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hey im looking to learn how to fix up some of the surface rust on my car but I dont know exactly what i need and how to do it. It doesnt look to difficult to do but im just wondering if anyone on here had an ideas for me on how to do it and the supplies i need so i can learn to fix up rust myself.

Thanks guys.

first your gonna want to clean up the area. then sand the area with coarse sandpaper (about 60 grit). after that is done i would spary some "rust-a-way" or other similar spray to stop the rusting (it will turn it to primer!) next is the trickier part: fiberglass! you can get a small thing of fiberglass (most of the time includes hardner) and small fiberglass mat. OR you can do what i did and use bondo-glass its bondo mixed with fiberglass strands for extra strenght i also think its easier to work with.
you might wanna try a few times to get the hang of using the bondo glass or fiberglass. carefull as it hardens pretty quickly. also i mix the hardner by eye. (no not WITH my eye!) but its best to use it in small amounts. a small amount (silver dollar sized?) should only take maybe 7 drops of liquid hardner or 1/2 inch line of red cream hardner. then let cure.

hope this helped! goodluck!

edit:ill try and post pics of what the rust should look like after sanded.

Of course this is somewhat a personal opinion but I would stay away from poly resin and cloth. If your down for using glass cloth then at least use epoxy resin, it's far superior and you have a longer working time. Clean the rust up, you can sandblast, then prime and bondo.

Don't put fiberglass over metal, disregard other advice.
First thing you need to remove rust all way to clean metal. If there's pits in metal you need to fill them with body filler, sand it down to level it out. Primer whole area with good primer(filler primer) sand it down smooth. Apply paint/clear coat. If you need more step by step pm me or post on here. Hope this helps

p.s. Been painting/doing body work since 1999. Have A.A.S. degree in autobody repair/paint, hope this means something

Alright thanks guys, i appreciate it.
And also would you guys recommend me to practice on something else before my actual car? since ive never done this before lol.

Ps Mitmaks thanks for your help too and if you could tell me step by step id be very thankful.


Thanks again guys.

pick up scrap fender/door etc from junk yard to practice on

I used my 1982 dodge d-100 as a test pallette, did the bodywork, rust repair, and sprayed it in a weekend. It turned out pretty good. The bodywork is what makes the paint pop.

alright thats a good idea. Where might i get the supplies. THe paint, primer, etc.
Ps. my car is black

Any place like High Performance Coatings, Hot Rod shops, I'm sure you could order things through a local body shop too. There's always a little garage somewhere with an old guy that runs it that has everything you need. You could get some of the supplies at like china tire or somethin...

http://autobodystore.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They have a forum that I go to which helps out alot on doing body/paint work
The owner also sells a product called Picklex 20. You spray it on rusted areas, scuff it with a scuff pad, work in the spray. Than you quickly wipe it off.
It converts rust. Works really great!

However, if you have really bad rust. You might want to cut off the metal and replace. And what I mean by "really bad rust" is if the rust has eaten through a body panel and is spreading.

You should have a local PPG, dupont, Valspar, or Sherwin-Williams dealer. They all carry automotive paint

Since the car is black be very carefull when sanding your body filler and fill prime. Black will very clearly show sanding scratches once the paint cures unless your properly increase the grade of the paper your using when you work. So when sanding your body filler hopefully you've put it on thin and smooth enough to start sanding with 240. If not dont go lower than 120, once it's reasonably smoothed out with 120, switch to 240, it's best to use a guide coat between sanding grades. 3m makes a great wipe on powder for this. The guide coat wipes on and shows low spots and scratches while your sanding. Once you think it's smooth with the 240 put the guide coat on again and sand with 400 grit. Once thats smooth your ready for fill primer. Then you use the same process sanding the primer. Start at 400 then 800 then 1000, then your ready for paint.

post progress pics as you go

alright thanks alot guys. Ive never fixed rust before so i think im gonna practice on an old fender or something lol before i start on my car. All this info has helped alot. thanks again :]

My bodyman cut out the rust on my back quarters (didnt look bad till you started grinding) welded in new metal and then used lead fill, very little bondo. The bodyjob came out perfect, I cant believe how straight the body is.

Lead is the old fashioned way to straighten things out & lasts forever and a day.