Posted: 11/8/2008 12:52:46 PM EDT
So I noticed on my 2002 Dodge Intrepid that there is a small amount of rust on bottom corner of the drivers side door, close to where the drain opening is.
It appears that some of the paint has bubbled a bit, but if I poke at with a screwdriver it's pretty firm (not flaking). What's the best way to handle this? The car is very solid without any other body rust. I've seen the rust converter available at Walmart, is it any good? Or can I just use a rust converting primer? Does the primer have to be covered with another paint, or can it just stay as is? Since the rust isn't visible unless the door is open, I don't care if I can see a little black primer. I assume I need to get all that bubbled paint off, right? I need arfcom help!! Thanks, RF |
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You have to stop the rust before you "rust proof" it. Scraping the flaky stuff off won't be enough.
After scraping all the loose stuff off with a wire brush ,etc apply one of the rust stopping chemicals to all the rust. You need to take the door panel off and clean the crap out of the bottom of the door. No doubt it's plugging the drain hole. Apply the rust stopping chemical to any rust in there as well. Once the chemical has done it's thing, clean prep and paint as per normal. Then undercoat the inside of the door to prevent water, dirt from undoing what you did. The chemical I use turns the rusted metal black. I'll dig it out and post the name of it. I got it at the local UAP store. |
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You have to stop the rust before you "rust proof" it. Scraping the flaky stuff off won't be enough. Hmmm..... I'm not sure if I can really get access to that part of the door if I take off the panel. The edge of the door is pretty thin, maybe one half to 3/4 inch wide. I'm thinking of trying to flush the drain from the bottom, using a wire to pull any crap out, then shoot in some rust converter and treat the outside with rust converter as well. I'm more concerned with just stopping the progression than a complete repair. Dam! Apartment living sucks! I wish I had a garage to do this in! RF |
| Years ago I lived in Iowa & due to the Winter road salt, had a similar problem with my Trans Am. I had a paint & body shop remove the rust from the inner door edges & door sills, coat the areas with a rubbery coating (like Rhino Lining), then finish up with color matched Dupont Imron. Totally took care of the problem and looked good too. |
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Dam! Apartment living sucks! I wish I had a garage to do this in! RF If it makes you feel any better, I can't even work on my vehicles in the parking lot. 
I'm sure there is a rule that I can't work on a car in the lot either, but right now there is a bunch of construction going on, so I'm sure if I move to the far end, away from all the cars, people shouldn't mind. However, I think I'll stop by the body shop and get their input. If they can come up with a good solution for less than $500 or so, I'll probably go that route. Thanks everyone! RF |