Rust on your vehicle can be an eyesore and a conversation piece. How many times do you want to explain where that little scratch started? Nobody wants to relieve the moment they accidentally hit the garage or the fence post or maybe even just driving down a dirt rock caused rocks to chip the paint. Rust happens when bare metal is exposed to oxygen and the elements. To reverse the effects of rusting is easy, but make sure you are prepared with all the tools you need.
Supplies
- Safety goggles
- Painters tape and masking paper
- Dual Action sander with grits ranging from 80- 150, along with 400 grit paper
- Metal grinder
- Metal primer
Paint to match your car
- Tape off the area- make sure you have clean lines, remember you are not a professional but you want to minimize it looking like it was an amateur job. Tape off lines that go with the body lines and make sure you tape them off away from the rust so you have space to work with.
- Remove Paint- with the dual action sander starting with 80 grit paper sand off the paint and primer. Work your way up to the 150 grit. If you can sand off some of the lighter rust feel free to work on that with this, too.
- Remove the Rust- using the metal grinder very carefully and slowly work to removing the rust. A metal grinder can do a lot of damage so take you time to make sure you are working it properly
- Prime- There may be directions on the back of your can on what to prep the surface with. Follow those directions to prep the surface then spray on the primer in even flowing strokes and allow to dry overnight.
- More sanding- with wet 400 grit paper lightly go over the primed surface making sure you have a smooth finish.
- Spray with your color even and let dry overnight again.
- Buff out the clean edges you have to make the car match.
