What are the DIY supplies I'd need to repair the 3-4 small rust spots on my vehicle? It's a 1980 so I figured I'd need to learn how to do this myself sooner or later, because they're going to be coming back here and there.
Can some experienced anons weigh in on what are the most longest-lasting filling methods/products without welding new metal on(yet)?
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Tiger hair (fibreglass filler), a sanding block, sandpaper 80, 180 and 340/360, primer and your choice of body paint.
The cleaner you grind the rust out first the longer it will last before it bubbles out again.
what's the best way I can clean the rust out? I don't mind having to rent or borrow the tools to do it. I also wonder around how long I should expect to see another bubble.
1 or 2 every year? 2 years?
A polycarbide, or wire wheel and some kind of rust converter after cleaning most of the rust. Its also a good ide to rustproof the whole car after painting.
What do I use to rustproof the whole car?
I had hoped someday to have enough disposable income to have it stripped and have a rust-proofing undercoat on the whole thing, but that's like... atleast 3-4 years out before I can afford that kind of luxury. Also I barely know what the hell I'm talking about.
here's an album of minor issues I need to fix on it. Not sure if it helps at all: imgur.com
Definitely buying something like this tomorrow:
harborfreight.com
A wax coating is essential. If you live in a hot climate like in Texas during the summer the paint can start cracking. If you live in a place where its snows DOT will put salt on the roads and that will cause corrosion. Waxing the car helps in both cases.
For the undercarriage, there are various products for rust proofing. This is essential if you live in a place where it snows a lot because salt will fuck up your undercarriage.
Pictures do help. It looks like the paint is bubbling in some places, which means it's rusting through from the other side. Simply taking a grinder and grinding it off won't fix it for those cases. To really fix it you'll need to cut off the rusted parts and weld on new steel, otherwise the rust will come back.
Damn. I paid around 1.8k for the vehicle. If it's eaten up with rust on the inside, did I get abit ripped off?
I'm not 100% sure but I believe patching steel restoration like that is around $300 a spot around here in NC.
Its going to be quite expensive if you get a shop to do it.
I dont know where you live bit in the NE cars with so little rust are still cobsidered pristine after 10 years. You could patch it but it will back in 6 months. Since its a 40 years old car you can always save up some money for a welder as you will be patching new holes every other months.
Sorry I meant if you just patch bondo on it it will be worse in 6 months.
Bondo a shit, use solder
bondo is the same as tiger hair I take it, and I always knew it was a temporary/cheap fix, but I didn't know it actually made things worse.
I live in NC. I'd reckon if what you say is true, then this car probably is already filled with bondo spots given that it's almost 40 years old and there was a can of colormatched paint left in the back that the owner said was for the fender but that he never got around to it.
HOLD UP. Can you really just fill in spots with solder like that? Won't you warp the metal? Wont it be a pain in the ass to smooth out?
>bondo is the same as tiger hair
Two different tools for different jobs, but neither is for rust repair. To repair rust you need to remove all of the rust, replace any rotten metal, and seal it from both sides. Fillers would be applied afterwards.
I can't quite afford to be paying a bodyshop to replace alot of metal unfortunately, but if I go with tigerhair on these 4 rust spots, would I be good for around 2 years and then I could maybe consider going through that kind of intense restoration?
Cost is the main factor, and I don't have a space or experience to start trying to cut metal and weld on my own right now.
What products should one use for sealing? What's the best rust sealer out there?
Putting a filler on top of rust does nothing. To just stop the rust wire wheel the area down and use something like Eastwood Rust Encapsulator on it.
And then I can use filler on those spots, atleast for the time being?
Its special autobody solder. Restorers use it mainly, I guess it can warp if you heat it too much. Use an electric sander to smooth it out, most professional painters use them from what I know.
Feels good to live in the pnw and never have to deal with salt and shit ruining my car.
I want to move there someday... I may be driving this datsun over to Vancouver someday if things work out.
OK, first I've ever heard of it, and it looks pretty amazing as a solution, if you get all the rust out first.