Body Shop Guys: Rust Repair

[Bru]

I've got some rust growing in the trunk lid and wanted to give a shot a fixing it myself. Just looking to learn a new skill, and also fix the trunk rust of course.

So where do I even start? Materials? Process? Is it complicated?

Anyone have any thorough tutorials or how-to guides on basic rust repair? I don't need it to be perfect or even sightly, which is why I'm starting in the trunk. So when I mess it up no one will see the botched repair job.

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[Yaj Yak]

eeesh. thats not fun.

only place on my car that had rust was in my spare tire wheel well haha... just surface though, i ground it all away with a grinder, then sprayed etcher on it, then primer, then just rattle canned it black and its good as new.

 

[Bru]

I've also got some rust under the gas door, which seems to be a common problem. A lot of water has seeped into the trunk over the years as well. Before going to Cordova last year I was cleaning my trunk and checking the spare when I found a few gallons of water under the spare tire. Good thing I took it out before I raced. Weight reduction FTW.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

thats a hard spot to get into

the best way would probably be to sand/grind til theres no rust, bondo it to match all the curves and everything, then prime and paint.

 

[Runtz52]

^^^ i agree, just hope its not all the way through, then thats a fuckton more work

 

[ktraver97ss]

that looks pretty deep from the pic, a grind, primer, and paint is only going to last a year or so. To repair it properly you'll need to cut it out and weld back in some sheet metal, then repaint the whole trunk. Id guess around a grand at a body shop. See what poppa panda can do for you.

 

[Bru]

Thanks guys. I understand the basics. I guess I should have been more specific. Looking for techniques, certain products to use, etc.

 

[ktraver97ss]

Do you have an angle grinder? That will make it alot quicker and easier than sanding by hand.

 

[Bru]

Naw, no angle grinder.

 

[blakbearddelite]

I wonder how hard it would be to find a suitable replacement at a junk yard. But I guess the odds of finding a matching trunk lid in good shape would not be in your favor.

 

[E]

I wonder how hard it would be to find a suitable replacement at a junk yard. But I guess the odds of finding a matching trunk lid in good shape would not be in your favor.

Never hurts to try

 

[ktraver97ss]

If his has rust, most likely the one that has been sitting in a junkyard will also have rust in the same area.

 

[Bru]

I'm not really worried about the rust in the lid, I'm just looking to learn something new so if the rust pops up anywhere else I could fix it then. Maybe I'll just pick up a few things at Advance Auto, go to town and see what happens.

 

[ktraver97ss]

If you dont have an angle grinder, get a steel grinder attachment for a power drill and go to town on the rust. Remember to wear safety glasses, hot metal/paint shavings in the eyes sucks.

 

[Runtz52]

i may have to try the rust repair with the lumi...

 

[Bru]

If you dont have an angle grinder, get a steel grinder attachment for a power drill and go to town on the rust. Remember to wear safety glasses, hot metal/paint shavings in the eyes sucks.

Cool. I'll give that a shot. Thanks.

What should I use to fill/seal after I grind down the rust.

 

[E]

Hey Bru do you have access to an air compressor?

 

[ktraver97ss]

Its going to depend how deep you need to grind. For a hidden area like that i woudl just use some bondo. Let it dry, sand, primer, paint.

 

[Bru]

Hey Bru do you have access to an air compressor?

Unfortunately no, not in the area that I could borrow anyways

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

yea just grind/sand as much as you can and just bondo it, prime and paint. theres not really any products you need to remove rust, its mostly grinding and sanding til ur happy or its gone or your tired and your hands are cramping. when you prep for paint is when u need cleaning agents. then just primer and paint. the hardest part is blending new paint to look like old paint

 

[blakbearddelite]

Unfortunately no, not in the area that I could borrow anyways

I have that little one in my garage that you could borrow. It's not huge or anything, but it may suit your purpose...

 

[E]

If Blakbeard lets you use the compressor, you could use the air tools that i got from vogel to cut/clean out the rust. Have Ron weld in some new steel if you need it.

 

[DanJ]

I have a 26 gallon compressor and a grinder. When are you trying to do this?

 

[Bru]

I'll put some more serious thought into it once the weather gets consistently better, but it is something I'm going to want to tackle. For now I'll just wipe off the rust water that's running down the rear bumper

 

[DanJ]

once the weather gets consistently better

Yea that's key. Let me know, with a grinder that wouldn't take very long.