My 83 300D is not a complete rust bucket and I want to keep it that way. The rockers and floors are rust free but there is some rust/perforation from the trunk's wheelwells, right under the bumper. Water was getting in the trunk and this caused the problem. The water situation seems fixed now I want to repair the damage done. I plan to wire brush, scrape and sand inside and out the damaged area. I am then going to paint over the whole area with either Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator or some POR-15. The holes, about 2 to 3 inches each side I was planning to use fiberglass screen and some kind of body filler or Fiberglass to seal the holes and give me something the sand down in preparation for spot painting. All this screening/patching will be done over the Rust paints. Lastly, I'll probably finish the outside section with some body filler and block sand it.
Is this a reasonable approach to slowing down the rusting in this area? Not shooting for concours, just need the car to last for the next 30 yrs or so.

Thanks for any and all advise.

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on what you need to do. The only real way to be sure rust is gone is to cut it out and put in new metal. Unfortunately this is not realistic for many of our cars. Preparation is everything in bodywork. Make sure you apply the rust-killing products to all of the rust. I prefer fiberglass reinforced body filler like Marine Tex but it is a little more difficult to work with. I don't know about 30yrs but a repair like this should give you 5-10yrs easily. Good luck, RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I would suggest a little different solution,

Both you and rwthomas are using the term "filler and fiberglass". Let's set things correct. Fiberglass is a reinforcment and the traditional (aka cheap) resin system is polyester. Body filler (aka bondo) is talc and polyester resin.

Do yourself a favor and use an epoxy system. It costs a little more and it doesn't cure in 1/2 hour, but the results should stay bonded in place for a longer time. Polyester has sucky bond strength and is only used because it's cheap.


Michael

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Michael McGuire
83 300d
01 vw A4 TDI
66 Chevy Corsa
68 GMC V6 w/oD
86 300E

Michael,
I agree with you however epoxy body products are sometimes difficult to come by and also can be difficult to work with. Epoxy is much more difficult to sand/smooth compared to polyester. Epoxy is also toxic compared to polyester. Ask me how I know.... If I was doing a floorboard or trunk area that no one will see epoxy would be great but for ease of use, cost and compatibility with other body products polyester is hard to beat. RT

__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

Anybody got any product link URLs for epoxy body products?

Ken300D

rust..... have had my share over the years, I've come to agree that the only real way to stop it is to cut it out where possible, otherwise I take a grider to suface rust and bring it back to shiny metal then seal it and fill and finish. have tried the por 15 and rust converters but they all seem to be second best and buy a little time. on surface areas that show I try to use the shiny metal routine. cheers, mark

Do yourself a favour and invest in a small mig welder and make the fix right the first time. Filler, fiberglass, epoxy are all second rate solutions to actually welding in new metal.

I never regret the $350 CDN I spent on my mig welder. I probably use it a few times every month. You'll save money in the long run repairing many things you would have either thrown out or replaced. And, you can make cool "wrought iron" look Christmas presents and save even more money.

The POR-15 I have used many times on an old Porsche I was restoring and on some old VW's. It is an excellant product but watch the shelf life...I think is only about a year if unopened then just a few months when opened. If the part is subject to sunlight then it has to be top coated. Their claim that it is hard and hardens even more with moisture is true...seen it happen.

Brian

For rust prevention and other products check out

www.lpslabs.com

They make an assortment of rust inhibiting products marketed toward aircraft corrosion protection (a little more than asthetics at stake). My dad uses this stuff in his work van and airplane(s)...I'm about to get some of their LPS3 or Procyon Corrosion Inhibitor and coat the inside of my doors, rear fender wells and anywhere else I can get it. I know the stuff works I just wish I had thought of it sooner. I'm in the process of repairing rust damage in the RR fender. I'm choosing to cut all of it out and replace it with sheet plastic or galvanized steel...fortunaltely all of the damage is on the inside of the fender well.

Alec.

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85 300TD Turbodiesel 299,376 miles

West System (http://www.westsystem.com/) is sort of the standard epoxy for marine work, and it works excellently for car body work, though it is on the expensive side. You use their epoxy liquid and one of their fillers (like microballons or microlight).

You can find it at most marine stores, like BOAT/US or West Marine (which isn't related to West Systems).

Since the rust is kind of minimal I am going the simple route with POR15 or Some similar thing. I don't know diddly about welding but my son is a welder by trade so I'm going to try and cut out and weld in new bottoms to the wheelwells. BUT, my kid is really a structural welder, he builds stage sets and other things more in the construction business. I'm sure he knows how to do what I need but I'm wondering, are there already stamped out pieces for this kind of repair available? This is the only area of the car with any rust showing and I'm going to treat the rest of the underside to a wax and oil mixture I read about here (Waxoyl ??) If I do decide to paint the beast I'll be fixing some minor surface rust too, but hopefully I'll be able to at least protect the car enough to get me through the next few years. Lots of good suggestions here. Hope to have a much better looking 300D by mid-summer. Thanks.