That one rocker panel seam fought me for 5 hours and I finally got it

Robin Smith · 2026-10-18T21:45:04.937585+00:00

So last Friday I had this 2011 Civic in the bay with a rust bubble at the rear wheel arch that turned into a whole lot more once I got the grinder on it. I figured I'd just cut out the bad metal, weld in a patch, skim it and be done by lunch. Nah. The seam where the quarter meets the rocker had factory sealant packed in there and every time I welded it kept blowing out pinholes because the metal was thinner than I thought from the inside out. I must have cut and refit that patch 3 times, and at one point my boss poked his head in and said "you still on that thing?" like I was slacking. Turned out the trick was backing the seam with a chunk of copper I had lying around from an old job, which soaked up the heat and let me run a bead without chasing holes all afternoon. Total time from cutoff wheel to primer was about 5 hours when I quoted myself 90 minutes. It's in primer now looking clean but man, that seam humbled me. What do you guys do for backing thin butt welds on old rust repair, copper or do you just stitch it slow?

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That one rocker panel seam fought me for 5 hours and I finally got it | Auto Body Repairers - Thought Shares