the battle agenst RUST

[Rabbi]

how do i go about repairing small dime sized rust spots on the body? I have a few that are very small, But will start spreading if i dont do soemthing about them now. Is there some sort of "sealent" i can use to protect them from getting any worse?

 

 

I would LIKE to sand them and paint them but i dont have that kind of cash atm. How much would a body shop charge for about 4 dime sized rust spots ?

[GnatGoSplat]

You could try POR15, some guys were just talking about it in an earlier thread.

 

I've also used a product called EXTEND. What it did was just coats the rust and prevents it from spreading. It claimed to turn the rust into a "paintable primer", although to me it seems weird to just cover up rust.

 

If you're tight on money, something that prevents it from spreading might be good enough to tide you over till you save up some extra cash to fix it right.

[Regal_GS_1989]

I don't know if you guys have this stuff in the US, but I havee used stuff called Rust Check. It basically penetrates the metal, drives out the moisture, and keeps it from spreading further. One spray usually will last about 6 months.

[1990lumina]

How bad is the rust right now?? Any pics?? Depending on how bad you might consider sanding it down and putting some filler on top to seal...because you don't want it to get bad enough that you end up cutting off the infected area and redoing it.

Good luck,

 

- Jeff L.

[3pt1lumina]

Yeah can you show us some pics??

 

If it's too bad it might not be worth it.. doesn't sound this way though.

[Rabbi]

the problem is guys, Its on parts of the body that cant be replaced. So if these turn into bigger problems i cant fix them, And i cant afford to take the car to a shop ATM..

 

 

there is about a half dime size chip of rust right where the taillight meets the curved peice on the back of the car. Like on the left of the drivers side taillight. Also a few peices on the back drivers side fender. I Cant remember what its called. But its right where the rear glass meets the trunklid. Hard to explain without pics i guess.

 

I am confident enuf to sand and repaint them, But what sort of paint should i use with a white 91 z34? Is there any sort of GM touchup paint availible ?

[19Cutlass94]

I just used POR15 on my car to undercoat it but if your go to http://www.por15.com you can purchase the POR15 and it tells you how to paint right over it with a smooth glossy look, although you need to purchase primers so that you can use any paint you wish

[GnatGoSplat]

How bad is the rust right now?? Any pics?? Depending on how bad you might consider sanding it down and putting some filler on top to seal...because you don't want it to get bad enough that you end up cutting off the infected area and redoing it.

 

Filler absorbs moisture and has no sealing properties, that's why you never EVER leave body filler exposed to the elements.

 

If you sand off the rust, you'll need to take it down to BARE METAL. Then I would go over it a few times with phosphoric acid to etch away the rust you can't see. After that, paint with a rust preventive primer. Add a skim coat of body filler if the metal is significantly pitted. Then sand, prime, and paint with a color coat. GM might still carry paint that matches. If not, auto parts stores usually have small spray cans of paint. It's almost always lacquer so it dries fast, but isn't as strong as an enamel finish.

 

One bad thing about rust that I've discovered, is if there's a bubble, the affected area is actually MUCH larger than it looked. Once you get started, you may discover those dime sized spots are really 2". It just didn't look it because the paint only bubbled up in the very worst areas.

[Intlcutlass]

Products you will want to look into if your battling rust...

 

Rustoleum cold galvonizing compund

Fiberglass

POR-15

Behr driveway etcher/cleaner (purple label @ Home Depot. it's a high concentration of Phosphoric acid)

 

Where your talking about a body panel...... sand the rust off, use the cold galvonizing compound , then prime and paint.....

 

POR-15 for areas like under the body, or areas you won't see all the time, and POR-15 has to be applied directly to rust... thats how it works.

 

Fiberglass to patch holes

 

and the Phosphoric acid to remove rust .... ONLY IN A BID OR SOMETHING

DO NOT TOUCH THE STUFF< BE VERY FREGGN CAREFULL WHEN WORKING WITH IT!!!!! DO NOT BRUSH IT ON A CAR... What I do is whenever I have a dustshield or some other smaller item... I leave it in a bin for a day or two filled with the acid... the wash it off, and cold galvonize it....

[Jcrow]

I just ordered some of this for the underbody of all my cars

http://www.zerorust.com/index.htm

[Intlcutlass]

I just ordered some of this for the underbody of all my cars

http://www.zerorust.com/index.htm

 

Jcrow... Didn't you have a large rust repair on that cutty???

 

I never did get to see the details on that.....

 

Could you send me the pics of that?

[Jcrow]

I didn't take any pics during the rebuild, but I used all new or non-rusted used parts. I patched holes in the quarter with good steel from the old pieces with a mig welder

[kadeas]

Has anyone tried one of those electronic rust preventers? Ever even heard of one? I guess it is installed under the hood is supposed to send out negative ions or what have ya'???? I've only seen one ever hooked up, looked like a remote start mounted on the firewall. That was about 4 years ago, I'd like to see that car now to see if it rusted any. I guess it must have been a flop cause I've never heard of one since!

[Intlcutlass]

Has anyone tried one of those electronic rust preventers? Ever even heard of one? I guess it is installed under the hood is supposed to send out negative ions or what have ya'???? I've only seen one ever hooked up, looked like a remote start mounted on the firewall. That was about 4 years ago, I'd like to see that car now to see if it rusted any. I guess it must have been a flop cause I've never heard of one since!

 

I have one..... Allit does is slow down the rust... it does't stop it....

 

Rust is a chemical change that happens when electrons leave the steel, and flow out into the environment, so that the steel has a loss of electrons. The electronic rust inhibitors re-supply the steel with electrons. I couldn't say if it works or not, but I was and am willing to try anything...

[kadeas]

I hear that. Did you have it put on? Does it cost much?

[3pt1lumina]

Has anyone tried one of those electronic rust preventers? Ever even heard of one? I guess it is installed under the hood is supposed to send out negative ions or what have ya'???? I've only seen one ever hooked up, looked like a remote start mounted on the firewall. That was about 4 years ago, I'd like to see that car now to see if it rusted any. I guess it must have been a flop cause I've never heard of one since!

 

They suck! A big waste of money IMO. I had one on my 77 Chevelle and it didn't stop the rust. I dont even think it slowed it down.

[loominaz34]

I bet the area directly around the "rust preventer" didn't rust. the reason they work is because of an extremely weak electronic current which causes the metal in the rust preventer, usually zinc or magnesium, to be corroded instead of the steel. It didn't have a strong enough effect to essentially rust-proof an entire car. they use this technique of big ocean ships to prevent the hull from rusting using sometime hundreds of little pieces of magnesium. They do work, just not well enough to be practical as a rust preventer on your car.

[backinblack]

If anyone else has any other good ideas on rust repair... please share with me!

 

My signature is just a taste of what some of the parts of the car look like...

 

Angle grinder and fiberglass might be my only recourse...

[Regal_GS_1989]

If anyone else has any other good ideas on rust repair... please share with me!

 

My signature is just a taste of what some of the parts of the car look like...

 

Angle grinder and fiberglass might be my only recourse...

Damn, what is that on??

EDIT: just checked out your website, DAMN< I never thought that I would see that kind of rust on a 2nd Gen Prix :shock: What year is that??

EDIT II: I'm a dumbass I didn't see where it said 97 Grand Prix.

[GnatGoSplat]

Angle grinder and fiberglass might be my only recourse...

 

I wouldn't use fiberglass. Welding in new rocker panels would be the best way to fix it.

 

I bet the area directly around the "rust preventer" didn't rust. the reason they work is because of an extremely weak electronic current which causes the metal in the rust preventer, usually zinc or magnesium, to be corroded instead of the steel. It didn't have a strong enough effect to essentially rust-proof an entire car. they use this technique of big ocean ships to prevent the hull from rusting using sometime hundreds of little pieces of magnesium. They do work, just not well enough to be practical as a rust preventer on your car.

 

They can only work in an electrolytic solution. That's why it works on ships, but not cars.

[twind]

you need top get all the rust off the metal if it has not eaten all the way through the metal. you will need to sand or grind all the rust off the seal it spot puddy the prime it the paint it or touch up paint. this is what dad di for 15 years he did it, and this is the way i do it . no problems on the ones i did. and i live in minnesota

[dsgrntld187]

Ugh.. Rust.. I hate it. I'm missing a 4"x.5" piece of my hood because of it.. Do they make replacement quarter panels? I'm just gonna have the body shop completely remove all the rust from my car.. they did it to a 95 GP SE a month ago or so.