Rust Removal

koshimaro · Oct 5th, 2003, 11:11 PM

I have rust on my fenders and a little on the trunk lid. The fenders are almost eaten its way thru the metala and is flaking but the other spots are just bubbling (effects of 11 canadian winters) soooo...i was wondering what is the cheapest and best way to fix it...i want to get a paint job but this has to be take care of first ill see if i can post pics later but can i just file the rust off and mould the filled away part from body filler
is this a do-it-yourself job or should i actually get the paint shop to do it?

BikerFry · Oct 6th, 2003, 09:51 AM

If there's no holes ya don't gotta screw around with good old Bondo, so you're in luck. Just sand and grind as much as you have to to get that metal absolutely clean. If there's any rust still left at all at the spot you're working on it will just continue to rust. (Rusting is an electro-chemical reaction, so if there's any rust there the reaction will still be underway. If there isn't any then there's no reaction and it would have to find a new spot to start again.)
Once it's clean start applying coats of primer. Let each coat get good and dry. Once the coats of primer have built up enough, use some fine grit (high number) sand paper and get it good and smooth. Add more coats of primer if you need to to get it smooth.
Then, when it's all done, apply a couple coats of color-matched paint. When that's done you might even want to get a mild polishing compound to buff it smooth.
Just be patient. If you don't get all the rust cleaned off then by the end of one of our northeast winters all your work will have rusted away again. Take your time with the primer too. It'll be worth it to get it nice and smooth. Taking your time to do it right won't take that much extra effort, but it will make all the difference in the world.

Oh, and if you do have holes... Get some bondo and follow the directions on the can. Don't be afraid to put it on a little thick, because you can always sand it smooth when you're done. The same as above, make sure you've got all the rust gone before you bondo. You can't just cover rust. The reaction will keep working.

koshimaro · Oct 6th, 2003, 10:09 AM

thanks man! what if there are no holes but te rust has gone pretty deep should i still just sand it down? until i get to clean metal? or just file the whole thing off? and if i sand it so thin will the primer add thickeness to the fender or do i have to bondo it?

BikerFry · Oct 6th, 2003, 10:41 AM

Hmm... Tough call... The metal's gotta be clean, even if it means makin holes. If it's not clean it'll just rust a hole anyways... I don't think the primer will do much to really thicken/strengthen the sheet metal, but if it were me I'd probably just prime it and paint it as long as there are no holes. If nothing else, just because you can always sand off the paint and add bondo later if the metals too thin and you get holes or whatever. Bondo's really meant for patching/filling holes anyways. It would just fall off if you tried to smear some on to thicken up some sheet metal.

Damn, now that I'm thinkin of it, I gotta do the same to my car before they start saltin the roads... It's comin soon! I got rust pretty similar to yours. Just surface rust at the back fenders and below the doors a little. I'm probably gonna grab a rust removal wheel from autozone for a power drill and really get my little bastard clean. Then prime, sand, and paint. I can't find silver paint that exactly matches, but oh well. Close will look better than brown rust.

tomppaa · Jun 19th, 2004, 12:34 PM

Hmm I got a rusted hole on my drivers side skirt

Is this a job for the paint shop, or are there ways I can fix it myself? It's not TOO big, but 3-5cm x 2cm.