Ahhh rust around rear wheel wells

[mark2003]

So my car had these rubber strips around the edges of the wheel wells that I took off today because people say all it does is lock moisure and dirt in them, causing rust...so I took them off today and low and behold there is minor rusting developing in the inner edges What am i going to have to do, take it to the bodyshop and have them remove it all or what...the crappy part is that the piece this rust is connected to is pretty big, it's the whole rear panel on both sides of the car, so if they are going to have to repaint both sides it's going to be pretty costly

 

[Accumulator]

Depends on how severe the rust is and if it's in an area that shows. If "not too bad" and "it doesn't show", get some rust converter (I like Rust Avenger, works great) and treat it after removing most, but not all, of the rust you can see (with fine sandpaper, other tools). Put something like undercoating/body cavity wax/grease/etc. on the body panels and the back sides of your strips before reapplying them. Putting something like that under the strips will prevent trapped moisture and rust recurrance, though you should take them off to redo/check them now and then. If the strips are held on with screws, check the screwholes for rust and use grease on the screws.



OR, take it to a shop you trust and let them do a LOCALIZED repair similar to what I suggested above. They SHOULD NOT have to reshoot the quarters unless you have some VERY serious rustout. Honestly, this might be the best route, but you'll have to really COMMUNICATE with the shop.



You can keep your trim strips without having problems if you keep your car well maintained.