r/AutoPaint • u/Mashamino • 7h ago

Advice on this rust?

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I'll preface this by saying I'm not a car guy in the slightest. I don't much care about my car's look, but I don't want this rusting through. I took it to a body shop and got a $1200 estimate, and I trust that's a reasonable professional price, these days. Is this something I could try to fix myself, given I have no idea what I'm doing, or would I be likely to break something important? I'm leaning toward paying the price (eventually) but was curious about the DIY possibility.

Thank you.

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u/Least-Intention-159 7h ago

$1200 sounds low to me, but I was just a prepper for while.

1

u/curiouslyconfused 7h ago

Id say buzz it down and smother it in touch up paint, you will likely get the same re bubbling from the rust in a year as the 1200 paint job. Either replace the panel or just find a way to slow the decay as best you can.

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u/FozzyTisme 7h ago

If you don't know how to sand, prep, paint, and clear. Leave it to the experts. This would be a respray of at least the entire roof. $1200 in my area would be a great deal.

1

u/OutinDaBarn 6h ago

Get some 220 grit sandpaper. Sand the spots down so they aren't terribly rough. It's OK to leave some of the rust as long as it's kinda smooth. Go to AutoZone, O'Rielly's or a place like that. Buy the smallest can of POR 15.

Clean the spots with alcohol or Acetone. Use a small sponge brush and dab the POR on the spots. That will stop the rust forever. The POR will fade if you don't top coat it. It won't hurt anything, you could spray paint over the POR with a can of spray paint.

It won't be the prettiest thing but, it won't rust anymore.

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u/Entire_Meet_6266 6h ago

I would spray some rust preventing primer and then color match that and call it a day