 😂 💯

[biggfine]

Love it ty. My car wouldn’t pass due to rust holes and this helps tremendously. I’ll update you next week. Hopefully it passes

[ArcadeMachine]

Honestly, on shit boxes this so the ideal repair.

[Connorx]

Thank you! I'm doing this on my truck because I live in Canada and they salt the roads WAY too much!!

[no-damn-alias]

the previous owner of my car did that over years on every part possible on the car. For bigger holes he used chicken wire to hold the foam and used a rag to glue it with undercoating to the undercarriage.

Well after some time I wanted to take a closer look at the car and started picking with a screwdriver after I lost a big chunk of that stuff while driving.
What came out would be a worthy car for Fred Flintstone. I even lost a first aid kit in the trunk through one of the rust

[tomfirzlaff]

Use the spray foam that’s made for rock fountains. It’s black and waterproof.

[operationremember]

Dood, , probably the best video on this I have ever seen... I like the fast forward, the edits, and the fact that it was short and to the point. Nice job and thank you

[scottward]

Seen other foam ideas like this but your bag technique takes the cake! Excellent! Very good for us with older cars that we need to keep running in salt states.

[malcolmbell]

Awesome quick video buddy. Perfect amount of time needed to explain that. No need for a 15 min video where you end up skipping past the most important parts by accident

[g.t.]

The foam will holdup water and the rusting process will continue much faster. Also bondo based on polyester will fall out soon because you can't fully seal it with paint in this situation. It's better to remove rust as much as possible mechanically and use a rust converter first. Then apply epoxy primer to seal the rust and fill the holes with epoxy or fiberglass resin. This will not cost you much more money and is a longtime solution.

[houseonpleasantstreet]

Perfect cosmetic fix on a cheap beater.. Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes