cancerous wheel rust!!!!!

[chrish8r]

i have this cancerous rust on my wheel well and im not sure if i should grind it down and put on some rustoleum body filler on it and just leave it like that or just take it to a place like Macco and get the whole car repainted because i have a lot of paint imperfections around like on the front and rear bumpers, hood is peeling in place and that rust by the wheel well pictured below.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/38614454107_large-2.jpg

[bulldozer24]

if you care about your car you i would fix it now

[chrish8r]

if you care about your car you i would fix it now

I plan on fixxing it but i am unsure on what path to take

[bulldozer24]

well depending on how bad it is you might get away with sanding it down and painting it but if it has gone through the panel you will need to bondo or patch it with another piece of metal. you will just have to give it a closer look and see how bad it is.

[httrdd]

More than likely you will be able to put something through that spot without effort. Mine did not look that bad and i was able put my finger through it.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Whatever it is, do it now before it spreads like wildfire.

[chrish8r]

i think ill just end up learning how to use bondo over the weekend and fix this rust

[B's Legacy Wagon]

its worth a try but ill say to me bondo is like an art you have have a good feel for it. and maacoo i dont think does bondo just paint. maybe find a local body shop guy and see if he will take on a side job.

[Huffer]

Take to a shop, have them cut and weld a new section, paint and go.

If you're trying to save some money, cut the section out, paint it with primer and go until you can afford to have it repaired "properly".

[mshriver]

Thats not going to be something fixable by bondo... by now, the only solid thing left there is your paint. If you knock the paint off there is more likely nothing but dust behind it. your going to need to weld in new metal. If you cant do it yourself its going to get very expensive

[r3v_v3ng3]

You can grind it down for now and who knows maybe you can grind the rust out and still have some metal left over to put a body filler.
Take that rubber thing off your wheel wells cause it retains the water that cause the rust

[Dead91silvia]

Take to a shop, have them cut and weld a new section, paint and go.

If you're trying to save some money, cut the section out, paint it with primer and go until you can afford to have it repaired "properly".

^ This is the only way to do it!

I might be a mechanic everyday, but I started as a body man. Do it right the first time, or it will cost you 10 times later doing it right. Plastic filler, aka "Bondo", will absorb moister , and do it fast! What will happen is the filler will separate from the metal and then start to rust it extremely fast compared to know. I'm repairing rust like this or my 66 Volvo. Work not done right in the first place.

I did a "bondo" repair when I was 18 on my hatch on my Celica. Had just a little cancer to start and covered it with filler and paint. 2 years later, my hatch was so rusted out it was no longer worth fixing... Your car looks nice, do it right the first time...

[Navi271]

Ya, I've tried the bondo and paint over thing, definitely doesn't work. Even in the places I didn't bondo, just got rid of surface rust and painted over it, it's coming back. I mean it's on the entire rear right wheel well from end to end. You HAVE to have it cut out.

Also depends on how long you're planning on keeping your car. I've had mine for 7 years now and before I owned it, my mom drove it since my family bought it new off the lot. I'm starting to get bored with it... I'm thinking about letting the rust take it's course and replacing the whole car with a new rust free car in a year or 2.

[chrish8r]

Ya, I've tried the bondo and paint over thing, definitely doesn't work. Even in the places I didn't bondo, just got rid of surface rust and painted over it, it's coming back. I mean it's on the entire rear right wheel well from end to end. You HAVE to have it cut out.

Also depends on how long you're planning on keeping your car. I've had mine for 7 years now and before I owned it, my mom drove it since my family bought it new off the lot. I'm starting to get bored with it... I'm thinking about letting the rust take it's course and replacing the whole car with a new rust free car in a year or 2.

i like your thinking, a new(well new to me) car when the rust takes over. and most likely another subaru!!!

but i got a ballpark quote from a local for about 200-300 for the repair

[Navi271]

Yep! Gotta stick with subaru, but with a quote like that I'd go for it. Is that price for everything? Like cut and remove rust, replace with new metal, smooth that out, add bondo, sand that down, primer, paint, done?