Hey guys,

I was wondering if any of you have began to develop rust on your cars?
I was washing my car the other day and noticed a spot of rust developing on the inside of the right front fender. After I recovered from the horror, I called the body shop I use and they said that they could clean it up. Have any of you done rust repairs on your car? Any advice? Other that the rust spot which you have to look really hard for, the paint on the car is pristine. I hate rust. Is this stoppable?

D

 

rust never sleeps - where'd I hear that?

 

I you really want to prevent further rust you have to be very agressive. Make sure when you get that area done you look at the entire car top to bottom to find other areas that are starting. You gotta remove all the side cladding ( if you have it) remove and inspect the plate light bar on the trunk deck. thouroughly inspect the catch areas by the sunroof and all the window posts. get all the areas taken car of at once otherwise you will keep paying for everyime you have a new one pop up.

there are really two or three types of rust issues. One is when your entire car is rusting or starting to rust. In that case sell it and get something with no rust on it. Then there the issues when you have paint chips that have went un repaired and turn to rust spots. then there are edges that are already suseptable to those are ussually hiding under the body trim pieces and side cladding. They are tough but can be repaired and are covered again by the trim peices. Find a good body shop that does restoration work and get some quotes.

 

i have no rust at all

yeah my car is 20 years old and going strong

i sand any rust and put 3 good sprays of rust killer and paint after that

\only had to do it once

 

I've got lots of experience with rust and it's pretty much a losing battle. The best way to manage rust is to stop it before it begins. Have it properly and thoroughly rustproofed by a professional. And have it re-rustproofed every three years.

Once rust gets a hold, the damage is done. You can repair the area by removing the rust and repainting, but all the factory corrosion protection measures on that surface are gone, and that area is no more protected than a car made in the 1950s. Corrosion will show through in short time - like one or two years. So, you can go through the motions and repair the area, but you won't be happy with the results.

I'm doing all the right things with my 17 year old winter car, and it's still a never ending battle that consumes a lot of my repair time for the car.