Best rust remedy for my vehicle?

[Erik88]

My GF's 2002 Carolla was destroyed by the hail storm that hit Knoxville 2 years ago. We were able to buy it back from the insurance company for almost nothing but the hail did a lot of damage.

 

Long story short- some of the hail left such a nasy dent that it actually stripped off the paint. 2 years later I'm noticing some of these places are starting to rust, especially on the roof and trunk.

 

 

I know rust is like a cancer and will continue to get worse unless I do something. What is the best course of action to stop the rust? I'm not concearned about appearances.

 

 

thanks,

[peejman]

Sand it down to bare metal, prime, and repaint.

[McGarrett]

+1 on what peejman said. You can do it yourself without too much trouble.

[tnhawk]

Sand it down to bare metal, prime, and repaint.

This is the only only remedy that lasts.

[monkeylizard]

Sand it down to bare metal, wipe it clean with degreaser then rubbing alcohol, prime, and repaint.

 

FIFY!

[peejman]

True dat.

Fwiw, rattle can stuff works reasonably well. If you don't care what it looks like, get creative! Maybe the local school art and autobody classes could use a free subject.

[runco]

I use to be shade tree body man.  25 years ago, I use to try to cut corners, not want to sand down to the bare metal,repainting and etc.  There must be a better way, etc.  Form personal experience, there is no chemical or no other way shy of sanding, priming and repainting.    In some cases, you might even have to cut the cancer out, and re-weld sheet metal.  Now that I am borderline old fart, I either just live with it, or sell it as is and take loss!

[Erik88]

Thanks guys. I'll give that a try.

[enfield]

Zinc-rich paint aka cold galvanize?

[blizzard]

Is it really worth it? No disrespect intended but it's a 14 year old Toyota Corolla. It was totaled out. Meaning it would cost more to fix than it's worth. You bought it back I'm sure for a little of nothing. IMO just drive it till the wheels fall off then junk it. If your car is anything like ours was,it had hundreds of hail dings all over it. Do you really want to take the time or pay someone to sand that down? 

  If your really bent on trying to make it look a little better a cheaper and easier way is to just hit up the Pull-A -Part and start replacing panels. Corrolas are plentiful enough you should be able to find everything you need.If I was you, I would just forget about it and drive it. Just my two cents.

[Erik88]

Is it really worth it? No disrespect intended but it's a 14 year old Toyota Corolla. It was totaled out. Meaning it would cost more to fix than it's worth. You bought it back I'm sure for a little of nothing. IMO just drive it till the wheels fall off then junk it. If your car is anything like ours was,it had hundreds of hail dings all over it. Do you really want to take the time or pay someone to sand that down? 

  If your really bent on trying to make it look a little better a cheaper and easier way is to just hit up the Pull-A -Part and start replacing panels. Corrolas are plentiful enough you should be able to find everything you need.If I was you, I would just forget about it and drive it. Just my two cents.

 

It's only a few places and likely won't take longer than a few hours to fix....so yes, I want to fix it.

 

Overall, the car still looks respectable despite the damage so I'd like to keep it that way.

[Guest TankerHC]

I agree with all above (I went to Body and fender school years ago and suck at it, but also hate sanding) I would suggest on the strip part, invest 10 bucks in a can of Zip Strip, a paint brush and scraper. 

[hardknox00001]

If you have an air compressor of decent size, you can go to an automotive body shop supply house that sells paint and they'll sell you an acrylic enamal that can be mixed to match as close as possible.  It comes in three parts, the paint, the hardener, and the reducer.  Do a little masking and buff it in when dry and you'll probably hardly notice.  Don't skimp on prep, all the work should go there, the paint is just coloring the work.

[Mike.357]

I have used a similar product to this in the past with very good results.  it totally stopped the rust from growing and held up for years.

 

http://www.amazon.com/VHT-SP229-Rust-Convertor-Can/dp/B002NUABUO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388119625&sr=8-2&keywords=rust+converter

[otnman]

[quote name="Mike.357" post="1084716" timestamp="1388119801"]I have used a similar product to this in the past with very good results. it totally stopped the rust from growing and held up for years. [url="http://www.amazon.com/VHT-SP229-Rust-Convertor-Can/dp/B002NUABUO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388119625&sr=8-2&keywords=rust+converter"]http://www.amazon.com/VHT-SP229-Rust-Convertor-Can/dp/B002NUABUO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388119625&sr=8-2&keywords=rust+converter[/url][/quote] Good stuff...used on a hi lift jack...rust never came back... Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk