My half-@$$ed rust repair

MuddyButt

MuddyButt

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Went and got a quote to get a rust patch repaired on my fender and the lowest price they said for the repair was $700 thought it was a little ridiculous for a rust spot that's no more than 2 inches in diameter. So I said f it and went ahead and tried to fix it myself. So I got some bondo, rust converter and touch up paint and started messing up my car. This is the half a$$ job that I ended up with and I'm pretty happy with it actually since the objective was just to stop/slow the spread of rust.

Wish I had better pictures. I just used my phone.
 

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Yeah... might look fine but I would have cut out the bad metal and welded new stuff in. Filling holes with bondo makes me cringe. You get what you pay for IMO.
 
I know it looks good now but unless you cut the rust out it will come back behind the bondo and be much worse than before. You might try a small sandblaster to blast the rust out but it will be very hard to get it all out.
 
Looks good...enough for fender flares. :D Unfortunately the rust isn't gone and will continue to open up the hole even larger.
 
MuddyButt said:
Went and got a quote to get a rust patch repaired on my fender and the lowest price they said for the repair was $700 thought it was a little ridiculous for a rust spot that's no more than 2 inches in diameter. So I said f it and went ahead and tried to fix it myself. So I got some bondo, rust converter and touch up paint and started messing up my car. This is the half a$$ job that I ended up with and I'm pretty happy with it actually since the objective was just to stop the spread of rust.

Wish I had better pictures. I just used my phone.
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Well, I don't know how long it will last, but I have a rocker that I plan to clean, prep, then use POR-15 and some glass with a couple more coats of POR-15, then fill, prime, and paint. I hope to get a couple years out of it, but we'll see.
 
Rust usually isn't a problem where I'm from in NC. Bought the car used and it spent a small portion of its life in Washington DC I suppose that's the culprit for the rust spot. Hopefully it won't come back.
 
Of course if the rust does come back and I can't stand to look at it I will get it fixed professionally. I'm sure it won't be any more than the estimate I got before. Figured I would just try to fix it myself for cheap before spending a lot of money at a body shop and even they can't guarantee that the rust won't come back.
 
Looks great to me! I'm curious how'd you blend it on the rear quarter ? Or did you paint the whole quarter?
 
bolt said:
Looks great to me! I'm curious how'd you blend it on the rear quarter ? Or did you paint the whole quarter?
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Honestly I got lucky and got a good paint match from napa. I spayed it on then I used rubbing compound and polish after it dried I also took advantage of that body line that goes parallel to the fender to hide the slight difference in color. If I spent more time sanding the bondo it probably would have turned out a lot better.
 
T4R2014 said:
Yeah... might look fine but I would have cut out the bad metal and welded new stuff in. Filling holes with bondo makes me cringe. You get what you pay for IMO.
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I agree 100% I didn't think there would be a hole all the way through initially but once I started poking the rust that hole showed up. However I know I didn't want to weld onto my car because I have neither the supplies or skills to do so.
 
MuddyButt said:
I agree 100% I didn't think there would be a hole all the way through initially but once I started poking the rust that hole showed up. However I know I didn't want to weld onto my car because I have neither the supplies or skills to do so.
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"Cool on you" for even trying! I'd doubt that rust will bother you again for 5 to 8yrs depending on your vehicles storage spot. I've done similar type fixes learning what i'm sure you did to, its all about the spot's final preparation and paints application.:nod:
 
xcmtb83 said:
Looks good...enough for fender flares. :D Unfortunately the rust isn't gone and will continue to open up the hole even larger.
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Haha I actually got fender flares from a scrapped 4runner as a back up plan if it turned out too bad. (The black plastic ones that screw right on.)
 
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