right i have a few questions

its been a while since ive been on here but ive bought a black astra gsi rolling shell(always wanted a black one!) as i now have space and time for a project.

anyway bought a shell last week and stripped it this weekend. All in all for 17 years old its very good...had a couple licks of paint but all original and no rot on sills/rear panels. still metal where the sunroof water run offs sit which is nice....surface rust appearing in a couple of places but thatll clean up nicely. i took pics on my iphone but they came out sh*t.

my main issue though was when i prodded soft rust on an arch i knew needed a little work it turned into a fair size hole. the position is awkward as can be seen and i couldnt really get at it with a wheel on. Due to everything being original i want to know the thoughts if when i cut all the rust out of inner arch that i patch it without cutting wing off. the rear arches will be painted (up to the top liner under window so i can blend new paint in without taking glass out.

is the above achievable? i guess ill have about 1cm overlap all round so will clean the arche to bare metal and spot weld through arch....

i just dont want to cut both arches to replace this metal if i can get away with it.

the rear arch inner repair panels are just for the lip as well. the lip of the rear arch on my car is good solid metal.

what grade metal would be best to replace as well given i will have to try and shape this with limited tools.

i have attached some pics



where rear door cardssit is good too and i still have metal under bumpers around my filler cap (phew)





basically i dont want to do too much to this as i have limited skills....my original plan was to just strip it oxy primer underseal paint enigne bay and drop in engine but now i have to do a little bit more work. im not too fussed how it "looks" as you cant see it from the inside and i can apply soem filler / underseal on the inside. This isnt really an MOT failure either id imagine?

front end needs a little spruce up but im pretty happy with my 17 year old toy!



i cant even weld any good yet