Need advice on rust repair

[processengr]

We have been thinking of having the rust repaired on my daughters 92 Ebony, and repainted. Any advice on what to ask for /expect when explaining to local bodyshop?

Ugly pix...
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[Ownbot]

Rust is like cancer, you can never really get rid of it. Thats sort of odd that yours is rusted, as it seems most are not even at the old age of these cars. But if you do get it fixed it shall return after a couple of years i think.

[Crazy_pilot]

Originally Posted by Ownbot

Rust is like cancer, you can never really get rid of it. Thats sort of odd that yours is rusted, as it seems most are not even at the old age of these cars. But if you do get it fixed it shall return after a couple of years i think.

That's all dependant on how it's fixed and the quality of the work. Rust is deffinitely cancer, the only was to get rid of it is surgury. The damaged area must be COMPLETELY removed until there is no trace of rust remaining, and new metal has to be welded in to replace it. My car is much worse, it's makes that look like a tiny door ding. I'm probably going to buy entire quarter panels and either have sections of them used to replace the rusted metal, or replace the entire panel.

If the repair is done properly and the bodyshop takes it's time there's no reason it shouldn't be good for many years to come.

[subi-crosser]

Originally Posted by Crazy_pilot

That's all dependant on how it's fixed and the quality of the work. Rust is deffinitely cancer, the only was to get rid of it is surgury. The damaged area must be COMPLETELY removed until there is no trace of rust remaining, and new metal has to be welded in to replace it. My car is much worse, it's makes that look like a tiny door ding. I'm probably going to buy entire quarter panels and either have sections of them used to replace the rusted metal, or replace the entire panel.

If the repair is done properly and the bodyshop takes it's time there's no reason it shouldn't be good for many years to come.

Since I spend a lot of time rusting myself, I may be of service here.

You need to remove as much contaminated metal as possible. Rust is slow oxidation, fire is fast. There is a product designed for frames on big rigs that stops rust! It costs about 75$ per gallon. You cut out all rust that you can, weld in new metal, then soak the INSIDE of the repaired area with the frame paint. I will give you the name, part number and instructions when I figure out where I put the reciept! I have used this stuff for several years now. It works. 1,000 hours under a salt spray with NO creep.

Too tired to do the research tonight. Fix your rust and I will have a product name for you in a day or two

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by processengr

We have been thinking of having the rust repaired on my daughters 92 Ebony, and repainted. Any advice on what to ask for /expect when explaining to local bodyshop?

Most bodyshops (especially in CT) won't want to do that sort of work. They seem to like late-model crash repair work, it's far more predictable and profitable. If you do go searching for a shop, stick to the smaller shops, the bigger ones generally won't want to do it. Pure restoration shops will be pricey too.

I work for a restoration shop on vintage American cars ('20's, '30's mostly), and they usually come in with the lower part of the car missing! The wood floorpans soak up water and rot the bottom 4" of the sheetmetal. So I'm familiar with the nuances of New England rust.

That rust on your car looks fairly straightforward though, similar to GC8's (I've done a few of them). Figure 2.0-2.5 hours to cut out the affected area, form a proper patch, weld it (I use TIG only on body panels so that takes longer, others will usually MIG it), and metal-finish it. If care is taken, no bondo is needed, only high-fill primer.

The rest of the work is the sealer/primer/paint part of it (which I don't do), so I can't really comment on the time required. Make sure the inside is treated the same way as the outside, or it will just rust from the inside out again. Access is a PITA however.

HTH,

[YourConfused]

My favorite treatment is Sulfuric acid. I haven't found it for sell lately, but you should find it with . It etches the rusted metal really well and leaves a nice surface to begin repairs with. Other proven products that come to mind are POR (paint over rust) and navel jelly. I have used both and will say that the pos stuff is much better to work with. Rustoleum also sells some rust converter stuff that I have used and found to be OK.

[dcarrb]

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with rust like that is that there's probably more elsewhere that you just can't see yet. Check the integrity of the rear jack point areas and have a look inside the doors.

dcb

[SilverSpear]

Well I think removing the damaged parts is the best option. A second one would be sand blasting

[svx_commuter]

I am really glad to see this post of yours. I have fix this same rust on my SVX driver side at the end of the summer. This is not all of the rust. The picture you have is just the result of where the water is leaking AFTER it gets in the body. The hole in the body is above the rear wheel. Yup. It is right above center inside the wheel well. It is above the “plastic wheel liner”.

If you want to see this take out the plastic wheel liner, jack-up, jack stand, take wheel off, remove bolts and clips. You can also remove the rubber around the wheel well and pull the plastic liner down but it is a real pain to get back.

Sitting right on top of the plastic liner sitting right in the middle at the top is a pile of road dust. It just builds up and collects moisture and then it touches the inside of the body and starts the rust.

You have to fix this part inside the wheel well or it will still get water to the place you see in your picture.

How is your rubber trim around the wheel well? That has metal inside that also rusts. The rusting inside of the body works it way down to the seam between the inside and outside panels and then into the rubber. The rubber wheel trim will not hold the body when the metal inside it gets rusty. The trim sort of leaves gaps between it and the body.

How to repair this rust? I used POR-15 and that is the four step process. I will not know for about 2 years if works for real. It took a lot of time to do this.

I did not want to cut out and weld. The body is zinc plated or plated with something over the carbon steel. This is very difficult to weld. Once the zinc is broken there is galvanic action set up between the coating and steel. This does make it rust faster.

Inside the body was bees wax, yup this in the seam around the wheel well. Welding will melt it.

I am very impressed with how long the SVX body is lasting. This car is indeed rust proofed. I have been driving this now for eight (8) years in the salt winters. It is doing very well where the SVX has all the original body panels that is.

So if you read this and do not want this problem pull the liners out of your wheel wells and clean the dirt out.

How many miles you got on your SVX?

Take care of that SVX,

John

[processengr]

Thanks! That's some intel...My daughter's SVX has 172780 mi. on it. From your description, I think the classic "no good deed goes unpunished" may apply. Having replaced the rear strut mounts that were rotted through, during the winter, salt has been washed off at the local DIY car wash with the nozzle directed at the shock mount area as SOP. If there is a hole there, then it all makes sense...
I am starting to think this car should become the winter beater, parts car, put the $$ into my SVXes that are sound with lower mileage...
I will pull the liners down next warm sunny spell.

[dannmarr]

In the construction field we use a special commercial transformer paint on rusted I- beams. I don't remember the name, but it stops the rust from spreading and turns it rock hard. All you do is remove all the loose rust and paint right over the rest. I'm not sure if it works on cars, but do a search on the web. Good luck.

[pixelpusher]

Originally Posted by Crazy_pilot

That's all dependant on how it's fixed and the quality of the work. Rust is deffinitely cancer, the only was to get rid of it is surgury. The damaged area must be COMPLETELY removed until there is no trace of rust remaining, and new metal has to be welded in to replace it. My car is much worse, it's makes that look like a tiny door ding. I'm probably going to buy entire quarter panels and either have sections of them used to replace the rusted metal, or replace the entire panel.

If the repair is done properly and the bodyshop takes it's time there's no reason it shouldn't be good for many years to come.

Over the winter I had both rear quarter panels replaced on my 92. When I purchased the parts the parts guy mentioned that there were 9 quarter panels left in the country. If you're thinking about replacing yours you should do it now.
The rust on mine looked about like the picture in the first post. When my body man opened it up it was much worse. We replaced both quarters, both wheel arches and one rocker panel.