Ok... So two questions
1.) what do you do to your FC when the rocker panels start to rot away? are there any oem replacement parts out there that i can purchase right now? Or am I in a situation of "tough luck"?
2.) What do you do if you have a hole in your passenger side from rust? I know in a normal scenario, you would recommend me to weld it with a sheet a metal. But what if the part that rotted away is the place where the seats used to bolt on? The places where the seat bolts on, on the passenger side, the right side of the seats bolt onto a "hump" as i'd like to call it, so i can't just lay down a piece of metal there unless i'm going to give up my passenger seat. Do any of the aftermarket suppliers out there provide floor pans that i can purchase? (preferably cheap, i saw one but replace the whole floor pan and it was 1000!)

Thanks in advance!

 

cut it out and weld in new pieces.

 

Find a clean, rust free roller or one with a blown engine and put all your performance parts in it. Then do not drive it in the winter.

If you do not have performance parts, then I would just run it like that until it falls apart. Not worth the time and money to fix as FCs are cheap.

 

Not to take away from the OP, but my question is relevant here I think. I will be driving my rx-7 in the winter every day in Pennsylvania. What is recommended to prevent rust? And is there a way to stop rust from spreading if it is still small?

 

buy some underbody spray or have a shop coat the underside. this will help, assuming they use road salt where you live. if there are already small rust holes you'll want to cut them out ASAP and weld in patches. they do have sprays that stop rust but i'm sure most posters here will say fix it right and cut them out.

 

DO NOT BUY AN UNDERCOATING SERVICE THE STUFF IS JUNK AND ONLY LEAVES YOU WITH A WAXY MESS UNDER YOUR CAR....

To repair rust the only solution is welding in new metal... I usually make my own patch panels unless I'm doing floors or a full panel replacement... way to much of a PITA to make that big a patch from scratch.

For protection I recommend cleaning and waxing you painted panels with a high quality sealant like Collinite 845, and the was regularly through the winter. I also protect all my metal bits with Blackfire metal sealant.

Another improtant thing is to make sure your sunroof (if applicable) and rear hatch drains are working properly and not filling your car with water...

 

Hose off the underside of your car every couple days. Make sure to use enough pressure to blast away the salt. The salt is the real enemy.