Surface rust
fjclaus
04-09-2009, 10:13 PM
My 2001 Venture is in relatively good shape but I have a few spots of surface rust. I'm not a car guy at all, I don't even know how to change my own oil. Would it be worth my sanding down the surface rust and painting it, or should I take it to a body show and have the vehicle painted professionally?
paprius4030
04-12-2009, 06:22 PM
Where is it rusting? The rocker panels are notorious for rot on these vans.
fjclaus
04-23-2009, 02:57 PM
Sorry for the late reply. It's rusting mainly on the front and rear quarter panels. On the bottom by the wheel well. It's also rusting on the small stip of metal under the sliding doors.
A few spots of surface rust spots on other parts of the van as well. Mainly because I drive behind tractor trailers and small rocks hit my paint job.
A few spots of surface rust spots on other parts of the van as well. Mainly because I drive behind tractor trailers and small rocks hit my paint job.
paprius4030
04-24-2009, 12:12 PM
These vans all seem to rust where yours is. The hood chips i would touch up myself, but the other rust your talking about will never stop. I had our old 99 fixed by a very good body shop when ours started rusting in those places, it looked great for about 3 years then slowly started up again. It up to you if you want to spend the money to have it professionally fixed or not.
elag
05-20-2009, 06:20 PM
Surface rust is deceiving. It may only look like surface rust but in most cases there is a hole in the metal under the paint. This is especially true with the rocker panels on these vans.
I just finished fixing the rocker panels on my van this past weekend. One side had a hole in it visible before I started. So I mig welded a new panel in. The other side LOOKED like it only had paint chips or surface rust. It turned out to be worst then the side with the visible hole. So I had to do some more welding. I fashened my own panels from sheet metal. But you should be able to buy these panels from automotive supply dealers. It was a lot of work and unless you have body work experience. I would suggest taking it to a shop for these.
One thing I will suggest though. After the work is done and the paint is dry for a couple of weeks. Take it to an oil spray shop. Have them drill holes in the panel and spray oil in the panels yearly (they will do it between the panel and the door so it's not visible. And they put little rubber plugs in the holes after).
I just finished fixing the rocker panels on my van this past weekend. One side had a hole in it visible before I started. So I mig welded a new panel in. The other side LOOKED like it only had paint chips or surface rust. It turned out to be worst then the side with the visible hole. So I had to do some more welding. I fashened my own panels from sheet metal. But you should be able to buy these panels from automotive supply dealers. It was a lot of work and unless you have body work experience. I would suggest taking it to a shop for these.
One thing I will suggest though. After the work is done and the paint is dry for a couple of weeks. Take it to an oil spray shop. Have them drill holes in the panel and spray oil in the panels yearly (they will do it between the panel and the door so it's not visible. And they put little rubber plugs in the holes after).
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