How hard is it to fix rear wheelwell rust?

[Forgar_88]

I am lookin at a 87 4dr Accord. The car is very clean and worth the $500, but there is rust through the body on the rear fenders. Is this gonna be really expensive, or should I just go ahead with it? It isnt large holes, but just bubbled paint and a spot a quarter would cover. Is it worth the money, or am I lookin at a money pit for it?

[5spdaccordlxi]

if you wanna fix the rust, whats on the surface is usually just the tip of the iceberg- i would say buy the car if its a good deal reguardless of the rust and dont worry about the rust-if you wanna fux it you might wanna look into how much bodywork costs

[HondaBoy]

so this car is only $500? i'd say yes, it is totally worth it! now as for the rust, its really not completely hard to fix. especially if its in its early stages! like if its just now bubbling, you can remove the rust, if its on the surface. maybe like use a sand blaster to get it all off. if its worse you can cut the rust out and weld in new or like new parts to the fender. got any friends that do body work? if so that'd be good, but you can always use this as a chance to try out body work yourself. i dont remember what the paint stuff is but you spray it onto the rust and it'll stop it from progressing more. that'd be a quick fix kinda until you could do something about it.

[A20A1]

Well there is a rust converting primer but primer is usually pourous or what have you so you'll end up rusting if you just use primer. Sand off any rust and then spray on the rust to primer convertor... then add on a coat or two of matching paint and it should hold off the rust assuming you removed it all from the metal. Thats just my method using supplies you can get at wal-mart... I'm sure there are better paints and such you can use.

Oh yeah you'll proably want clear coat too.

[MrBen]

I wouldn't use rust converting primer. I tried it and it simply did not work. I achieved the best results without it.

I had rear wheel well rust just like you describe. The key is to sand (most likely grind) off all the rust. I mean all of it; the pores and everything. If you get into it and find there is a crapload of rust, get yourself a drill and a little sandpaper/grinder attachment for a few bucks at Home Depot and grind it all away. For small spots like that it works great.

You'll probably find you have a divot when you're done. Grab some bondo and apply it as directed. Note you will acheive the best results by applying, letting it dry, sanding, and reapplying and sanding. Sand the area around it with very very fine grit sandpaper so you can feather out your paint and primer when you paint over the old rust spot. Then spray on primer, preferably the same brand as the paint you are using. Duplicolor works great. Go to NAPA and they will likely hook you up with an exact OEM match as they did with me. Then spray on clear coat when it dries.

Bondo works if you do it correctly. I spent a week fixing my accident where I backed into another car and smashed in my trunklid. I was able to save my trunklid and apply many many thin layers of bondo to the bottom part of the lid and when I was done, there was no way you'd be able to tell there was an accident. So just remember... get rid of all the rust... apply lots of thin layers of bondo if you need it... use primer, paint, and clearcoat, making sure to feather it out into your old paint.

[MrBen]

Replacing the rear quarter panel is damn near impossible.

[RobT5580]

Replacing the rear quarter panel is damn near impossible.

Body shops replace them all day long for collision cars. My friend from Audi/Porsche cut and replaced whole panels all day long at the body shop. Granted they are not cheap but Veng sells just the arches that a body man could cut and weld in.

[MrBen]

The rear quarter on the 3g is a royal pain in the ass. That is all I am saying. I know body shops replace them all day long. They're body shops. That's what they do.

[AccordEpicenter]

yeah that takes skill. I agree that the key is to remove as much rust as possible, use good paint/priming etc. Around here, using bondo especially in large amounts gets you in trouble fast, bondo absorbs moisture and traps it against the metal promoting rust again. My moms car was completely redone and it started bubbling up again about 16 mos later, even though it was quality work, the moisture and road salt around here eat thru cars like crazy. My neighbor the ricer just fixed a hole in his rear wheelwell with bondo about 2 mos ago and its already starting to rust as well, but he does really ghetto work.

[Not like a rock]

I've had my bondo hold together for two winters now, but there are some spots where I wasn't vigilant, and the rust resurfaced.

I recently had my rear quarter panels replaced by a bodyshop. For $1100 cdn, they replaced both sides including the portions that are covered by the rear bumper, all along the front of the wheel well, and the reinforced jacking area below the rear door. that money got it primed but not painted to match the rest of the car. still, I consider it money well spent since I won't have to re-bondo it every year.

if you are painting it yourself, I found that sanding the primer is crucial. that extra couple of minutes spend sanding makes a world of difference.

[lostforawhile]

you have to get the rust out there is a product made by the eastwood company that a lot of car restorers swear by including myself. it works like that rust converting primer but the difference is that this stuff actually works. it's called rust encapsulator it's not cheap though. you can go to www.eastwood.com they have a lot of great stuff there for doing body and metal work and everything i've ever bought there is top quality