(re)fixing a rust spot - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

94cylcamry · 12-29-2008, 03:37 PM

Hey all, I found a rust spot on my 94 Camry over the summer, and tried to fix it...only I did a really cheap job of it, and am looking to go back and fix it for good now.

It was a small hole on the lip of the drivers side rear wheel well, so I took out the dremel, sanded away as much rust as I possibly could, filled the hole with some cheap bondo, sanded everything down really smoothly, then went over it with touch up paint.

Well...I didn't get all the rust, and I didn't prime it or anything. So the rust is coming right back up through the paint. Time to fix for good.

My plan:
-go at it again with the dremel
-go refill with the bondo
-sand down very nice, maybe to 1,000 or 2,000 grit
-get some anti-rust or normal primer from pep-boys
-find the matching duplicolor little paint sprayer for my car, and do a coat or two of that
-i think duplicolor has some generic clearcoat?

Is that all I need to do to get this thing taken care of? It's not in a very noticeable area, but I don't want it to look terrible.

Thoughts? Thanks!

bigbird · 12-29-2008, 03:52 PM

sounds like a plan. also plan on wet sanding teh paint after each coat to get a real smooth and clean finish.

94cylcamry · 12-29-2008, 03:58 PM

Is wet sanding just...exactly what the name implies...sanding with...wet sanding paper? Or...how exactly does that work? And with what grit should I be wet sanding between each paint coat?

Thanks!

Den · 12-29-2008, 05:33 PM

use 2000 Grit sand paper and sand it with water. Wet sanding is just sanding stuff with water.

94cylcamry · 12-29-2008, 05:42 PM

K, I can do that. What's the advantage over dry sanding? Slightly less abrasive or something?

Thanks!

EDIT: And I have to ask...I have a tan...or...beige colored Camry...what's the technical name for this color? Pep boys has like 10 tan colors ranging from....desert sand mica...to...pebble stone beige? Or something like that? I have no idea what to get. And I know either way it won't be perfect, but it'd be nice to get close...

95PimpingCamry · 12-29-2008, 05:49 PM

Wet sanding will help wash away the dust, and create a little less friction.

Your color is probably 4M9 - Cashmere Beige, but those touch up paints are never right due to fading and cheap ass touch up paint.

94cylcamry · 12-29-2008, 07:01 PM

I do remember seeing "cashmere beige" on the rack, so that's good. Can anyone confirm that that's the color? Thanks!

And it's sort of on the underside of the rear wheel well, not an extremely noticeable spot, so that should work nicely.

Thanks!!!

1better · 12-29-2008, 07:02 PM

i've got a white camry and took it to a body shop to remove/repaint my back wheel wells (just the edges), bach fender (behind the back passenger door), and my hood. they did an awesome job, but heres the catch: my car was a 1996 so the white paint wasn't exactly white anymore....so the new white paint kind of stands out if you look at it closely. but its all good. lol

94cylcamry · 12-29-2008, 07:14 PM

Haha. Well I'll be sure not too sand any more original paint off than I have too...thanks for that. It'd be nice if I could just get the whole thing panted some weird blue color...haha..

ghettosled · 12-29-2008, 07:59 PM

keep in mind that most rust on body panels is rust from the backside. no matter how much prep and paint you do to the outside, dont forget to treat the inside as well. just as an fyi, there is also a spray you can buy at auto parts stores that reacts with rust and forms an epoxy to lock out water and discourages the rust from growing any further.

Jimnist · 12-29-2008, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghettosled

keep in mind that most rust on body panels is rust from the backside. no matter how much prep and paint you do to the outside, dont forget to treat the inside as well.

+1

I was hoping someone would bring that up. Body filler naturally absorbs water from the atmosphere, so it will go off sooner or later. Using body filler is really not a permanent fix; especially if you can't seal both sides of it with paint. The rust will come back a lot faster as you have mentioned.

94cylcamry · 12-29-2008, 10:12 PM

Wait...so use the rust treatment INSTEAD of body filler? I'll have to look into this stuff. Hopefully there's some stuff that works that isn't as outragiously priced as POR15.

Thanksss

Jimnist · 12-29-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 94cylcamry

Wait...so use the rust treatment INSTEAD of body filler? I'll have to look into this stuff. Hopefully there's some stuff that works that isn't as outragiously priced as POR15.

Thanksss

Rust treatment is rust converter. It just prevents it from rusting and seals the surface a bit, kinda like paint. I was mainly getting at painting/sealing both sides (instead of just one) to prevent as much exposure to the atmosphere as possible.

Depending on how bad the rust is, have you considered buying new wheel arches and welding it in? or Just weld in a new small plate?

94cylcamry · 12-30-2008, 12:39 PM

I'll try to find some rust converter. And I don't think it's really bad enough to have to weld in a new panel, nor is that really in the budget haha. But thanks for the tips

Jimnist · 12-30-2008, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 94cylcamry

I'll try to find some rust converter. And I don't think it's really bad enough to have to weld in a new panel, nor is that really in the budget haha. But thanks for the tips

AFAIK, you only use it to treat areas that are already rusted e.g. surface rust or around the hole. It binds and reacts to oxidised iron aka rust. If you remove all the rust away by sanding and filing, there;s nothing for it to convert. So yeah, that's just my 2c worth.