Theres bubble rust about the size of a quarter on my rear quarter panel right on the wheel well. What grit sandpaper should I use? Also, should i just sand it down by hand or use a DA sander or what? Thanks.

 

depends on how large the rust area is...if its small you can hand sand it w/ a fairly coarse grit (80, 120, etc..). If you are using an electric sander i would start out w/ a higher grit until you get a hang of it so you don't run straight thru the metal. Pretty much it is just see what works...just be sure to get it all of it sanded off or use a chemical remover to get any remnants (there was a post recently as what chemicals u can use).

 

Well, I plan on sanding as much out of it as I can, then I have that Naval Jelly stuff that is supposed to eat away at rust and I will put that on to get out all the remnants. Sound good?

 

Man go midevil on it.... 60 all the way

I wouldn't trust those rust conversion chemicals, i used the first time i did my quarters, and it came back (although i drove it all winter) the second time, i took the spots down to clean metal, and i feel it'll have better long term results

 

Should I just take it to a body shop and have them weld in a panel in place of the rust?

 

I'd say get rid of it with 80 if its not that bad, then fill in with some body filler; otherwise cut it out and have a piece of sheet metal welded in there.

good luck

 

It doesn't matter what grit you use. If you don't sand blast it, it'll come back in a couple months.

 

Jim's 100% correct!! You've gotta remove that rust... either with a chemical, or welding in a new panel. http://www.eastwoodcompany.com has a no-weld system for panel replacement, it's a bit pricey, but you might want to check it out. Basically, you flush-rivet a replacement panel in, comes with a panel flanger and rivet sinker (to make the repair panel even with the outside of the car), and a seam-sealer adhesive.

Trust me; you've gotta remove the rust. Sure you can sand it away and paint over it, and then you wait a few years, and you'll see something like, oh, I dunno, something like this:

 

Ok, I'm going to have a patch panel welded in. Now it should never come back if this is done properly, Right?

 

Never is a long time. The metal rusted once, it'll rust again. The new metal will be just as likely to rust as the original crap.

But... keep it out of the salt and it'll outlast the rest of the car.

 

Make sure the back of the new panel gets some kind of coating, whether it be a protective zinc coating, or paint, or undercoating. And watch out for "flash rust"... rust that happens from a panel just sitting around. But if it's done right, it'll last a lonnnng time. Eastwood sells a little welding kit (arc welder, spot weld attachment, stitch weld attachment) for about $200 if you want to give it a shot yourself.

 

Yeah, listen to Jim and Tom. As much as I disagree with Jim's stock-**** approach (I don't think he'll take offense to this, he's called himself one before ), he knows his ****, period, when it comes to body work, paint especially, and I think Tom's done his work 100 percent himself, so he ought to know by now as well, whether it was by asking the right questions, or trial and error.

I just wanted to add, that if you've got rust on your panel, your paint is **** anyways, so I'd use a low grit, and just strip it down to the metal. Just my opinion, but the paint needs redone anyways, best to eliminate the rust completely, and give a nice even surface to paint to, rather than multilayered residue.

Anyone disagree here?

Mathius