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Disclaimer: I've done a search for "rust" here, and come up with nothing. If there's something on NASIOC (I haven't looked there yet), lemme know, and I'll let this thread die quickly.

Anyways.. I'm wondering what suggestions you guys have for dealing with surface rust. Some of the rust I want to tackle is no bigger than a pencil eraser (looks like it was caused by a stone chip), while the rest is around corners of the exterior body panels. I have absolutely no idea what to do, aside from eventually getting touchup paint from the dealer. Can I just paint over it? Do I have to go through a large ordeal of sanding, priming then painting? I hope this isn't going to involve a body shop, because then I'd rather save my money for a newer car (not that I don't love my 91, don't get me wrong!!).

Thanks in advance everyone! And like I said at the top, if this has been beaten to death somewhere else, say "search NASIOC!" or whatnot and I'll do it!

I don't think you'd want to just paint over it; you should probably remove the rust first, so it doesn't spread under the paint.

That's what I was thinking, but I have no idea how to begin. I've never tackled rust on any vehicle before, and I don't want to make the situation worse by rushing in with a sander.

NASIOC hasn't given me any hope yet, but I'm still looking.

I'm doing major body work on my 91 right now. I can tell you from the start that just painting over it will do nothing. With rust work, you either do it once, well, and don't have to worry about it, or do a lazy job and have it bubble up again in no time. For the pencil sized rust, get a sanding disc and sand away the bad paint and surface rust. If there are darker colored pits in the metal then get some of that acid rust converter stuff. It will halt the chemical reaction. then you can just prime and touch up with some color match, brush or spray. Whatever you like more. Where is the other rust? Because rear quarter panels can be very tedious. On my car there is some rust-out in the rear wheel wells. By the rocker panels and at the corner wher the rear bumper attaches to the panels. I Cut all that rusted metal out and replaced it with new metal by either using glue with rivets/stainless screws or welding. Stay away from fiberglass, unless you want it to look bad by next season.

Mark,

I guess I was having a problem with taking a sanding block to the surface of my car. But if that's what I've gotta do, then that's what I've gotta do!

The other rust is mostly on the passenger side, around the edges of the panels. It all looks like surface rust, so I'm hoping I can do the same thing as the pencil sized marks.

Thanks again!

(Off to take a better look at the rust, and to stop the heatshield rattle that's getting extremely annoying)

I've got a spot on the trunk lid......I painted over it....I know it's not the right way to do it...but I'm not repainting right now......maybe down the road I may have the whole thing repainted. If I do that......I'll probably try and do the body work myself, and just let the body shop do the painting.

I've got a little bit of rust bubbles on the driver's side bottom fender.....oh well...

Josh,

Have a look inside the bottom of the fender where it bolts to the rocker panel. You'll probobly find a moist mud. That crap accumulates in there and will cause the bottoms of the fenders to rust out. It takes forever for that stuff to dry outbecause holds all the moisture in there. You can either clean it out by hand using something to poke at it and pull it out. Or use a pressure washer and spray in some rust inhibitor when it's cleaned out.

Mark,

Mark,

I am at that same point with my 91 - sorta good everywhere except the rear wheelwells.

Are you replacing the whole wheel well? buy getting a replacement part?

or just fabricating something?

I don't want to drop a bunch of coin - but to do it properly...

Any pics?

Andrew

You can't get anything. Like most cars the rear end is all unibody. The only detachable parts are the front fenders, doors, bumpers, hood and trunk. the rest of the car is itegrated and is the actual chassis. I'm fabricating everything I need to fix the rusted out sections. I'm doing this all myself because a body shop will likely charge ~ 3000 for this type of work. I'll have some pics soon to show you all what I'm doing.

Mark,

Ok, who wants to host? I'm beating Josh down with all these pics he's hosted for me. So I feel kinda bad

Mark,

Mark,

I will host..

aross@lanshop.com

Wanna work on another?

LegacyT wrote:Josh,

Have a look inside the bottom of the fender where it bolts to the rocker panel. You'll probobly find a moist mud. That crap accumulates in there and will cause the bottoms of the fenders to rust out. It takes forever for that stuff to dry outbecause holds all the moisture in there. You can either clean it out by hand using something to poke at it and pull it out. Or use a pressure washer and spray in some rust inhibitor when it's cleaned out.

Mark,

Yeah I've hosed down and peeled back the bottom lip of the fender well and gotten lots of stuff out of there. I'd like to take the entire cowling and trim off and clean it at some time.

I'm not too worried as it's been like this for several years now and hasn't gotten any worse.

When I did the snorkusectomy, I pulled soooo much crap out of there. I haven't gotten around to doing it on the other side though. Maybe I'll get motivated one of these days.

-Brian

I went to look today at a large portion of my surface rust. Its around and underneath the Subaru symbol on the rear hatch (above the red Subaru trim piece and below the window glass). I tried to figure out how it was mounted, and even went so far as to remove the interior trim for the hatch. I discovered what looks like 2 pins, but couldn't figure out how they worked. I also tried prying up underneath the symbol, and while a small portion came free, the rest just pulled the paint with it.

So... does anyone know for sure how to remove that thing? I want to get it off so I can work on the surface below. The previous owner just tried to paint around and between the parts of the symbol, and it didn't work.

Edit:
Its small and low res (I edited a pic I found), but this is the logo I speak of...

you have to pop off the emblem....it's held in by a pin.

I had a feeling someone was going to say that!

Guess it'll have to stay on for now though, as it seems to be holding a large portion of paint to the hatch.

Hmm... I wonder what the weather is supposed to be like this week? Sounds like I'm going to be spending some time outside.