Rust in the Fender/Wheelwell area

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imported_Suprchargd

New member
I know its not exactly detailing discussion, but it does have to do with my cars paint condition and I figured some of you may know how to help me out with this. I had my rear fender repainted due to a big scratch/dent by a body shop and I just noticed a small trail of rust along the inside edge of the fender's lip in the wheelwell forming. I guess its good I caught it before it spread out to the actual fender area and body where it would be visible for all to see. The rust is only in that wheelwell, the other 3 are all fine so I guess the body shop messed up when repainting.



I'm not sure if any of the chemicals out there work or not. My father told me he can get a cleaner/dissolver jelly and a neutralizer jelly that we can try out; basically sanding that portion down, use the dissolver to eradicate the rust and then use the neutralizer to prevent any rust from reappearing. Anyone have suggestions as to what would be the best process (and least harmful to my paint)?
 
I don't know what this "neutralizer" does, but I think the process is ok. Basically you need to remove the rust, and then seal the edge with some kind of rust proofing chemical, usually a thick tar-like substance. Be sure to clean and seal the backside of the fender/edge also, or rust may eat through from the backside.
 
If it's probably the bodyshop's fault I'd take it to them and have *them* fix it. But if you want to do something yourself...I had a spot of surface rust in both a wheelwell of the M3 and numerous places on the beater-Blazer. These spots all turned out to be pretty severe once I cleaned them up and really inspected them. Here's what I did:



Clean area with solvent; mask surrounding areas as needed so you don't have an "oops"; wire brush/grind the rusted area with a Dremel until you see clean/unrusted/shiny metal; reclean with solvent; treat with rust converter (I used Eastwood's on one and the old 3M Rust Avenger on the other); treat with something like Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator as a primer (sorta optional as the rust converter will act as a primer); paint with touch-up paint.



Instead of the rust converter/rust encapsulator combo, you could use stuff from POR-15, but I've found it kinda finicky stuff to work with. Still not bad stuff though.



There are other, similar products on the market, but those are the ones I have first-hand experience with.

EASTWOOD LINK
 
Suprchargd said:
I doubt he would warrant the work since it was done over a year ago..
Click to expand...



Just depends on the shop. Some problems aren't immediately apparent and I've had work redone (at no charge) after a long period of time. How the shop handles stuff like this can be a clue as to whether you oughta give them more business too ;)
 
I'll try it out and stop by, I know I lost my receipt a long time ago though. Its a smaller shop, I don't think he does any work for dealerships, from the people that told me about it all his business is from word-of-mouth by previous customers recommending him. I just don't want him to reluctantly accept and then mess something up.
 
Rust is the cancer of metal. And like cancer the only real way to get rid of it is to cut the affected part of the sheet metal out and weld a new good patch panel in. That will fix it permenately but is alot of work and more than the average do it yourselfer is willing to take on.



The next best bet is to sandblast the rust out, treat the clean metal, lay some Epoxy primer over the treated metal then re-paint/clear. Again this may be more than the average do it yourselfer is able or wants to do.



Using a grinder to remove rust will work to some extent but you'll be removing metal in that area as well. A grinder also won't get down to the bottom where the rust sits it pits which means if you don't treat the metal real well the rust can and will come back on you.



I've only been doing bodywork for about 5 years now and have tried the Eastwood stuff, Naval Jelly, Rust-mort, POR-15 and a host of other similar products. Each with varying amounts of success but none was a complete one step fix.



Some work by "converting" the iron oxide (rust) to a suitable surface for painting and others just, well "smoother" the rust so it can't get any oxygen which is essential for rust to form.



When dealing with rust you need to determine first where is it coming from. Sheetmetal has two sides so is the rust coming from the inside of the panel and working it's way out or is it just starting to rust on the outside.



The real question you need to ask yourself is what do you want the outcome to be? If you want to remove the rust permemately and restore the finish to the panel and aren't up to the work yourself then I would have it professionally done w/a warranty.



Visit the forums over at the Autobody Store to get some tips on how to do it yourself and make it come out looking good. Accumulator gave you a good start on the process.



MorBiD
 
MorBid- You and I know each other well enough that I'm sure you won't take this as a :argue



Whether a DIY repair will last depends on how bad it is to start with and how well the repair is done.



I've had some incredible success with the grind/convert-treat/seal approach. I had this done on some areas of the XJS in the early '90s and it's still fine today (thank goodness). I don't have that kind of timeframe on any of the stuff I've done myself (other than some stonechips that stayed rust-free for over 20 years with just 3M's converter), but after a few years the stuff I've done is still fine. IMO it's a matter of how thoroughly you do the work; most people don't do it in a way that it'll stay fixed. If you're starting with mild surface rust in an area that doesn't show, it should be doable if you go about it right.



Heh heh, you can bet I'll be watching that spot on the M3's inner fender like a hawk :D The Blazer...well, I'll sell it long before anything comes back in a serious way ;)
 
Wow awesome posts and I happen to have some Naval Jelly in the garage. I need to take off the wheel and get a light in there to take a look and see whether there is rust on the inner portion. If I'm lucky then its only a trail 1/16" thick running along the inside ledge like I can see right now when I bend down and look at it from the viewpoint one would have when scrubbing your wheels. I need to do this well enough to keep the rust away for at least three years because thats about how long I plan on keeping this car.
 
Suprchargd- That's the sort of rust I was hoping it was. Since it doesn't show, if you don't mind having a strip of "black paint" you can do the abrade/Navel Jelly (though I'll warn you that that's not the best stuff for this)/seal with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator/coat with their black Heavy Duty Anti-Rust and it oughta stay OK for the time you have it. Just let the Anti-Rust set up/cure before any aggressive cleaning as it stays a little soft for a while; once it sets up it's not all greasy/etc. though so it'll stay put after that point.



But by the sound of it, the shop oughta do a head-slap and offer to fix it since it sounds like they just got careless ;)
 
I just tried a product called Rust Bullet. It was simple to use and so far its doing well. I liked it better than POR-15.
 
I jacked up the car and took off my wheel so I can stick my head in there, and I'm relieved to find that the rust is just that small trail that originated on the outside, the inside of the fender is fine.
 
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