Rust bubbles

My Potatoes

Is there any DIY way of removing or reducing rust bubbles?

dr.fuzzenstein

Give it a good poke with a screwdriver. If you can poke a hole through it, it needs welding.
My own DIY approach would be to sand it down (if it's not gone through), give it some Zinc and get it sprayed or give it a bash yourself with a spray can.
Depends on how fussy you are about the look of the car.
If it needs a patch welded in, you might as well consider if you can't just get a wing from a scrappy and throw that on.

dougie-lampkin

That's not a rust bubble, that's advanced corrosion (unless the picture is really zoomed in :pac:).

For a DIY solution, you need to take a grinder to the affected area until there's no rust and fresh metal all around. Then you can see the extent of the damage and assess your options. If it's not gone through the panel (unlikely really), a skim of fillers and a lick of paint will do. If it has gone through, you'll need to get a new front wing or get someone to weld in a patch if it's the rear quarter. Filler and paint as appropriate again. Anything short of the above will not last more than three months before the rust breaks out again. And the longer you leave it, the more it will spread.

JohnBoy26

My Potatoes wrote: »

Is there any DIY way of removing or reducing rust bubbles?

what part of the car is the rust on? And what kind of car is it?

Stavros Murphy

Rust bubble? Rust bubble??? I can't be the only one that was expecting to see a bit of bubbled paint still intact over some mild corrosion. That there be rust. Full stop. The cure is simple. Unless it is exotic, collectable or otherwise rust free(doubtful) Scrap it and buy another car. Seeing as you will probably ignore that, the other cure is get a grinder, blah blah blah.....................but it'll look crap unless a pro paints it. The bit in full stops contains a multitude of dull, temporary stuff no-one sane enjoys..unless it's a bolt on panel and a scrappie has a rust free one.

dr.fuzzenstein

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

Rust bubble? Rust bubble??? I can't be the only one that was expecting to see a bit of bubbled paint still intact over some mild corrosion. That there be rust. Full stop. The cure is simple. Unless it is exotic, collectable or otherwise rust free(doubtful) Scrap it and buy another car. Seeing as you will probably ignore that, the other cure is get a grinder, blah blah blah.....................but it'll look crap unless a pro paints it. The bit in full stops contains a multitude of dull, temporary stuff no-one sane enjoys..unless it's a bolt on panel and a scrappie has a rust free one.

Oh come on, its not that bad.
It's a bit of rust on a wing, by the looks of it a crappy, dirty van in what one may have been white.
If anything it adds character.
It's not structural, as long as the rest of the car is technically ok, it just needs a bit of TLC.
I've fixed worse with filler, zinc spray, glass fiber and a spray can. And it turned out alright even.

Stavros Murphy

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Oh come on, its not that bad.
It's a bit of rust on a wing, by the looks of it a crappy, dirty van in what one may have been white.
If anything it adds character.
It's not structural, as long as the rest of the car is technically ok, it just needs a bit of TLC.
I've fixed worse with filler, zinc spray, glass fiber and a spray can. And it turned out alright even.

jasus, I was being dramatic Fuzz. Trying to stimulate the economy. You can fix anything, no question there, but sometimes the bubble you see is the outlier for all its mates hidden throughout the rest of the vehicle. At which point, it becomes a dull battle that ends up with you driving something that looks like a refugee from Hammond lane.

dr.fuzzenstein

Bit of chicken wire and paper machee will fix nicely. In the 70's that's how you repaired sills and other structural corrosion. Bit of porridge in the rad and sawdust in the gearbox and she's good to go for another 100k.

Stavros Murphy

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Bit of chicken wire and paper machee will fix nicely. In the 70's that's how you repaired sills and other structural corrosion. Bit of porridge in the rad and sawdust in the gearbox and she's good to go for another 100k.

You forgot the gear-oil in the engine. Takes up the slack.

My Potatoes

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

what part of the car is the rust on? And what kind of car is it?

Just in front to the rear wheel.
It a Mercedez C180, 94 reg. As it's 20 years old I'm unwilling to spend money or too much time on it.

My Potatoes

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

Scrap it and buy another car.

I thought that attitude went out with Bertie Ahern?
Engine is sound. Has failed NCT only once in the last 10 years, passing the second time.

BrensBenz

My Potatoes wrote: »

Just in front to the rear wheel.
It a Mercedez C180, 94 reg. As it's 20 years old I'm unwilling to spend money or too much time on it.

Oh, the 90's Mercs and rust! Around the wing indicators too? Boot release button?

Rather than screwdrivers and grinders, I got a cheapish grit blaster kit (from McQuillans, I think). For the non-technically minded, you connect it to an air compressor and it shoots a stream of aluminium oxide, or sand, or whatever. Looking a little like a paint spray gun, it does a nice job of removing rust without damaging the surrounding areas. It's as aggressive as the grit and the air pressure used. Etch prime ASAP.

I hesitated buying this yoke because I thought it wouldn't get much usage but, because the stream of grit gets into tiny crevices and leaves the surface as clean as a whistle, it has easily paid for itself. Also, I live close to a beach....!

Stavros Murphy

My Potatoes wrote: »

Just in front to the rear wheel.
It a Mercedez C180, 94 reg. As it's 20 years old I'm unwilling to spend money or too much time on it.

Crawl in underneath and have a good poke around. You'll be bewitched. Those c180s literally dissolve - I rolled one over with a forklift to cut off the cat and despite looking solid up top, it was utterly rotten. Which is par for the course on them.

dr.fuzzenstein

As it's a 20 year old car, I say go nuts.
I had many an old banger with dents and rust and just decided to go ahead myself and the end result was even half decent.
Once had a VW T3 Transporter and filled in all the dents (of which there where many), got rid of the rust (mostly surface) and had the whole thing resprayed.
As I did all the sanding down and stripping, it cost very little.
The end result wasn't half bad and very purple!
Add to that new chrome hubcaps, new tigerstripe interior and LOUD stereo and you had quite something, albeit that something had a 1.6 NA diesel engine. Still miss that van.

Looks like the same place where the 124 E-class rusts. It's due to a bit of horizontal steel behind the front wing that collects crud and eventually rusts through.

New front wings are surprisingly cheap for Mercs, i.e. maybe 30..40 quid each, but of course need to be resprayed. If you take a look at any 80's/90's Mercs still around they either have rust there or have front wing of slighty different shade than rest of the car.

If the car is a keeper for a while new wings is the way to go. They bolt off/on really easily. I reckon the total cost of repair would be between 100 and 600 depending on whether you paint them yourself with rattle cans or take to a posh paint shop.

While at it it would be a good idea to jet wash inside the sills. The front sections have tendency to fill up with silt. Preventive maintenance will add maybe another 10 years of life to them.

JohnBoy26

My Potatoes wrote: »

Just in front to the rear wheel.
It a Mercedez C180, 94 reg. As it's 20 years old I'm unwilling to spend money or too much time on it.

leave it as is so Imo, don't go poking it with a screwdriver

biko

Moved to DIY as I assume OP actually wants help

You're probably best off by checking local breakers for a replacement wing. See list on top of the DIY forum.

dr.fuzzenstein

<unhelpful post removed>

Oh, it's rear arch. It will be much harder to get this right than the front. You'll need to cut out the rotten bit and weld in a patch. The chances are that the rest of the lip may be rotten too, and just about ready to blossom everywhere, in which case a full lip needs to be welded on. It's doable but might not be worth it...

JohnBoy26

biko wrote: »

Moved to DIY as I assume OP actually wants help

You're probably best off by checking local breakers for a replacement wing. See list on top of the DIY forum.

The op is not after a wing though. Unfortunately the rust is on the rear quarter panel and is a bit more than a diy job imo.

dr.fuzzenstein

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The op is not after a wing though. Unfortunately the rust is on the rear quarter panel and is a bit more than a diy job imo.

Shouldn't be for anyone who is handy with an angle grinder and a welder.
And on an old car like that, what does it matter if it's not perfect?
If not handy with AG and MIG, get a mate who is, have it welded, apply some filler and primer and give it a spray with a rattle can, or if in need of a better finish have the final spray-job done by a body shop.
It's not like he'll be replacing inner wings and sills (though check those too)
Almost anyone who isn't all thumbs could do it.

biko

Get some quotes from local bodyshops and see if it's worth going at it DIY or let them do it. Might not be that expensive.

JohnBoy26

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Shouldn't be for anyone who is handy with an angle grinder and a welder.
And on an old car like that, what does it matter if it's not perfect?
If not handy with AG and MIG, get a mate who is, have it welded, apply some filler and primer and give it a spray with a rattle can, or if in need of a better finish have the final spray-job done by a body shop.
It's not like he'll be replacing inner wings and sills (though check those too)
Almost anyone who isn't all thumbs could do it.

All well and good but I suspect the op isn't "handy with an angle grinder and a welder".

Also that rust is in a location where bending and shaping of the metal is required so it won't be that simple a task for a diy'er imo.

Your probably correct though in saying that it doesn't have to be perfect but you'd want to have some bit of welding and metal work experience to get it looking some way respectable IMO.

As biko said above a body shop is the first port of call.

My Potatoes

Thanks for the replies.

I gave just one photograph but there are four other similar ones, though not at bad. These are near the other three wheels and the corner of the passenger door.

Just to re-emphasise something...

My Potatoes wrote: »

...I'm unwilling to spend money or too much time on it.

Basically, I won't be replacing any wings. If I was to do that, then, well, that's practically another car.
Trigger And that's what I've done. Maintained it for 20 years. This old brooms had 17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time.


Anyway, I assume any wings from breakers cars would have similar corrosion.

I was hoping for a magic bullet solution that would be fast, easy, cheap and most importantly would not leave things looking worse.
Clearasil for rust, so to speak! Maybe I'm better off leaving well enough alone.

Problem with the rust you show is that it has basically eaten through the metal from inside out and there is no easy way to repair it without actually cutting all the affected areas off and welding in new metal.

dr.fuzzenstein

My Potatoes wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I gave just one photograph but there are four other similar ones, though not at bad. These are near the other three wheels and the corner of the passenger door.

Just to re-emphasise something...



Basically, I won't be replacing any wings. If I was to do that, then, well, that's practically another car.
Trigger And that's what I've done. Maintained it for 20 years. This old brooms had 17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time.


Anyway, I assume any wings from breakers cars would have similar corrosion.

I was hoping for a magic bullet solution that would be fast, easy, cheap and most importantly would not leave things looking worse.
Clearasil for rust, so to speak! Maybe I'm better off leaving well enough alone.

way, way, way too late for that, OP.
If you wanted to do it the cheapest way possible, you would need a steel brush attachment for a drill or angle grinder and scrub away all the rust.
This may leave holes. Depending on the size, those can be filled with filler or bridged using mats of fibre glass.
Then there is a lot of sanding (a LOT!), until you are happy with the shape.
Then spray it with Zinc primer and finish off with a top coat.
If you are good with your hands, it could even look decent, if you're not, it will look desperate.
I think with a car that age and condition, you could give it a blast, you can't do too much damage (except to the wing you're working on).
But as some people have said, watch out for more rust lurking.
Be aware that this is very much a bodge, rather than a proper repair. But there is an art to a good bodge.
Eventually (should the car survive for a few more decades and become a classic) a lot of replacing will have to be done.