How to restore the paintwork?

[kilohawk]

I had my mums 10 year old Astra which she has owned since it was 6 months old on my grandads ramps yesterday to replace the front coil and brake pads, and i washed the car afterwards with the high pressure power wash (used for cleaning trucks and the like) which ridded the car of the LS badge on the drivers door, and uncovered nasty large bit of rust on the rear wheel arch.

So the car has been neglected since she bought it, it's probably been washed like once a year, and it shows. I'm going to do the rust myself, which will probably mean cutting a bit out and replacing with fibreglass

I've been told i will be getting the car in a year or so's time, so i'm trying to limit the harm done to the thing Mechanically, its good, its only done 86000 rush hour miles with regular servicing and only ever fails on things like lights and worn out brakes.



Soo, after that long winded part, my question is, what shall i use to get the paintwork looking good again?
I've just found an interesting technique involving a heat gun for returning the plastic to looking black instead of grey, and some original hub caps from the auction site for £25 (i HATE aftermarket hubcaps)

I don't want to spend much (£30 ish max) for some polish or something, and some car shampoo. I have a machine polisher if that helps


Thanks in advance for your suggestions, they are much appreciated!!!

 

[kilohawk]

T-Cut and Autoglym Super Resin Polish should be fine. Maybe a wax/sealant as well.

Which wax/sealant?

I'm new to this game

It might just be surface rust in which case you could grind it back.

Yeah, i was gonna start grinding until i hit good steel, but due to the look of it that might not be the case.

 

[kilohawk]

Thanks for the link dwarf, looks like i've got a lot of reading to do!

And, rodenal, unfortunately I am using a rattle can, the cars only worth 1K so there's not much point in paying for a good re-spray its just to stop it before it gets too far into the door sill.
Is there a good guide for using the spray cans? My grandad should know, but its probably best to look at a few anyway