Total unexperienced attempt at rust removing and painting...

[Dat_Nammer]

For those who have the time to read...

My 2003 corolla had rust, assuming from a previous accident and from a poor job on behalf of the garage that repaired the damage area. I noticed the rust and said hey, I'm gonna try to remove because I didn't want it to spread. You see I already rust proof it every year, but when I peeled off the paint around the rear wheel well area? There was a significant amount of rust. This is my attempt at dealing with this, as reminder to those who don't have sufficient time, the weather not cooperating, inexperience, don't try it!

1) I started off with grinding the rusted area, I didn't use a grinder, I used a grinder bit that you put on a drill. I believe it was 50-60 grit. I also did it by hand using the same grit. Down to bare metal, some parts. Pardon me... but it looked like sh*t.

2) After I was done I realized there's a problem, it was suppose to rain days in a row. I used WD-40 to hopefully repel rust for a short time. I taped garbage bags around the area. Let me stress, that the whole time I was working on the car I had drive to work in it.

3) When finally the weather was fine for 3 days straight I try to complete the job. I sprayed Rust Check Rust Killer primer on bare metal and around paint... left it for about 12 hours... sanded a little... bondo it... sanded or tried to sand it... then prime again 12 hours... sanded... then paint with something I picked up at Canadian Tire... the color was suppose to be near match... I don't about that...

4) There are to two area's that was affected by rust. I finished one of them, around the wheel area however I will paint tonight. I already know how its gonna turn out. I think I should of just left it and continue to rust proof every year and not have spent money on paint. What do you think?

[JasonA]

It's worth a try. You obviously need more paint on it, but it looks like you got it pretty smooth. I think what you're doing is better than letting it go and hoping that rust-proofing it will stop the spread, because I doubt that it would have.

[Dat_Nammer]

Originally Posted by JasonA

It's worth a try. You obviously need more paint on it, but it looks like you got it pretty smooth. I think what you're doing is better than letting it go and hoping that rust-proofing it will stop the spread, because I doubt that it would have.

Yeah I figured it needs some more primer, but its gonna rain the next couple days again so I might just paint it with base coat then clear coat it.

[PhatRoyale]

Damn.... a 2003 Corolla and it's already rusting?! WOw..

Must be the massive amounts of salting done in the winter in Toronto.

Anyways, some tips for you since I just finished a huge rust repair job on my 7th gen. I spent well over a month lol. I don't mean to get your hopes down, but from my experience, that Rust check rust killer primer is all hype and doesn't really work at all. And you have to get ALL of that rust sanded or grinded off down to bare metal or else it's going to come back.

I would invest in a small angle grinder or use a high speed rotary tool for the small bits and buy a variable speed random orbital sander to take rust off the exterior of the body. Maybe even a detail sander.

Secondly, invest in a 3 step rust killing system like POR15 or KBS Coatings, a lot of the AE86 guys swear by this stuff and it's well worth it's asking price. Follow the details down to the T, use your auto body filler, then top coat it properly and it should stop the rust permanently.

As for OEM matched paint, check out Paint Circuit, they have 2 locations in Toronto, bring your car to them, and they'll scan it and mix you up some custom matched paint.

Hope this helps, rust is a PITA to deal with and it's a long process, but don't give up as you're well past half way through your repair judging from your pics.

[JasonA]

You might also considering taking the car to a body shop to finish the paint job (after you remediate the rust). You've done all the (expensive) prep work. I bet for a 100 bucks or maybe a little more, they'd paint those areas for you and do a decent job blending in with the rest of the panel. Worth a phone call or two at least.

I painted the roof panel of my Dodge Dakota. The truck's 12 years old with over 175,000 miles, so I figured I'd give it a try. It came out okay, and the roof is green again, but it's not a perfect paint match, and it's certainly not as good of a job as a shop would have done. I also did it in my garage so I wouldn't have to rush weather, etc. Doing it over again, I'd probably just take it to a shop for 100 bucks and have them do it. I sweated out there sanding and prepping for 4 or 5 nights. It was good experience for learning, but time vs. money, probably wasn't worth it.

[thebrokeenthusiast]

Wow. I just gotta say, that looks great!