Rust under door handles. Common Prob with certain colors?

[NismoPC]

I have a '96 Pearl Titanium White G20. There is what appears to be the beginning of corrosion or rust accumalating under all four door handles. The doors have never been repaired or painted and the car has less then 50K on it.

Is this a common problem, and if caught soon enough, can it be cleaned up and protected before the rust eats through the metal?

Thinking of removing all four door panels, removing the handles, using polishing or rubbibg compound to remove the corrosion, waxing the surrounding area then spraying WD-40 on the handle mechanism, then reinstalling the handles.

[kenchan]

thought the door handle assembly was plastic.

[AznVirus]

Originally posted by kenchan
thought the door handle assembly was plastic.

nope the 96s are metal i believe, but they look like chrome, so shiny

[kenchan]

oh... in that case, I would use some fine sand paper and take off the rust, use chrome polish and then either add clear coat or get some decent duplix paint and paint them... better do it now to get rid of rust. rust is like cancer and will spread rather quickly.

[NismoPC]

The silver door handles are fine. It is the surrounding area, actual door, that is showing a brownish discoloration similiar to the beginning of rust or corrosion.

[kenchan]

oh, the door panel itself...ouch. yah, I would take the door panel apart to see if there's any condensation. if there's a lot of rust on the inside, might wanna get those sprays that will cure it...like what you use on a rusting outside staircase handrail.

you don't park right after washing your car, right? you drive around in it for a few miles to let all the water out from the drains, etc. one important thing a lot of people forget to do after washing. there's an idot neighbor with a brand new corvette that washes his car after each run, but quickly covers it with a body cover... hahahahha cracked me up. probably all rusted on the chassis by now...

[[NSM] P10]

Hi.

You describe a common problem!
Not the color is the problem but the door handles with that chrome look. You can take off the rust but it will be there again some weeks later.
The only way to get off the rust is to change the door handles to the plastic ones as a friend of mine did.

[kenchan]

he's talking about the panel surrounding the door handle assy...