as above. a mate of mine wants me to do a mini resto on his rs but both arch's are rusting behind the trim. i mean as you look side on just on the upper middle is rough.. much in to this job..
chears

 

my 1996 rs2000 rear arch is fubared...... i want to do it myself, i can weld....

but my mate reckons its a job for a pro because theres a chance the heat can warp the whole rear quarter......

 

I would say if you are confident at welding there should not be a problem, buy a tool for joggling the edges to help with keeping them flush, cut out all bad metal on inner and outer arches and if only a little area just cut the new panel down to replace what is required and you should have no problems at all. I did this on a Fiesta turbo a few years ago and even managed to keep the paint damage to the area that will be covered by the bodykit so did not have to have any professional painting done at all. A light skim of filler over the joint was all that was required, dont worry about distortion just weld small areas at a time until they become a continuous weld, then sand then off till flush.

 

leave it for a body shop, its what they do at the end of the day, may be expensive nbut wel worth it,

 

What he said
I did mine myself and its not a bad job really, just take your time and triple check all measurements etc before attacking it with a grinder!

 

do the welding is tiny bits (like chocolate chips- and bit here, bit there, bit there etc etc) to really avoid chances of warping
if i did it i'd get a panel, vibro cut the rear to match then weld flat and then the paint crap

if you aint got cool stuff like vibro cutters then jogglers the next best way i spose

beware the inner arch, it could be just as bad

 

cheers folk foe the advice. i done a small bit of work like this before so i should be ok.