Hatch Rust Repair On The Cheap

So if any of you live in the rust belt you may appreciate this a bit. My Runner is in grate shape with 155K on the clock and I have started the battle with rust. because it is rearing its filthy head, my hatch has started rusting through in one particular spot. All of the shops around quoted me $600 plus with no guaranty of stopping the rust.

So I did what any poor person would do and did it myself. I can't guaranty that it wont come back but I bet I bought a few years of life for my runner.


This is the problem.
<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_165958_zps43a09955.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_165958_zps43a09955.jpg" border="0" alt="Problem area photo 20141005_165958_zps43a09955.jpg"/></a>

This is what is rusting.
<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_165721_zpsdd682e3c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_165721_zpsdd682e3c.jpg" border="0" alt="Making the hatch rust photo 20141005_165721_zpsdd682e3c.jpg"/></a>

Sanded.
<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_175019_zpsa2037642.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_175019_zpsa2037642.jpg" border="0" alt="Before primer photo 20141005_175019_zpsa2037642.jpg"/></a>

Primed.
<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_175441_zps77190ae3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_175441_zps77190ae3.jpg" border="0" alt="After photo 20141005_175441_zps77190ae3.jpg"/></a>

Rubberized undercoat.
<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_180851_zps122dd496.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_180851_zps122dd496.jpg" border="0" alt="Undercoating photo 20141005_180851_zps122dd496.jpg"/></a>

Finished
<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_191045_zps2ecde77d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_191045_zps2ecde77d.jpg" border="0" alt="Finished photo 20141005_191045_zps2ecde77d.jpg"/></a>

I don't know if it will last for more than a couple of years or not but it beats paying the body man a ton of cash for something that will only be a band-aid in the end anyways. :bigok:

Cheers
Maineiac

Was the second picture from the inside?

It is

<a href="http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/Moosejuice6912/media/20141005_165729_zpse06b3987.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u574/Moosejuice6912/20141005_165729_zpse06b3987.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20141005_165729_zpse06b3987.jpg"/></a>

Its such a shame the rest of the body is in really good shape just normal scratches and such.

Thanks for showing the INSIDE picture. Will have to check mine....

I would assume that whatever that is you pulled back on the inside of the hatch must be trapping moisture, causing it to rust like that.. I will have to check mine as well.

I should add that a decent tell tale sign of what condition it is in would probably be looking at those license plate screw holes. If they're starting to bubble/show some surface rust, chances are good that the inside of the hatch will look like yours.. Mine has been undercoated every year so hopefully that is preventing it... The screw holes on mine were clean, and I made sure to put some grease on the screws when I put my place on to held protect it/keep out moisture...

All I could think of would be water and salt getting by the window seal and that pad thing witch I am calling sound deadening is holding it and the salt mix we have up here against the metal. the rest of the truck is in good shape.

Looks better - but just a few tips.

1. Do the same thing on the inside.

2. After you sand it down, use rust reformer/naval jelly to convert it to stable iron oxide.

3. Fill in with bondo and then sand smooth with a block going from 120 to 400 grit, then prime.

4. You can get color matched spray cans if you're interested in a more stealth fix. I actually fixed a small rust spot on an M3 of mine that was undetectable with some spray paint from Tower Paint I think it was.