Anyone have a DIY on how to REMOVE RUST?

Comments

• MondiVTEC Wagonist

  November 2009

  looks like mine LOL i never messed with the body but ima give it a go myself pretty soon
• ragenasian Moderator

  November 2009

  I would first start on trying to remove the rust and seeing actually how bad it is. Mine didn't look that bad until I started removing the rust. Turned into a real headache real quick. Was much worse than it looked. I got some sheet metal and just starting cutting out and welding in new panels. The whole underneath of the rear quarters was gone, and so were the arches.
  
  If you don't have a welder, I would clean off as much of the rust as you can, seal it, then bondo, then paint. Por-15 and Eastwood make good rust sealant but you need to get rid of as much of the rust as you can first. Those two companies say you can paint right over the rust but I like to at least try and remove as much rust first.
• vtecn8ive Senior Wagonist

  November 2009

  I would recommend weighing your options.
  
  I am debating if I will ever do this to my severely rusted wagon, or if I'll continue putting parts on it for the sole reason of swapping them on to a southern Red 88 Civic Rt4wd when the opportunity presents itself.
  
  Why 88? Its the lightest, why red? I like it along with the black interior .
  
  But that is my future plan.
  
  Now if I keep the car I currently have with all the rust, I will cut and weld in new pieces and repaint that area of the car.
  
  I've done rust repairs once before, it really can be a big headache. My rust looked like little spots here and there, but as soon as I started grinding I soon realized they were really bad. (as previously stated)
• SiWagon Council Member

  November 2009

  Just judging from your pics & that estimate($$$$) I'd do what vtecn8ive is doing.Keep the wagon.Get to know it.Do mods,get parts & Keep looking for another Wagon.Then swap everything over.That's what I did too. From my experience and most others I've read about bigger rust is to past.For the price of that repair you could get another Wgn.When I did sell my old Wgn. I made a few $$$ and a few more from selling the right mirror & rear mudflaps.
• judebert familEE

  December 2009

  By the time you see the bubbles, the rust is usually clean through the sheet metal. That turns it from a simple job to a multi-day project.
  
  The simple way to deal with rust is to sand it off. You just keep going until you see clean metal for about 1" in every direction... or empty space. A sandblaster makes short work of this. Otherwise, an electric sander is darn near required; without it, you're talking about a lot of time and elbow grease.
  
  Supposing you've got metal under the rust, now you need to level everything off even and paint it. A "glaze" is required for filling severe depressions, but a "filling primer" will cover the little ones. The mantra for painting is "coat, sand, repeat". You start with primer and sandpaper at 120 grit and increase the fineness with each repetition until you're up to 300 grit or more. For the higher grits, sanding often means wet sanding.
  
  A spray gun will give best results for applying paint, but if you don't need "like new" paint, get a spray can of matching at a hardware store. Coat, sand, repeat. Many folks will just sand the paint off the whole panel to get it even, then paint it black. (I did that with my hatch, then added some yellow stripes. I liked it a lot.) It all depends on the outcome you want. Heck, if you've got the time, you can even use rustoleum and a brush. (Lots of links on the web.) It's time consuming, but can provide good results.
  
  Although the process is simple, it ain't easy, either. It takes dedication and an even hand to achieve good results. Pay more attention to the sanding than the spraying: that's where your efforts will pay off best. If you're just interested in getting the rust off, you don't need to repeat the painting process too many times; just get it close and spray some paint all over it.
  
  If your rust goes all the way through, things get more difficult. You may want to just get a "new" body panel from the junkyard. Luckily, we've recently seen posts on how to remove fenders and doors. You can "fix" the hole, of course. You just mix together some body filler, smear it over the hole, let it dry, and sand it down. Then you pick up at the painting cycle. Holes bigger than a penny or so require backing; use the body filler to glue a cloth or piece of mesh to the back of the panel (this gets tricky if it's hard to reach), let it dry, and then smear body filler over the hole.
  
  Getting the Bondo to match the curve of the missing metal is a matter of sanding appropriately. Use too much; it's easy to sand, but layering Bondo on top of itself is an iffy thing, prone to peeling off in layers.
  
  Advanced users will eschew Bondo altogether, replacing any missing metal by welding pieces of scrap metal (or parts of other cars!) in appropriate places. Sanding the seam is a pain, but in the end you wind up with a strong piece. Rust on the frame must be fixed by welding; body filler is flimsy stuff, and the frame is what keeps your car in the right shape.
  
  You didn't show us any frame rust, but those other spots look like they go right through. Good luck with your repairs -- or the purchase of a replacement body car in better shape.