The dreaded rear arches.

[MarkyMark]

I've seen a growing number of people on here with questions about rusty arches and now it's my turn.

My GTX failed it's last MOT on (amongst other things) major rust within prescribed distance of suspension mounts. The garage said £500 minimum but they wouldn't know til the bodykit was off and they were likely to break the kit as "some idiot had masticked it on". I decided rather than let these guys loose on my 'rocco with a blank cheque I would take the kit off myself and then decide what to do about it.

So here are the results:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8745345@N0 ... 283308850/

..and now I'm really unsure over what to do. It's clearly a lot to sort out and won't be cheap if done at a bodyshop/garage, although everywhere I've sent picture to for quotes has not responded so I have no idea how "not cheap" it will be.

There are other mechanical/electrical issues that need fixing but these are minor and I'll happily sort them myself. I've seen self repairs of similar bodywork issues in the project thread but I've never welded before in my life so this is not really an option for me.

So my questions are:

Anyone experience in these things able to suggest how much these reapirs may cost?

Anyone have reccomendations for bodyshops in the salisbury area?

Should I just bite the bullet, look for a more solid scirocco and break this one for spares (I'm quite sentimental about it and really don't like scrapping cars that i know are getting rarer by the day)?

All suggestions welcome

[DT1]

I would clear off all the paint and sealant around the rusty bits to see the full extent of the damage.

If you can fabricate the plates yourself (find the gauge of steel required) and prep the area for welding it should cut down on costs a lot, that's where most of the cost is in a welding job...prepping.

[Funky Diver]

If you're really bothered... Arch Repair panels in member services.

Cut - Weld - paint - seal - seal - seal - Job Sorted

[Nate]

from what i can make out from the pics, it is just the ends of the sills that want doing for the test. 500 noes does seem slightly steep for this. for that money you could buy yourself a mig welder and do it yourself, learning a new skill into the bargain. so long as you get yourself a suitable welder, repairing stuff like that is relatively easy. don't do what i did and just go buy the biggest mig you can find. i bought a 200 amp one and it just blows holes in car steel

the clarke turbomig is quite well thought of as a home use kit for this kind of thing, and they do seem to be nice and reliable. don't buy an SIP (like the hellfrauds one) as they are crap.

lots of info and a really helpful forum on this here

some idiot had masticked it on

that would be volkswagen

[The Autoad]

If you don't fancy doing the job yourself you could speak to MarkH here on this forum. He is running his own garage in the Stoke area. He aint called 'the resto' for nothing y'know ;)

Here is his guide for repairing arches: http://sciroccoregisterforum.co.uk/faq/ ... el-arches/

[MarkyMark]

Well, its been a while but I now have some new rear arches all the way from belgium (http://www.sciroccoregisterforum.co.uk/ ... =30&t=6038), my car miraculously hasn't dissolved any further in all the rain and she still turns over sweetly after 2 months of not being run.
So as soon as I can ply my citroen restoring, welder weilding workmate with sufficient beer, project moose is set to begin. Chocks away!

[captquo]

I got some replacement arches from Germany. 101 Euro shipped for both.
Contact I used was:

Sebastian Exner
ATP Auto-Teile-Pöllath Handels GmbH
Auerbacher Straße 7
91281 Kirchenthumbach

Tel.: +49 9647 92903 - 0
Fax: +49 9647 92903 - 133


http://www.atp-autoteile.de
info@atp-autoteile.de
sebastian.exner@atp-autoteile.de