Ghetto Rust Repairs

**derekjay** · 06-05-2006, 02:49 PM

I know alot of people on this forum probably wont be all that interested in this article, as they either have the equipment on hand to do proper welding repairs, or they have enough love for their cars (and money) to get these kind of repairs done professionally. But I am sure there are some people out there who would be interested to hear how this sort of thing can be done on the cheap.
Another thing to note is that before I decided to do this myself I went around and got quotes on repairing the damage. And the thing that annoyed me most was the huge variance in quotes from $500 all the way up to $1500. The last guy I went to I asked, "Why is there such a variance?" And he said, "well for $500 they will grind out the rust fill it with putty, and paint it as quick as possible, for $1500 we will cut out all the rust and weld new pieces in place and do a good job."
So I thought, "Well, I can probably do a reasonably decent job without welding as it is not structural, and certainly a better job that just bogging it."
So here is what I did.
Unfortunately I don't have any photos to go with this mainly as my hands were fairly dirty while doing this.
Note this is not a guide to repairing structural damage. Only for repairing superficial panel damage.

Equipment:
Dremel Tool (or knock off) $25
Dremel Angle Grinding Attachment $11
Tin Snips $15
File $8
Sandpaper $1.50 a sheet
Steel Brush $5
Paint Brush $3
a Couple of Putty Scrapers $2 ea
Hammer ($8)
Total ~= $82

Consummables:
Ironize or Equivalent $12 http://www.galmet.com.au/driver.asp?...oducts/ironize
Rust proofing primer $20 (depending on how much you buy)
Polyester Resin Putty ($25)
Masking Tape ($3)
Old Steel Computer case (free)
Acetone ($8)
Super strong Araldite ($10)
Pencil ($1)
Regular super glue ($5)
Tack Cloth ($2)
Autopaint ($depends)
Total ~= $86

Method:
1. Oh No! There is a rust hole in your panel! It is time to get your trusty dremel tool (or non-branded knock off) and grind it back. Anything that flakes off easily is no good, so cut out anything that is flakey or rusty.

2. Now you have a bigger hole! Take the sand paper and sand back the paint around the hole so you have about a centimetre or so bare metal around the hole. File back the edges. If there is still some residual rust on this metal try and get as much off as you can with the steel brush, as it is particularly good at removing rust.

3. Of course it is going to be almost impossible to remove all the rust. So we are going to use ironize to seal the surface. Clean the surface of any excess dust and rust with a wet cloth. And then paint ironized on the bare metal parts (overlapping onto the paint job a little bit doesn't matter as we will be painting it anyway).

4. After 3hours recoat with ironize.

6. When it is dry use a piece of paper and a pen to make a pattern slightly larger than the hole. This is going to be used to make a patch for the hole. Draw the pattern you have made for the patch on an old computer case and cut out the shape with tin snips. File back the edges to get them smooth. Sand the patch back to bare metal on both sides. If the area you are patching is not flat use the hammer to shape your patch to match the curve of the surface. Check that the patch fits the hole, note that it will be going INSIDE the whole, not outside. If not re-snip it to suit. When you are completely happy with it. Prime both sides of the patch with rust proofing primer.

7. After a day tape off the hole a bit beyond where you have painted on the ironize. lightly sand back the surface with some sandpaper, clean the surface and paint on one coat of rust proofing primer.

8. When the paint is dry, it is time for gluing. Glue works better if the surface is a bit rough. So lightly sand the edges of the hole and the edges of the patch that are going to be in contact. Note that the patch is going INSIDE the hole, not on the outside. So how do you get the patch to stay in place? Simple. Take your pencil break it in half and sand the surface flat. Now superglue (with regular superglue NOT araldite) the pencil on to the centre of the patch. Wait for the glue to dry. And now you can pick up the patch by the pencil.

9. Mix up the araldite according to the instructions. and lightly coat both the edges of the hole and the patch that will be in contact. Insert the patch into the whole using the pencil to position the patch so that there are no gaps (or as little gap as possible, if there is a bit of a gap it doesn't matter as we will fix this up with putty.) And hold in place, reasonably strongly, but not so strongly as to squeeze the glue out of the joint. Depending on the type of araldite you will probably need to hold this for about 5-10 minutes until the glue begins to set.

10. After a day the glue should have set fairly strongly (araldite is at it's maximum strength after 3 days). Snap the pencil off the patch. This should be fairly easy.

11. Now it is time to putty. Lightly sand back all surfaces that will be in contact with putty, and clean with acetone. Putty is a serious pain in the neck to use. You have to get the mixture of the resin and hardener right otherwise it set too quickly. A simple way of doing this is that when you have the resin in the mixing dish use the scraper to divide the resin up into 5 equal lumps, then cover a 10th of the lump with hardener, this will give you roughly a 1 in 50 mix which is what you need. Use the putty to fill in the recess between the surface and the patch. If you have patched things properly this won't be too big. You will probably need two batches of putty. Put the first one in so it is about up to the surface level with the bodywork. Wait til it sets, mix up another batch and putty so it is just over the surface of the body work. Remember you will be sanding this back so the lowest point on the putty needs to be higher than the original bodywork. The cardinal rule of putty, is that it is better to have too much than too little, as you can always sand off excess, while if it is too little you will have to go through the annoying process of mixing up more putty and putting it on.

12. Putty will be totally dry in about 20 minutes, but you probably want to wait at least a couple of hours to be certain and to recover from the putty fumes, and trauma and aggravation of using putty. When it is dry put on a dust mask and commence sanding with wet/dry sand paper about 100 grit. keep sanding back the putty until it is flush with the car bodywork. You will be able to tell this by running your finger from the orginal body work to the putty. The transition should be smooth.

13. Tape off the area you are going to be priming. that is anything that you have sanded or painted so far. Sand it all back lightly with some 240 grit wet and dry. And clean it with a tack cloth to pick up any dust. And then clean with Acetone.

14. Paint on one coat of rustproofing primer. And you are now roadworthy!

15. Find some auto paint that matches your car colour. lightly sand back the primer coat and surrounding paint to about a centimetre out. After cleaning Fill in the surface gaps with Autoglaze putty. Sand pack lightly again, clean and give 2 coats of auto paint.

16. Sit back and admire your job. Which has cost you under $200 including equipment. Which is a saving compared to quotes in my case of $1300.

BEFORE.. Driving the $300 car home.

No afters yet.

**Viper** · 06-05-2006, 03:53 PM

Well done.

Actaully a pritty decent job i must say.
Progress pics would have added to the experience.
Do you have a before and after?

Not too Ghetto, except for the computer case.

+Rep for the good read.

**Cobzzz** · 06-05-2006, 04:04 PM

nice work mate

very informative as viper said photos would have been sweet

if you even just get AFTER shots it would be good i guess

rep for you

should be many more of these indepth articles.

Ian

**Smokey228** · 06-05-2006, 06:10 PM

ahah, impressive man... pics would have been awesome but wat can you do...

+rep

**Dimmy** · 07-05-2006, 08:41 PM

very nice mate

+ve rep from me too

**crowncustom** · 07-05-2006, 08:55 PM

Great job and good reading as many of us so called back yarders can do a better job than the experts and do it a lot less cheaper.And take a bit more pride than the experts.
Keep up the good work.Up the back yarders.
+ rep also.
Cheers Brett.

**EldarO** · 07-05-2006, 11:49 PM

great writeup mate, top stuff!

i had a fair chunk of plastic missing on my motorbike, except i went the other way, cleaned it up, taped a peice of cardboard over the hole, then on the other side, layed down a layer of fibreglass, and when it was dry, bogged and sanded it, painted it, and it came out good as gold

Eldar.O.

**millsi** · 08-05-2006, 08:58 AM

excellent read, if the hole you the are filling isnt to big then no need to use polyester bog as its a real bitch to sand! best off going with normal bog (k&h is good for the price)!!!

**xolent** · 08-05-2006, 08:13 PM

what you do when your frichen bubbles in your putty?

reapply putty again? but it keeps on forming!!

**millsi** · 08-05-2006, 09:31 PM

i apply my blade putty with a small plastic kitchen spatula! seems to work a treat

**derekjay** · 08-05-2006, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by xolent

what you do when your frichen bubbles in your putty?

reapply putty again? but it keeps on forming!!

I think the trick is to really mix the putty thoroughly before applying it. You are never going to get it all out. So my general rule was.... "I'll fix it up in over-coat!" So that's when the autoglaze putty comes in.