Posted: 11/8/2008 3:06:41 PM EDT
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I posted this in the Car and Bike forum, but it's not getting a lot of attention...
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 can try it, but it's possible that it's rusting from the inside out.
I would probably sandblast it first, get all the loose rust and bubbled paint off and see how sturdy it is. You might get lucky and it's not too deep. I've used Naval Jelly before with good results, but never tried the type that turns it into primer. If you go that route, I would paint over it, auto paint is more durable after it cures than primer would be. |
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Quoted:
Move to a state that doesn't salt the roads, or put a fiberglass kit car together. This is a sore subject for me. I get pissed just thinking about it. Motherfucker I hate salt. I'm on the coast in CT, so we don't get a lot of snow so not a lot of salt is put down, but this car spent two winters in Michigan! It's a real shame, the car is in great condition otherwise..... RF |
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Go buy a can of LPS 3, fill a sink with very warm water and let the can sit a while in it. Open car doors and hose down the inside of the door seams thru the drain holes, make sure it oozes out and the entire seam is coated. The rust you see is about 1/10th of the rust that is really inside the door. The LPS 3 will penetrate the door seams and stop it dead. redo every couple of years for ongoing protection.
After a few days, [it will ooze for a while] clean the excess off the door sills with Wd 40 or something close to it. You can first clean off the bubbling paint and rust, use a rust converter and retouch the area with paint if you desire but without treating the seam inside the door, it will return almost immediately. |
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Quoted:
Honestly, the proper fix for this is just to take it to a body shop. They'll grind it back, and weld new metal in. Fill, prime, base, clear. It should be about $1000 or so.  The car is only worth $6000 or so!
However, you might have a good point. I had a local body shop do some repairs for me last year and they did a dam good job and are willing to go "cheap" if the customer wants it. I think I'll drop by next week and see what they say. Like I said, I'm not concerned about cosmetics since it's the inside of the door. I don't need a nice clear coat finish on the repair. I'm more worried that I'll have a mechanically sound car with a nasty ass rust hole in the door in a couple years. Thanks guys!! RF |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Move to a state that doesn't salt the roads, or put a fiberglass kit car together. This is a sore subject for me. I get pissed just thinking about it. Motherfucker I hate salt. I'm on the coast in CT, so we don't get a lot of snow so not a lot of salt is put down, but this car spent two winters in Michigan! It's a real shame, the car is in great condition otherwise..... RF We use MAJOR salt here in CT,and now we are lucky to have LIQUID CALCIUM also!That stuff REALLY eats up cars! |