I got bored today and decided to investigate the growing hole(s) in front of the right rear tire. I wish I had attended to this last year as the rust is growing significantly on the inside of the panel and I fear that it has gone up past the two-tone border on the back side of the panel.

I'm thinking of buying a full rocker panel and cutting the part I need out of it for the lower repair, I am not sure if the upper part is available so I may have to make that. Any ideas on whether it is possible to stop the growth on the inside of the panel where it goes up past the spot welds? I can extend the two-tone about 1/2 an inch higher but that's it and the border is about where the spot welds are located on the inside. The white portion of the van was repainted about 10 years ago and is in very good condition, the intent is not to damage that if at all possible.

This van won't be replaced until the used Mercedes Roadtreks drop below 50k so I need to make a good repair.

 

A very good body shop (one that does restorations) could fix that damage probably for less than you think. I have a local shop that restores classic Mercedes I counted 57 trophies at their shop they have won for best of show at classic Mercedes meets, they are amazing and cost about the same as normal body shops.


In my opinion body work is skilled labor, better to pay to have it done right than learn on your own.

 

Just make a nice removable cover panel for it. That space make a great hiding space for boarder crossing contraband.

 

https://www.shermanparts.com/ecat/ba...ize)&year=1991

 

many thanks for that info moparite

 

If you shop around you may be able to get them cheaper. Sherman usually has(or can get) every repo sheet metal out there.

 

Yes, thank you for that link. Shipping to Canada would be a problem so I went to the parts dealer I use and they are going to get back to me with what they can get.
My plan is to properly complete the metal repair and then get the Burgundy portion of the van repainted. Hopefully I can get to that this fall, I definitely need to cut out all of the rust and paint the edges before parking the van for the winter.

 

3 years later and it has been fixed.

 

Cool! Are you really going to sell?

 

Yeah, I just hope it doesn't get used in the winter. I've done a lot of work to make this van into what I wanted it to be but now it is somebody else's turn. Both vans have benefits and drawbacks but we are going Chevy... You can see my For Sale video on YouTube if you poke around using the video above as a starting point.