Nary a year ago I spent an afternoon
repairing rust spots on my Jeep. But rust is a relentless enemy. You cannot defeat rust, you can only hope to contain it. The work I did last year was not for nothing, as it kept the rust from spreading and despoiling my beautiful semi-antique Jeep. So this past weekend, I fixed the resurgent rust and turned back my Jeep's body clock, again.
There were two main rust sections, which each needed to be ground out and filled with fiberglass body filler.
I pried out all the old body filler and took an angle grinder to the rust. I removed the rust and the paint around the rust. You don't want to leave any rust as it can cause premature failure of the repair. A rust inhibiting treatment can be applied to the repair to prevent rust recurrence.
Fiberglass body filler is also known by the commercial name Bondo. It's a two part putty which hardens in a matter of minutes into a sandable repair.
It may take a couple of rounds of Bondo and sanding to get a smooth surface which matches the profile of the car.
When the repair is smooth, you apply auto body primer. This provides a good bond for the paint and ensures a good color match with the rest of the paint.
Auto body mechanics are true artists which can do amazing things with metal and Bondo. I on the other hand can do repairs which look good from five feet or more!
But this repair isn't meant to be perfect. It's meant to be a a quick and inexpensive fix which gets rid of ugly rust which can spread and make your car generally look terrible.
There were two main rust sections, which each needed to be ground out and filled with fiberglass body filler.
I pried out all the old body filler and took an angle grinder to the rust. I removed the rust and the paint around the rust. You don't want to leave any rust as it can cause premature failure of the repair. A rust inhibiting treatment can be applied to the repair to prevent rust recurrence.
Fiberglass body filler is also known by the commercial name Bondo. It's a two part putty which hardens in a matter of minutes into a sandable repair.
It may take a couple of rounds of Bondo and sanding to get a smooth surface which matches the profile of the car.
When the repair is smooth, you apply auto body primer. This provides a good bond for the paint and ensures a good color match with the rest of the paint.
Auto body mechanics are true artists which can do amazing things with metal and Bondo. I on the other hand can do repairs which look good from five feet or more!
But this repair isn't meant to be perfect. It's meant to be a a quick and inexpensive fix which gets rid of ugly rust which can spread and make your car generally look terrible.
2 comments:
I do like ur article~!!! .............................................................
I don't like it when our family car rusts. Whenever I see rust spots on our car, I tell my husband to go and fix it. Whenever he's not around, I take the car to a nearby repair shop here in Dallas. Dent repair, body restoration, tires, stereo. In other words, they can do anything related to car repair! I remember taking our car out for a collision repair in Dallas. When they finished it, it was as if the car was brand new!
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