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Rust!

mcgarvey

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
523
Location
South Jersey
As I reported on here before, a rust spot appeared on the right rear rocker panel under the door. Well, that was a few months ago, and now, it's gotten much bigger. It seems to be spreading maybe 1/2" a month or so. Now, the entire area from the pinch weld up to almost the rolled part under the door is rusted out. I didn't expect it to spread so fast.

It's a shame, because its a 2000 and it's always been extremely well maintained, and only has about 86k miles. Clean interior, perfect paint (other than the rust spot), etc. I really want to save this car from rusting away. I honestly don't care about the way the rusted area looks, I just want to stop the spread.

I thought about cutting and grinding away the rusted metal and filling it with bondo, but I'm concerned because the pinch weld itself is rusted, and I know that is actually a structural component.

So, that's why I'm posting. What to do?

I'll post pics later tonight.
 
PFeA.jpg


8qau.jpg
 
Like I said, I'm really not interested in maintaining the appearance. If I end up grinding the rust out and bondoing up the hole, I probably won't even paint over it because I just don't care. This is my girlfriend's daily driver now, and she could care less about how it looks.

What I'm more interested in is keeping the car from falling apart. Mechanically, it's perfect, and I want it to last another five years or so. I just want to slow this rust down so it makes it that long.

The suggestion about sanding doesn't really help, there's nothing to sand. The rust goes all the way through.
 
rust will still move just as quickly unless you cut way back around it out.
bondo is gonna fall right off dont waste your time
 
Should I even bother trying? I wonder if it will spread beyond the pinch weld or up under the door.



i wouldnt try to scab fix it. it seems like a waste of time to me and if you dont care really what it looks like just roll with it. no body work always looks better than bad body work
just my .02
 
It just sucks, once you get some rust you think of the car as just a beater and you're less inclined to do maintenance on it. I hope that the rust doesn't spread beyond the rocker panel. If it does then it becomes a structural/safety issue.
 
i wouldnt try to scab fix it. it seems like a waste of time to me and if you dont care really what it looks like just roll with it. no body work always looks better than bad body work
just my .02

+1 with what bagged said, my brother had a 93 Probe GT a few years back, had a little bubbleing spot of rust on the hatch lid, so he took it to a well known body shop to have it professionally fixed, they sanded the whole hatch lid down, resprayed the whole thing, looked REALLY nice.

next winter rolls around, SAME rust spot came back :troutslap:

Stupid Michigan Car cancer :cry: I will say, undercoating is 100% worth it, my zetec tour had it done when it was new and there isnt a spot of rust on it.
 
I have seen that before and have heard only good things about it. At this point I think I'll just let it rot. Too much else to worry about in this life. Besides, Murphy's law will inevitably throw another much more severe car problem my way shortly after I fix it. That car is essentially a beater these days. It was nice once-- but it's amazing what a female driver can do.

I'll keep maintaining it mechanically- but there's certainly no further cosmetic work going into that car.
 
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