Keep or part

[mr.e]

Well first of all I'm new to the forums and just wanted to say hello. I recently bought a 1997 legacy brighton wagon. Like anyone, I have/had big plans for the car. The car is a one owner 5-speed your basic brighton stuff. Anyway, on my way home from picking it up at about 75 mph the hood fly's up and almost caused a 4 car pile up. The damage was the hood, the windshield and a bunch of tiny little dents in the roof. I was super pissed. The car has the usual rust spots from several winters in Vermont but they are not that bad and very fixable. I'm rock'in a blue hood from a friend right now and have the entire body work lined up for the spring. Including a new outback hood and new hatch. The little bits of rust in the wheel wells were going to be fixed too. Ok, this is where the topic comes in. So the other day I decided to chech the rocker panels. Why I didnt check this before I bought the car, I will never know. The drivers side is perfect. The passenger side is good to about the rear door. Ok, this is a huge hole. I would give it a very conservative estimate of about 2 feet by 3 inches. Its totally rusted out. I didnt pay a lot for the car and was just wondering what some of you would do. It seems a shame to part it out. The engine just had a ton of work done to it. New water pump timing belt. Headgaskets, plugs, wires, air filter. New radiator etc... Its in overall really decent shape for a vermont car but I dont want to dig into this project if its a total lost cause.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/eldon_015/Subaru%20Rust/DSC_0005.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/eldon_015/Subaru%20Rust/DSC_0006.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/eldon_015/Subaru%20Rust/DSC_0007.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/eldon_015/Subaru%20Rust/DSC_0009.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/eldon_015/Subaru%20Rust/DSC_0010.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/eldon_015/Subaru%20Rust/DSC_0016.jpg
I was unable to get the camera to focus in on the rocker hole.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

[Huffer]

It's salvageable... but it will return within 5-6 years if the car sees winter duty.

[97legacygt]

If you really want to keep it and put the money into it, you could go to a junkyard and find a rocker that is clean with no rust and just cut the entire thing out. Then cut out yours where the hole is, but extend beyond the hole 3-4 inches on each side. Weld the replacement in, grind it smooth and then paint it. This is probably the best way to fix it, I'm sure there have been other not so worthy attempts to fix rust that some have tried. And also, if you do it this way, it sounds way easier than what it would actually be. :smt013

[Huffer]

You could also go full fiberglass widebody... :wink:

[mr.e]

Sounds like a good idea I guess. I have the rest of the body work lined up and at a really good price. Guy did some awesome work on a friends car. I guess I'll shoot him off an e-mail about the new rocker discovery. I was also thinking about getting some new rocker panels but have been unable to find any on line for this car.
I'm supper inspired by this car and want to go in this direction with mine. But not with so many fog lights
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa20 ... ewGTB1.jpg (http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa208/Pilot_Reuben/New%20GTB/NewGTB1.jpg)

[Black Sunshine]

I'm from VA and it's as far North as you can go without seeing rust. People in the south will buy dirt cheap rust buckets from the North as throw-away cars. You should check the structure and lines before you commit to anything. Rusty brake and fuel lines can be bad. Rusty strut towers can also be bad. Brightons generally suck compared to L's. Go down south and buy an L or southwest. I live in AZ now and it's bizarre how rust free these cars are. Then take it home and have the undercarraige Line-X'ed. Then you will never have to worry about it again. And you will have an endless stream of cheap rusty donors for parts.