1986_IROC-Z

Before I bought the car, it looks like the previous owner had some trouble with a leaking master cylinder. I'm in the process of going through the brake system and have the booster and brake master cylinder out of the car right now. The factory paint is all bubbled along the frame rail/ support directly below those brake components.

I don't really want to leave it that way. But, there's a lot of stuff to move to really do it right (a bunch of hard lines, electrical harnesses and other junk).

What would you guys do? The car is in decent shape, '86 Iroc, 60k original miles. It's not a perfect car by any means, but, I want to take good care of it.

I had a thought to wire brush/scrape the area as best as I could, then sand it with some grit down to metal. Then, clean it up real good, mask off the area and hit it with something in a rattle can. Maybe just a flat black or something to kind of hide the area in the shadows, but also to protect the metal down there.

It's not gonna be perfect. I can't get all that other stuff out of the way. I'd sand/clean under that stuff as best I could then mask/wrap the wiring and probably just paint over the hard lines or maybe put tape over them or something.

Thoughts??

BovineZro

iTrader: (11)

It really does depend on what you want to do with your car.

Personally, I would pretty much follow the process you described. A professional paint job is always best, but a good sanding and good quality primer will at least prevent the problem from getting worse. Cutting out rust and welding in replacement metal is beyond my skill set. For tight spaces you might try a dremel. Leftover groccery bags and tape will protect your brake lines and wiring.

On the other hand, a quick sanding and primer job might lead to issues matching paint later. Rattle can primer is (in my experience) not really good long term. At worst, recognize the patch job is something you should keep an eye on and potentially replace/improve down the road.

1986_IROC-Z

Update: I disconnected the metal lines from the frame rail, and everything else that I could. I sanded the affected area with 100 grit and got it down to bare metal- basically the top surface and where it folds over the side next to the engine. Then I blew everything out with compressed air, wiped it down with paint thinner. I masked off the area--real basic, following existing lines, and then used rope to hold all the lines and stuff slightly up off the frame rail.

I bought a satin black heavy duty machine paint meant for metal and applied it using a foam brush. The more I looked at it, there was no way I was going to spray the area, just too much stuff there. Being careful with the brush, I worked it under all the stuff and got 2 good coats on the frame rail.

Is it factory? No. But it's clean, protected, and it did the next best thing to matching the factory color, which is to hide the area in the shadows.

AHHHH I hate brake fluid...