Rust repair.....

[Night Wolf]

the single worst thing I hate with a car.. is ruste/rot

Sunday when I was changing the rear drum brakes on my car, I quickly poked around underneath and saw this.. which killed me....

it is the area under the rear seat, you can see wire loom... so I was thinkig if I remove the rear seat, I could see the whole area...

besides the rot on the quarter panel, this seems to be the next bad part.. I am kinda scared to keep looking underneath at what I'll find... but anyway... I was first thinking it'll have to be cut out and new metal welded in.. which I don't do, so it would have to be brought somewhere...

I heard of this stuff.. PRO 15 IIRC.... turns rust into useable metal surface... could that be applied and then could I use Bondo to fill in the rot? or would the Bonco just crack/fall apart? it isn't a high stress area.. and it is a rather high part on the car (floor boards are lower... there is no rust on them)

I really wasn't going to do anything with this until Spring... when the weather is warmer and I can spend time with it as I'll have other cars to drive.. as it is now, this is my only car and I don't want to be messing with this when it is 30* out in my iced-over driveway... will this spread alot until then?

This is what 16 years of being a NY car does.... and the fact it sat for 1.5 years before I bought it didn't help any.... but with 126k miles, for a 1989... it is rather low miles and this is an excelent car... but like i have said.. it is going to rust out from under me... but if i can control it... and bring it to a stop, or atleast keep it good... then the worst problem with the car will be solved...

[Gamebay11]

I have cut out sections of rust on the exterior before and that was somewhat fun. But if its underneath like that, i wouldnt do it myself. Dont know what to say about that rust product since ive never used it. If any salty snow gets down there, which it will, just make sure you kick it out so it wont spread much. Deffinately wait until spring, because it shouldnt be much worse. Sorry if I cant help you more.

The car I worked on was a 92 F-150, so its a bit different from a caddy.

[Night Wolf]

I am sorry, I ment POR 15, not PRO :)

no way is this on any of the Caddy's :) not at all!.... it is the Oldsmobile :)

When I get more time, maybe i can inspect it more... I am gonna get the other 2 new tires changed at Sears tomorrow.... maybe when the car is on the lift, I can see if I can go and look at it... I don't know if they'll let me though...

[graden]

a band aid solution until you can get it fixed latter/ warmer:

Grab a wire brush and clean all the loose stuff off.

Use any kind of rust repair and spray the affected area.

Apply duct tape to the inside of the car to prevent any further moisture from getting in

Spray undercoating on the outside over the affected area and duck tape. Not to much so it can easly be removed when it comes time to work on it, but eough to protect it from and further damage.

Should take mabey 20 min and will provide good protection until you can properly fix it

In the spring, when you have fixed this and any other areas, under coat the entire car. It helps alot when it come to winter salt protection

[TopFuel]

That rust is going to be larger than what you actually see. From experience, add about another inch to the entire perimeter...that will be the actual rust spot. If you want to put some $$$ into it, the rust will need to be removed and a panel welded in.

A cheap, quick fix would be to remve the rust and scale with a wire brush, then a wire wheel and/or grinder (if access permits). Then apply some fiberglass resin (you can use the 'glass matting if you so desire) over the area. If it's not a noticable spot, let it dry and apply primer and paint over it. Once the paint is dry, undercoat it with a good runnerized undercoaing. Like I said, it's a quick fix if you don;t want to put the extra time and $$$ into it.

[oorgo]

Oh man, I was just washing my car last night, and poked a nice finger hole through. 1993 GA SE 225K km.

It's right in the bottom corner, just in front of the rear tire on the driver side. It looks like part of the frame, so I'm worried.

It's the only serious rust in the entire car, do you guys think there's any way to fix/patch/stop it?

[dziukap]

yeah for a real repair you are gonna have to cut and weld. You might be able to get by with a good scrape and seal like others have said. Bondo is for looks on a body panel. I think somone mentioned a fiberglass spray or something. There is other stuff that is better for shear sealant and protection power if looks don't matter up under there.