I've just bought a 1971 beetle and after having it inspected by a panel beater he's discovered that the car is riddled with rust, and has quoted a minimum $5000 to cut out rust and respray. However, he has also told me that the car is not worth the cost of repairing it, and recommends selling it asap to try to get some of my money back.

But, i really don't want to have to sell it, as i'll have to sell it for a huge loss, plus i love it and had great restoration plans for it.

Can anyone give me any advice?
Is it worth trying to get it restored?
Will the rust come back even once it's been cut out?
Should i instead try to replace the entire panels instead of cutting the rust out?
Are there any other solutions to my problem?

Help, i'm lost!

Where are u located?

If u can take some photos that will help heaps

cheers, Mick

if you can replace panels thats probably the best way to go.
but on places you cant, you will need to cut them out. when cutting out lets just say if its the size of a 5c piece, cut out the size of a 50c piece.
then before welding in a new piece, make sure that pice is immac, paint the inside of the plate ith rust kill, and leave the side your going to weld bare metal.

send over some pics of it to te78ford1@hotmail.com
maybe if you come help me on weekends we can work something out on doing it. or i can possibly work on it at your place removing the rust and prepping the car for paint.
regards isaac. yeh btw im in sydney

Guys,

you are 2 years behind the times. This started in June 2008

Kev