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Treating Rust Inside the Doors
hulbyw - July 24th, 2014 at 08:13 PM

Took the door trims off today to find the foam around the door handle had disintegrated and gathered in the bottom of the door. There is some rust (not too bad I believe) on the inside of the door skin at the bottom. Question is what is the best way to deal with it.
I have considered spraying with rust converter then paint, ankor wax, fish oil, trying to get a brush in there to paint on POR15, sandblasting then painting, all of which should help but am looking for the best solution as I want to get the car stripped and painted and have no wish to then find the doors rusting from the inside out wrecking my new paint. Any help appreciated
Cheers..........Wayne


helbus - July 24th, 2014 at 09:25 PM

Still a bit of chace involved in whether any more rust bubbles will show after painting. There could be some that are 99.99% through, and treatment cannot stop the last bit.

I would brush some rust converter in the bottom edges of the doors. These are products that turn the iron oxide (rust) molecules into a more stable product. They do not remove or clean it, they neutralise it as much as possible.

Then putting a product that prevents moisture, such as body cavity wax, or deodorised fish oil

You cant just cover the rust, as iron oxide self evolves and absorbs moisture and creates more rust next to itself. Covering it does not work, as it expands and cracks its cover. In fact covering it allows the moisture to stay in more permenantly and work faster at rusting.

What we do at work is remove door skins, mechanically remove any rust from skin and frame, replace rust holes, neutralise rust, treat metal, coat with epoxy primer, put skins back on. It could end up costing $1000 per door, but some of the cars we do that is a great investment.


hulbyw - July 24th, 2014 at 09:47 PM

Thanks Pete. I will look for some 3M rust converter tomorrow then maybe some ankor wax or fish oil. Hopefully I have discovered it in time.
Bummer about your Beetle. There certainly are some scumbags around. At least you have the rego so your insurance company can give the scumbag a nasty surprise
Cheers...Wayne