Rust repair

Alanstrainor

Hey fellas, so my e46 is showing it's age and i want to tackle some rear arch rust before it really takes over. Given the age/value of the car I will be attempting this myself. As it stands it has just about started to become visible around the wheel arch. I think I should be able to remove it, and do some patch work on the paint that hopefully wouldn't be too noticeable.

I've attached two images for an idea of what we're dealing with. I'm just looking for some general advice on how to approach this. Should I be grinding away? Use a rust removal gel? Or something other. Being cost effective is important!

scannerd

Have been there, yours are beyond economic repair already, the rust will come back in 6 months no matter what you do. problem is the rust is actually coming in form the back of the panel.


No harm giving it a go as long as you don't expect it to last.

Remove all the rust you can manually - grinder might be overkill, treat the remaining metal with Krust or similar, fill, sand, prime, paint - can be done for 30/40 Euro of material and not to difficult to get looking ok.

JohnBoy26

Id be all for diy but that rust is advanced and in a tricky location. If it was me and I didn't have a welder and good fabrication skills(and i don't ) id leave it tbh. I think going digging at that could make it a lot worse tbh.

Alanstrainor

Hmmmm. I'm torn. Leaving it sit will see it spread like cancer. I think more investigation is needed. Off with the wheel I think. Thanks for the input guys really appreciate it.

Toyotafanboi

I'd have to agree that no DIY repair will hold up in that location, given the high volume of fast moving water and muck that will get caked around there.

If you leave that the way it is, it won't really spread too badly over the next year or two but if you go and do a job on it yourself, in 12 months time you'll have something far gammier looking than you have right now.

I'd had a very similar blister on the rear arch of the Celica. I got the below product and used the straw to blast it up inside it. It spreads out to displace moisture and leaves a thick coat of wax behind. In the two years I had the car after doing that it didn't spread any further. That'd be my advice, use that product to prevent it spreading and accept the current blister as "character".

https://www.motorparts.ie/product/accessories-body-repair-adhesives-and-sealers/comma-wax-seal-ws500m/WS500M

Alanstrainor

Perfect. That's what I'll do. I'll have the e46 6 years in May, so it's days are numbered at this point. I'll give this a go. Cheers man.