Rust repair

[613carguy]

Hi all,

My wife's 2012 Honda Odyssey has started to rust in a few spots and I'm looking for some advise on how to repair it. The damage I've found so far is in 2 main areas: behind the door seals of both front doors and the hood. See below for pics.

Most of the damage is under seals and behind the 'rolled' areas of the panel edges where it will be very hard to clean. I know I won't be able to remove all the rust before I paint it, so I'll probably have to do it every few years. Just peeling back the seal under the hood to take the pictures resulted in a shower of rusty bits falling on the freshly detailed engine bay.

Just to give you some background, this is a daily driver and the family taxi so it sees heavy use. I am trying to decide between 3 options:

1. do nothing and sell the car now before the problem gets any worse
2. fix it and sell the car now
3. fix it and keep the car for the foreseeable future

My questions for you guys is this. If i decide to fix it, what's the best method? I was hoping to avoid sanding, but I think it's obvious that the rust is beyond the touch-up pen at this point. Do I sand the underside of the hood then mask it right at the front edge to avoid over spray on the top of the hood? i just washed the car and those stains didn't come out so is the rust already on the top surface of the hood?

THere are a lot of other small chips on the hood that are starting to rust as well so is a respray of the hood the only option really?

Here's the damage to the hood:




Here's the damage to the drivers door (passenger door similar):

[Calendyr]

For rust, the quicker the you get to it, the better. It will spread very quickly if you don't act.

So what you need to do it remove all the rust. I suggest you use a metal brush on a drill or angle grinder. This is very quick. Otherwise a Dremel could also be used.

Once all the visible rust has been removed, make sure that there isn't any hidding under paint surrounding the area. If you think there is, remove the paint and get that area to metal too.

Once all that has been done, the use of acid will remove the microscopic rust remaining. There are several products you can use: Rust converters, hydrochloric acid (acid based wheel cleaners contains this), or vinegar.

When you apply the acid, let it work for a while. 15 minutes is usually enough. The metal will change color under the assault of the acid. Make sure to rinse off completelly and dry it off completelly. You can use a hair dryer, heat gun or blower. Just make sure no water or humidity remains.

Then you just apply a etching primer to seal the surface and give your paint something to binds to.

If the area is not visible, you can use any paint you want, if it is visible then I would get color code matching paint from an automotive paint store.

Finish with a clear coat.

Dry time for primer, paint and clear coat will be written on the cans.

Usually you want 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear. The first coat is usually lighter than the following ones.

Once a vehicles starts to rust, it is very hard to prevent it from rusting more even if you do things correctly. So if you decide to keep it, you will likelly have to do this again in the future.

[MikeC78]

First, I'd see if you could get that covered under the Manufacturers warranty, if its not that old. Two, look into a product called Por-15. The advise above is pretty spot on and after you get it cleaned up, Pro-15 will help stop it dead in its tracks from spreading.

[613carguy]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Unfortunately, the rust warranty is over. I think I'm going to buy a replacement hood from the junk yard that's the same colour and rust free. This should kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I'll get a niceer hood for the van, and I'll be able to use the old one to practice with my new GG6!! I may still try to do the paint repair to see how the DA polisher reacts to fresh paint vs factory paint. I'll still have to fix the doors, but that should be a bit easier since it's not as visible.

Graham

[atgonzales]

+1 on Por15...

[Rsurfer]

+1 on Por15...

I take it that Por15 is a rust inhibitor, is it also a primer?

[613carguy]

I take it that Por15 is a rust inhibitor, is it also a primer?

I have the same question. Does it replace both the rust converter step and the primer step?

Graham.

[MikeC78]

Check out their website. It does convert and prime in one step, however, you should clean the area as good as possible. If its exposed to sunlight it needs to be top coated.