I don't like that idea so much myself.
What you will find I think, is that 'the insideous' problem is the rust
that is down in those seams.

you can read about this all over the internet I'm sure ...but those
seems are a 'flange joint' that are about 1/2 inch wide or deep.
any rust that is still trapped in there can surface later.

as for changing panels someday ..I'd say they have to be cut out anyway
..so not much of a factor there in my mind.

I suggest get at the other side....if westy, those or well known for
water getting to the inside behind the kitchen stuff, by leaks at the
service door/ports there.

if not a Westy ..easy to get at the inner side, and see what you have
there. And you can see how 'deep' these 'flange seams' are.
I'm kinda nutty about dealing with corrosion. Love to do it.
The Main Trick will be getting rid of ALL rust and corrosion first ..
until there is just clean bare metal left.

Once I have that ...I like two-part epoxy .......the kind from an
automotive paint supply company ..
that stuff is so strong, I call it 'space ship glue'.    Any clean dry
metal joined by that stuff in a dry warmish environment witll just never
come apart.  I would do that over welding for sure.  No heat damage as
with welding etc.

Your biggert challenge will be to get all the rust out ..
rather than just covering over rust.
Left in there ....it'll find its way to the surface again someday for sure.

but look it up online.
There's dozens ..here's but one.
http://www.vanagonauts.com/Idiot-s-guide-to-seam-rust-repair180.htm

the Idiot's guide ...sounds good !

scott
turbovans

On 11/19/2012 7:32 PM, Liberte, Joel wrote:
> Nothing unusual about having it and I'm figuring out the best way of dealing with it before we start dumping massive amounts of salt on the roads around here.
>
> It was suggested to me that after cleaning the seams of rust to weld them together to prevent it from happening again.  Other than the obvious thought of the additional difficulty of removing any panel in the future if needed and some additional body work to smooth them out before repainting, are there any other items that would suggest welding the seams is a really bad idea?
>
> Joel
>