rust

[bwcasloft]

well, i just bought the car and being stupid I did nto look on the bottom..... I test drove it, looked at the tires, looked inside and under the hood....... I do nto feel to bad because dad and BF did nto look at the bottom either..... well, it looks like rust...... Is there anything I can do for it???? It is a 98...... I lost my beloved 91 metro to rust...... had 2 nice holed in the floor at the end... they could not fix it so they told me to just let it die in peace...

any help would be great

[geozukigti]

Well, if it's rusty, but no rust holes, the very best thing you could do right now, is to clean it up as much as you can. Sandblasting, sandpaper, however you can remove the rust. Take it down to bare metal, and spray it with rust-oleum paint. Then buy a can of undercoating, and undercoat any problem areas. Also, if the rust is fairly bad, i would invest in some torsion braces. You can get them from http://turbinetech.ca . The owner of that store is one of our best members on Teamswift.net. The strut tower braces won't fit your newer metro, but the underbody brace will. It will prevent the frame from flexing, and prevent cracking around the weaker rusted areas.
http://www.turbinetech.ca/Products_s...ionENlayer.htm

[bwcasloft]

I know this will sound stupid, but I shojld put it up on jacks or somehting???? I am not the best with cars, my BF is a computer nerd. He said it looked dark there but not like any holes or anything. Ok, just asked the BF and he says he does not know. maybe I should just go to a shop and have them sand it????? Or someone tell me please. I do not have a lot of money but I want to take good care of this car. I cried when my Geo passed on.

[geozukigti]

Well, it will be really expensive to have someone strip the underside of the car. You might be able to convince a body shop to grind the bottom, and re-paint it for ya, and undercoat it. But that might run 1 or 2hundred bucks.

[bwcasloft]

ouch. ok, how should I go about doing it myself? I need to have about 150 worth of oiland fluid changes done and being a college kid I am taped out for another 2 weeks. and well, I can think of a better place for 200 to go. lol (like for next semesters books)

I do not mind getting dirty. My dad does not have a lot of tools other than basic ones at his place So no speciality car tools. Is there anyway I can do it myself? an electric sander??? could I use that? Any help would be great

[crazyinkc]

A drill with a wire wheel would work best. Remove as much rust as you can and then paint with Rustolium as recommended above in another post. I personally do not like ruberized under coating as it will trap moisture if it does not bond to the surface good. Where is the rust exactly? That would also determine what the best solution would be on how to remove the rust.

[bwcasloft]

I pick it up today and will get a really good look under the car.

Thank you all who have helped so far

[geozukigti]

True about the undercoating. My 91' Swift GT had the rubberized coating done when the original owner first bought it. But, moisture and road salt got trapped underneath it somehow, and rotted the floorboards and frame secretly, and didn't show until I tried to jack it up one day. Yea, I lost that battle. jack almost went through the floor. Had it all welded up though. And she's still on the road, but with a new owner. I still miss that car. Can't believe I sold it

[Zogboy]

Hi my first post
Rust, buy some stuff called rust converter. It works great you simply brush off the lose rust but leave the rust that is bonded tight to the metal. This stuff converts the rust to black metal and seals the metal for priming or undercoating.
We use it all the time and it works great.
look it up on the web rust converter.

[bwcasloft]

lol It was dusk before I could get my baby..... I looked under it and ti was all brown! ....... I guess someone did not know how to wash the bottom of the car becuse it is dirt.... Since it was late and getting cold (also first time I have driven a stick since I was 16/17 and I am 23 now) I went homw. tomorrow bwfore work she getws a nice wash. gotta get uzse to shifting.... i did not stall out once!!! close several times... also had it go into 2nd when I was trying for 4th......

[geozukigti]

That's our girl! my age too... lol. j/k That rust converter stuff sounds pretty cool. I'll look that up and see how it is. Thanks for the heads up!

[bwcasloft]

Ok, sorry for the typos, lol I had been typing over a very hyper ferret.

As far as rust, :-( My baby does have some, It covers the underside, but as far as I can tell, it is not that bad, more like just started.... If that means anything. I think it will sand off well. My brother has soemthing I can use to get the car up on. When I asked my dad about a wheel for the drill he asked what type.... Help??? It is going to be one of those I do it myself but if they have the parts or tools I need they will loan them to me.

Also has anyone else used the rust converter? What about you geozukigti?

lol well, I have driven it every day and only one stall out downtown when I had some rich jerk honking at me because it took me a sec to get my baby going (how dare I have a stick) Shifting is great now, no problems.

[Crvett69]

the rust converter stuff i have used is called ospho. turns the rust into a hard black material. just make sure you remove the loose rust with wire brush first and you have to paint over the area after you use the ospho or the rust will come right back

[SeanMurphy]

Rust Converter works pretty good, though the finished product once applied to your car looks frighteningly black, but don't worry, it's supposed to be. It is very toxic stuff, though so wear long sleeves and gloves when putting it on, eye protection, too.