DIY: Rust Repair

Tesla

Tesla

Tesla

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2003
Posts
17,599
Location
Bristol, UK
I am pondering having a go at tidying up the rust patch on my Mondeo Estate.

When I bought the car I was aware of the rust, it hasn't got any worse since I purchased it but it still looks a bit nasty and as I am probably selling within the next few weeks I don't want it to put potential buyers off. The previous owner obviously botched up a repair attempt. It seems to be protecting the paint somewhat though.

I had a quote from a reputable bodyshop of £120, this would also include spraying the rear o/s door too and the entire rear quarter panel.

Is it difficult to blend metallic paint?
My Mondeo is Metallic Pepper Red.

Do you think this is worth me doing? Do you think the result would be ok?

A few tips, pointers and products I would need would be useful to know too.

Here is a pic of the rust:
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rust2.jpg


Depending how I get on I am considering painting the entire rear bumper. So any tips on this would be well received too. Cheers!

Thanks in advance!

Chris
 
The rear wheel arch on my hatchback went exactly the same as yours at the topmost point, I suspect someone had scraped it earlier in it's life and left it a while before repairing it or something like that so the rust slowly built up under the paint.

I actually took an angle grinder to the rust on my rear arch and then built it back up getting a pretty impressive finish. I'd never tried doing anything myself until then so I was a little worried about how it would turn out, but I surprised myself.

It'd probably not be so easy around the fuel filler cap though. £120 is a decent price to be fair - you could always give it a go and if you mess up just take it to them anyway and get them to finish the job.
 
I think I would have to work out how to take the fuel flap off and also drop out the pipe to the fuel tank behind it. No idea how though!

The wheel arch rust is purely on the surface, If I sanded it down it wouldn't need any metal replacing.
 
I had the smallest spot of rust on the inside of the arch on the MX (Well known problem) sanded it down to the metal / treated it with some rust killer / spray a primer on the protect the metal / top coat / lacquer.

Spraying paint to match aint 'that' hard, and its going to look a load better than the current repair ;)
 
I used something called Krust, it comes in a paint on liquid or gel.

Halfords paints are great so just get some from them, then its just sandpaper i used 600 then 1200 grit.
 
Liverpool-Lad said:
A word of warning, some Halfords matches are laughable. In the end I used Holts Dupli-color which were much better. Youll have fun Im sure.
Click to expand...
I am quite sure my local Halfords have a mixing booth thing.
 
The best rust treatment bar none is POR15 apparently.

I used some on the Golf and from what I've seen so far, it's excellent.
 
Personally I think it's a waste of time. Why not try selling it first before you repair it. You aren't going to gain anything from it much, ok it might be worth a bit more repaired but I very much doubt it will change the price enough to cover the repair.

You paid around £800 didn't you? How much are you expecting for it?
 
Lets just say imo if you **** it up you will devalue the car. £120 for fixing rust on the arch and filler cap, spraying the o/s door to match is a decnt price to pay, i would want £100 each panel :)
 
I have decided to keep the Mondeo now as I cannot come up with a better work horse car for what I need.

I gave it a fulls ervice last weekend and it's running so much better!

So, I am going to attempt this repair, apparently my Dad has an angle grinder so I can use that to grind down the rust.

I guess I will then need some filler, do I need to put anything on the car before sticking some filler on?

The thing I am most worried about is getting a good colour match and then blending the paint.

How do I blend it in?
 
What you *should* be worried about is how big a hole you will end up with after you take an angle grinder to the wheel arch.

For a decent repair you may well need to let some new metal into the arch, covering over that kind of rust damage with filler won't last very long.
 
Dogbreath said:
What you *should* be worried about is how big a hole you will end up with after you take an angle grinder to the wheel arch.

For a decent repair you may well need to let some new metal into the arch, covering over that kind of rust damage with filler won't last very long.
Click to expand...

The rust is really only ont he surface on the wheel arch, I have no idea of the extent of the damage on the petrol cap area though so could be right on this one.

Having never welded and also not having any welding tools it could be a problem!
 
If it was me, I would pay the £120 and just get it done, without the hassle of doing ti myself, like the others have sadi, £120 aint a bad price, but then i supose there is more satisfaction in doing it your self though.

Good luck which ever way you go!
 
Tesla said:
I think I would have to work out how to take the fuel flap off and also drop out the pipe to the fuel tank behind it. No idea how though!

The wheel arch rust is purely on the surface, If I sanded it down it wouldn't need any metal replacing.
Click to expand...

in my experience, wheelarch rust is almost always from the inside out.
if you were to grind away the rust and crusty paint from the outside of the wheelarch you will find some holes there.
doesn't mean you need to replace metal though. bridging filler would probably be ok.
grind away as much rust as possible then use a rust killer over the affected area, before applying bridging filler then normal filler.
the problem is that you are unlikely to get all the rust out, because it's very hard to get in behind the wheelarch due to the way the metal bends back.
any repair will probably be semi-permanent at best. especially for a first timer.

and i doubt you will produce an invisible repair.
still probably worth doing to help prevent further spread of the rust.
 
I have started to sand away at the wheel arch area. It's worse that I thought it was but isn't all the way through the metal.

I now know what the cause of the problem is, every patch of rust there is a mount hole where the wheel arch liner screws to the body of the car.

I am going away to Greece for a week this Thursday so have now come up with the plan to do as much of the more simple prep. work as possible then hand my car over to a pro so it will be done in time for my return.

The chap is a retired body work person but he still has all the kit and does the odd job on the side. A friend of my Mums. I only just found all this out so am going to give him a ring tomorrow when he is back from his holidays.

I forgot to get a rust treatment product when I picked up my other bits and bobs.

What would you recommend as the best?
 
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I had to stop yesterday as it started raining too much.

I still think there is material that needs to be removed, would you agree?
 
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