Good day!

So I have aquired a 2004 Rx8 for next to nothing.

But sadly there is alot of rust on the rear fenders and a bit on the side skirts.

My question is simple,

Can i simply switch the rear fenders for some carbon?

If so, what part of the car can I not swap out ?

Thanks!

(This is a winter car project)

 

The rear fender is called the quarter panel, and unfortunately, the quarter panel is welded in place. So no easy job. My car is just like that, but worse. It seems when someone put it on a lift, they did so incorrectly bending the metal, and causing severe rust. I'll be tackling it soon, but I'll be using rust inhibitors, miracle paint, fiberglass cloth and mesh, fiberglass body filler and more..

 

youll have to sand it all down to find out exactly how far it's spread, and eliminate every bit of it before repatching/welding and finally spraying it. otherwise, just like a cancer, it will continue to spread. rust sucks Q-Q

car looks pretty clean though otherwise. how much is next to nothing??

 

You could cut the oem flares and add some aftermarket ones but they'd look like crap on a road car.
Your best bet is to bring the car to a body shop and pay more than what you have paid for the whole car to have it repaired and resprayed.

 

Mazdatrix sells some fender flare for the quarters. They look pretty oem but about an inch wider I believe.

You'd have to cut your quarters and the entire rusted area. And then install those.

 

I am in Michigan and a lot of the cars have rust around the back wheel, does that mean that the whole car is rusty or that just around the back wheel is rusty?

just started looking ?

 

It doesn't mean the whole car is rusty, but it usually is a good indicator that it is. Even if someone cuts it out, welds metal there, sands, and paints, that spot will still be more prone to rusting.

 

When rust bubbles the paint, it's established enough to pit the base metal. Just gone done fixing some up on my jeep before I sold it. You'll need to take it down to bare metal with one of those paint stripper wheels you can put on a drill or your favorite angle grinder wheel (flap disk/wire is your best bet). Depending on what kind of shape it's in you'll need to use body filler or might luck out and only need that primer + filler. I have no experience with the second. Next it's prime, paint, clear coat.

Not sure how the mica shades will do with rattle can paint. I know the spray touch up paint matched perfectly with my jeep. You still need to be very careful in how you apply it. It'll blend in perfectly, but if you go too light it'll appear more dull as it's just specks of paint. I'm sure it could be wet sanded. Again, didn't try it because it was a jeep and I was selling it. Couldn't tell the difference from 6 feet out.

Now the bad news is you do have rust elsewhere. If it appear in an obvious, high traffic spot, then it certainly exists in the nooks and crannies. Time to crawl around underneath and look for the bad spots. After finding a hole in the jeep's frame I spent probably close to $100 in just rust converter and paint and countless hours eradicating what I could. Soon as I get a few bucks in my pocket I'll be doing the exact same thing to the Mazda. Rust is far, far easier to prevent than stop, repair, and hope it doesn't come back.

 

Hi everyone. My Mazda RX8, 2004, is rusting at the bottom side skirts and the fender flares. Anyone else have this problem. I had the rust treated from a technician about 8 years ago. It wasn't alot of rust, but it has been resurfacing for 2 years. No way to fix it, the autobody shop couldn't help.

How bad do the panels have to rust out before I have to get rid of it? It's already through the outer base panel, but the inner base panel is there and it is starting to make contact.

Anyone with a similar situation?

Thanks,

Chad