2003 SLE Love the car BUT!!!!

[eskurka]

I have a 2003 SLE.. Its shows great.. it has 133k miles and run awesome..

OF course around the gas cap is rusting... its getting bad the whole quarter looks like crap.. is it worth fixing? I plan On keeping it till it dies.. I was given a price of 2500 to make the whole car look as new.. ID like to no spend that much..

what are my options I really love the car..

Its black by the way

Eric

[dz09x]

I believe a few people on the forum have had the job done for between 300-500ish. My body guy quoted me 300. And honestly, any body guy that charges you an insane amount like that for touchups is not worth your time. Every body guy i have been to has basically done the touch ups for minimal cost when i went about repairing something major(hood, door rust,etc)...

... that is unless your cars paint job is that bad that it needs a full restoration.

[bobgto65]

I have the same problem on my 02 SSEi. I am selling it soon so it won't be fixed, but if you want to keep the car looking nice inside and out for several years and mechanically it is good, consider getting it fixed. Otherwise you will have a rust hole there in a year or two. If you do get it fixed, when you cut out the rusted area, there is a metal insert the goes around the gas tank filler. It is spot welded onto the outside quarter panel in a couple spots and held to it by some hard black foam that sucks up water. Separate this from the quarter panel, and when it is re-installed, scrape off all the hard foam and use a good sealant caulk around it to seal it to the quarter panel and filler tube instead, and seal the 2 cervices inside the gas filler area (where it joins the quarter panel) because water can seep into the space between this insert and the quarter panel and it will fill up with water again. That is what caused the problem in the first place. See this thread: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... hilit=rust. Do not leave the insert out because the air space behind the insert is part of the trunk compartment and any gas spill will cause fumes in the trunk and passenger compartment.

[sandrock]

I'm going to start bringing a cordless Dremel with me when I go to junkyards, and harvest this panel on every Bonneville I see. I'm sure I can make a decent amount of money selling these as patch panels!

[bobgto65]

I like that dermal idea. There is one pick-a-part junkyard that has five '00 and up cars there including an SSEi. I am planning a trip there as soon as it stops raining.