what to do with this rust...

[T2urtle]

IT SUCKS LIVING IN THE RUST BELT.

GF's 2003 Mitsi Lancer is having some rust issues. Car has 101k on it, its not the cleanest car but seems to be a solid daily driver. Car is paid for already.

I'm currently debating between doing something, making an attempt to STOP/SLOW down this issue or just leave it be. I dont have any body work experience, I have an air compressor and an angle die grinder. I dont want to spend too much money on this, because other there are other small spots showing up as well. But this is the most/worst of them all. Other minor spots on the front radiator mount and etc.

The rust spot are still solid as i can push it and nothing is giving yet.

Location of these spots are in front of the rear wheels. Also, those rear tires are being replace soon.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Mine looked about like that when I finally had to do something about it because I couldn't get it to pass inspection anymore.

http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/downloads/100_0443.JPG
http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/downloads/100_0445.JPG

Those pics are what it looked like after I knocked all the rust loose. What I'm getting at here is yours is a LOT worse than it looks.

I half assed mine and just jammed chicken wire with card board backing and slopped bondo all over it.
http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/downloads/100_0450.JPG
One side after being fixed. Can see I didn't even bother to sand the bondo much. The "fix" was still ok enough 3 years later when I sold it.

How much work do you really want to put into it? To fix it right means welding. Even a really nice bondo job on something like that isn't going to last. The rust eventually starts popping through again. Anyway I say leave it alone as long as you can pass inspection if you have one in your state. You aren't really going to increase the value much.

You could try slopping something like POR 15 all over but since it is rusting from the inside out it probably won't help much.

 

[T2urtle]

No state inspections for my state. I've been wondering about POR, pending how cheap and small of a container I can get, maybe I can try.

 

[bryanl]

If you absolutely cannot seam weld steel in place of the rust, use metal powdered body filler or fiberglass with epoxy or polyester resin.

 

[T2urtle]

Don't have welder never done it before. Might cost me too much.

 

[DaTT]

Mine looked about like that when I finally had to do something about it because I couldn't get it to pass inspection anymore.

http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/downloads/100_0443.JPG
http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/downloads/100_0445.JPG

Those pics are what it looked like after I knocked all the rust loose. What I'm getting at here is yours is a LOT worse than it looks.

I half assed mine and just jammed chicken wire with card board backing and slopped bondo all over it.
http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/downloads/100_0450.JPG
One side after being fixed. Can see I didn't even bother to sand the bondo much. The "fix" was still ok enough 3 years later when I sold it.

How much work do you really want to put into it? To fix it right means welding. Even a really nice bondo job on something like that isn't going to last. The rust eventually starts popping through again. Anyway I say leave it alone as long as you can pass inspection if you have one in your state. You aren't really going to increase the value much.

You could try slopping something like POR 15 all over but since it is rusting from the inside out it probably won't help much.

What? You're car can't have rust to pass an inspection?

 

[thedarkwolf]

Can't have rust holes. Both of mine looked like his worst side. It has been awhile and I can't remember if it didn't pass or they just told me it wouldn't pass next year if I didn't do something about it.

 

[boomerang]

Can't have rust holes. Both of mine looked like his worst side. It has been awhile and I can't remember if it didn't pass or they just told me it wouldn't pass next year if I didn't do something about it.

Where do you live? I want to make sure I never move there.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Wv. It really isn't that big of a deal lol. I live on the border with Ohio where there are no inspections and you should see some of the heaps that are completely unsafe going down the road over there.

 

[Jumpem]

Wv. It really isn't that big of a deal lol. I live on the border with Ohio where there are no inspections and you should see some of the heaps that are completely unsafe going down the road over there.

I think it should be added to the inspections list in NY. There are too many rusted out cars on the road. I wonder how bad they will fare in an accident?

To the OP, if it makes you feel better my new car went to the dealership body shop for rust after its first winter, and again recently after its second winter.

 

[T2urtle]

I think it should be added to the inspections list in NY. There are too many rusted out cars on the road. I wonder how bad they will fare in an accident?

To the OP, if it makes you feel better my new car went to the dealership body shop for rust after its first winter, and again recently after its second winter.

U own a mazda? They seem to be the only car with obvious rust issues. But this 13 year old car has lived in Chicago all its life, it's a little given. But my 17 year old maxima only as little bubbles.

Cars don't last long in the Midwest, either rust or poor drivers.


Por15 starter kit is $20 on amazon 4oz can is all I need. I can somewhat get to the back part of the rust. With the wheel removed I might just grind what I can off and paint it.

Gotta YouTube this now

 

[Jumpem]

U own a mazda? They seem to be the only car with obvious rust issues. But this 13 year old car has lived in Chicago all its life, it's a little given. But my 17 year old maxima only as little bubbles.

Cars don't last long in the Midwest, either rust or poor drivers.


Por15 starter kit is $20 on amazon 4oz can is all I need. I can somewhat get to the back part of the rust. With the wheel removed I might just grind what I can off and paint it.

Gotta YouTube this now

I have a 2014 Forester. It has been getting very small spots of surface rust at the top rear of all of the doors where the vertical weather stripping along the back edge of the door meets door at the bottom of he window.

Last year they removed the rust and repainted small (less than a square inch areas). After this winter the spots were coming back. They put touch up paint on, and said once rust starts it will just keep coming back, and can not be permanently prevented.

I am glad it is a lease and I only have it for one more winter. I will just put touch up paint on it next year, and turn it in.

 

[Subyman]

Have a professional body shop give you an estimate, may not be too bad and it will look right. Its an art, if you've never done it before its going to look really bad and you will likely be worse off next year.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I have a 2014 Forester. It has been getting very small spots of surface rust at the top rear of all of the doors where the vertical weather stripping along the back edge of the door meets door at the bottom of he window.

Last year they removed the rust and repainted small (less than a square inch areas). After this winter the spots were coming back. They put touch up paint on, and said once rust starts it will just keep coming back, and can not be permanently prevented.

I am glad it is a lease and I only have it for one more winter. I will just put touch up paint on it next year, and turn it in.

That's BS. They just did a minimal (read: worthless) job.

If you want rust GONE, you have to sand down to bare metal. There can't be any rust left at all. No pitting, no unexplored areas, all surrounding paint taken off, etc. The surface metal has to be properly prepped, primed, and painted just like it was at the factory, and then blended into the surrounding good paint. The reason rust seems to grow like cancer is shops often take short cuts to just cover over the existing rust, or only sand down what they can easily see so they can avoid repairing a larger area (especially if what they SHOULD be sanding / stripping crosses a seam that would naturally make a good blending area, where with the minimal work they can stop at or before that seam).

As far as that Mitsubishi goes, you can go in a few different directions. If you want it done RIGHT, you should bring it to a body shop. Figure $400-800 minimum, and possibly more.

If you want to do it as cheaply as possible but still make good progress, get some 220 grit sand paper and sand down the entire surrounding area until you don't find any more rust. Remove all of the plastic from inside the wheel wells and sand the insides. Clean the bare metal with mineral spirits and use body filler and metal mesh to build a new surface. Buy matching paint from Napa or similar and ask them to put it in a rattle can. Spray it on using even, left-to-right sweeping motions without lingering too long and causing drips. It's NOT going to look great, but it will be a decent DYI project and the end result will be better than rust.

For the absolute bare minimum, buy some rust converter at an auto parts store and spray the front and the back. It will convert the rust into a black substance and will significantly slow down the progress.

Good luck.

 

[evident]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J594B5C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

worked great for me, although the rust i had on my car was not nearly this bad...

 

[NutBucket]

I have a 2014 Forester. It has been getting very small spots of surface rust at the top rear of all of the doors where the vertical weather stripping along the back edge of the door meets door at the bottom of he window.

Last year they removed the rust and repainted small (less than a square inch areas). After this winter the spots were coming back. They put touch up paint on, and said once rust starts it will just keep coming back, and can not be permanently prevented.

I am glad it is a lease and I only have it for one more winter. I will just put touch up paint on it next year, and turn it in.

Have you contacted corporate? That sounds awfully fishy to me.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Can't have rust holes. Both of mine looked like his worst side. It has been awhile and I can't remember if it didn't pass or they just told me it wouldn't pass next year if I didn't do something about it.

I could see if it was structural concerns (frame rails etc), but rust in the body sheet metal are more just unsightly than anything else. Seems rather dumb.

 

[Jumpem]

That's BS. They just did a minimal (read: worthless) job.

If you want rust GONE, you have to sand down to bare metal. There can't be any rust left at all. No pitting, no unexplored areas, all surrounding paint taken off, etc. The surface metal has to be properly prepped, primed, and painted just like it was at the factory, and then blended into the surrounding good paint. The reason rust seems to grow like cancer is shops often take short cuts to just cover over the existing rust, or only sand down what they can easily see so they can avoid repairing a larger area (especially if what they SHOULD be sanding / stripping crosses a seam that would naturally make a good blending area, where with the minimal work they can stop at or before that seam).

Have you contacted corporate? That sounds awfully fishy to me.

No. Subaru technically didn't have to cover any work the first time. They allowed it to be fixed as a courtesy. This time the body shop manager said that Subaru wouldn't cover it a second time, so he touched it up while it was in for other regular service.

It is in a bad spot to do a thorough job. It is where the back door pillar, window, and top of the main part of the door all come together. It seems you would have to start pulling trim and weather stripping off to get to the bottom of it.

It's a lease, so I will just deal with it for another year and get an Outback.

 

[halik]

POR15 will slow it down, but at this point you need new metal since it's an actual hole.

 

[Midwayman]

Where do you live? I want to make sure I never move there.

I wish my state had more thorough inspections. Some of the heaps you see on the road are downright unsafe.