patqx4 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I have some problem areas on my truck, namely under the rear door and behind the side mirrors. It looks pretty bad, I'm not sure what I should do about it, because the truck is in great shape otherwise. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borninabarn Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 My 02 is rusting like yours where rear hatch shock hooks up or right above it.I havent had a mirror off.My out side window mouldings on the rear doors I already took off they were rusting so bad and now the front ones are bubbling on the front under the mirror.I always said the bodys will fall off these jap cars before they quit running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patqx4 Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 yeah it's really not cool ... I want to keep driving it for a while i've been spending alot of time and money on maintenance and upgrades lately but if the rust takes over I might be in trouble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewulf73 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Rust, like a cancer grows... Sand it/grind it, making sure you get most of the nasty rust off, paint it with rust inhibitor then a coat or two of paint similar colour to your truck and it should last you at least another three years. Elbow grease my friends, elbow grease... Masking is the hardest part. You should be able to get the rust inhibitor at Canuckian Tire or Lordco. I usually start with heavy/medium grit sanding block and steel wool. Then finer and finer grit until it is relatively smooth. It doesn't look like you need bondo or anything like that so, yeh... My truck has a hole in its rear-passenger fender lip. Took as much rust as I could to prevent the cancer from spreading, painted it flat black...it don't look nice but it is not spreading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patqx4 Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 thanks for the reply, I'd rather not make big ugly holes and not fill them in. I think the proper way to go is to cut out the rust and weld new metal in, but that could be pricey commercially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Before you commit to welding new metal on, I'd try to just clean it up with sandpaper, see how bad it really is, then see if there's enough metal left to rattlecan. The door jamb is the more important bit, since it can't really be unbolted. If it's weak and swiss-cheese looking, hacking it out and rebuilding it is your best bet, but you may get lucky and just have failing paint with a little surface rust under it. The door rot looks worse, but most of it's covered by the mirror. I'd sand it down, cut out the loose and thin stuff, and hope there was enough left to hook the mirror to. If that failed I'd see if I could find a door in better shape at a junkyard, if that was cheaper than having someone weld it up. Also inspect your sills/strut towers/etc... make sure you know how much rust you're actually dealing with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patqx4 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 Quick update on this, I decided to cut and grind away as much rust as I could from the door jam with my angle grinder. This was the result: I sprayed on a couple coats of rust reformer and let it dry, then cut a filler patch and jb weld'd it on: I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to body work, but hopefully with a little bondo and alot of patience, I can make it look half decent. Doesn't need to be beautiful, since it's hidden except when the door is open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewulf73 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) looks good to me...better job than any i've done...but then again that is a bigger hole than any I've had to contend with...is that the D pillar, or the rear door? That was much more cancerous than it looked... Edited June 6, 2013 by Bluewulf73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patqx4 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) Thanks Bluewulf, yes, it's the hatch door jam right above the drivers side tail light. I finished the "repair" this morning. and it looks better than I expected. Bondo Final result, primed and painted I'd call this resolved, for now at least. It looks better than the rust hole, and the best part it was free since I already had all the supplies used. I still need to figure out what to do about the door rust... Edited June 6, 2013 by patqx4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebelord Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I would tackle it pretty much the same way. Just that you will have to shape the patch piece to keep the opening the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewulf73 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Thanks Bluewulf, yes, it's the hatch door jam right above the drivers side tail light. I finished the "repair" this morning. and it looks better than I expected. Bondo Final result, primed and painted I'd call this resolved, for now at least. It looks better than the rust hole, and the best part it was free since I already had all the supplies used. I still need to figure out what to do about the door rust... Looks great! unles one looks very closely, it is difficult to see there is a repair at all... Rebelord is right...does the mirror rest on the edge of that rusted-out panel? If so, then you will need to make sure there is some integrity to it, if not, then you're golden and simple (yeah, right) repair would suffice. If it needs to bear weight, you could fold the mesh and shape it to fit that cavity so it fits even with the rest of the bottom of the hole. That would allow twice the weight bearing and would allow you to fill it in from both sides...not sure if I made myself understood there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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