Rusty rocker panels 95 Mazda Protege lx
 

Both rocker panels on car are pretty rusty. Can I buy new ones are is it a lost cause for my 1995 baby???

In today's car market, it's not economically viable to spend money on rust repairs for a 22 yr old car.

Well you might not want to but this car is my baby. I've had her for 18 yrs and I will try to fix her up a much as I can afford to do. I'll just ask my dad if we can fix it by welding a piece of steel there!

It depends on how badly it's rusted. You can buy replacement rocker panels. You cut out all the bad metal, treat the remaining, then weld in the new sections. Of course, there may be lot's of body work left to blend it all in.

Problem is once you open it up, you'll see the rest of the rust. Check the wheel wells, quarter panels and floor panels. New England winters can wreck havoc on older cars.

But I know what you mean by "your baby". I recently "retired" my 1986 Nissan D21 pickup. Been in our family since new. Was my daily driver for many years until passed to my son. No rust here in SoCal, but a blown tranny, bad A/C, cracked up dash and some other issues made it too expensive to make it serviceable, and it would still be a 30 year old truck.

Good luck!!