Rust RUINED my Thanksgiving weekend!
judebert
familEE
I've had some rust on the hatch and below the passenger's rear turn signal lens. I talked to a bunch of people, got a bunch of advice, and figured I could strip the paint from both corners and the bottom stripe of the hatch during the first day, leaving a primered surface; then paint it up like a caution tape on the second day. I don't think I can color-match 20 year old paint, and I don't have a paint gun anyway -- everything is going to be done with rattle-cans.
I found that the little bubble of rust was much more extensive than I expected. Using a 60-grit flap wheel, I went all the way through the metal and discovered something ugly on the other side: rust coated bondo.
It couldn't figure out how to get the interior panels off, so I had to bend them and reach around them to get at the back side of the panel. Luckily I had a conical wire wheel, which made it a little easier.
An hour later, I had ground off enough bondo and paint to expose the whole 3" diameter patch of rust in back. And of course, it extended into the @#**$!shaped corners.
I attacked everything with vigor. I hand sanded anything I couldn't reach with the drill. It all got painted with a rust converter/sealant.
I think some idiot had seen the rust on the back of the panel and "fixed" it by "sealing" it with bondo. Some bondo went between two panels in the shaped corner; that makes me believe that the problem was actually found during manufacture.
In the end, I had to cover a big quarter-shaped hole with bondo. The next day, I sanded and painted. The only thing I got done was that one corner.
Next weekend I hope to tackle the rest. We'll see.
I wrote it up on my website, but there are only two crappy pictures. Because I was working too hard to waste time getting the camera.
I hate rust.
I found that the little bubble of rust was much more extensive than I expected. Using a 60-grit flap wheel, I went all the way through the metal and discovered something ugly on the other side: rust coated bondo.
It couldn't figure out how to get the interior panels off, so I had to bend them and reach around them to get at the back side of the panel. Luckily I had a conical wire wheel, which made it a little easier.
An hour later, I had ground off enough bondo and paint to expose the whole 3" diameter patch of rust in back. And of course, it extended into the @#**$!shaped corners.
I attacked everything with vigor. I hand sanded anything I couldn't reach with the drill. It all got painted with a rust converter/sealant.
I think some idiot had seen the rust on the back of the panel and "fixed" it by "sealing" it with bondo. Some bondo went between two panels in the shaped corner; that makes me believe that the problem was actually found during manufacture.
In the end, I had to cover a big quarter-shaped hole with bondo. The next day, I sanded and painted. The only thing I got done was that one corner.
Next weekend I hope to tackle the rest. We'll see.
I wrote it up on my website, but there are only two crappy pictures. Because I was working too hard to waste time getting the camera.
I hate rust.
Comments
I hate rust too :evil:
Bzzzzzzt! Wrong answer! Some Napa stores (not every one) CAN color match your paint! They have this device that looks like an old school radar gun. They carry it out to your car, put it against the side, and it scans your paint. Then it tells a computer exactly what mixture to use to duplicate it. Since it scans your actual car, it takes the 20 years of fading into account. When they make it, they can either put it in a touch-up brush on bottle or a rattle can.
I've made extensive touch-ups all over my car from the rattle can I got. Can you tell where? Sometimes I can't.
I'll have to look into that. Now that the rust (in that spot) is eliminated, I can re-sand and re-paint at my leisure. I could even make touch-ups to scratched and faded areas.
And my 10-year-old daughter loves using the rattle can! I figure it's my first time doing any body work, so she can learn along with me.