Hello,

I was doing some close up inspection/cleaning on my S-Type yesterday and unfortunately came across a little rust...only rust I found in the entire outer vehicle body...I wont say nothing about the bottom of the vehicle because rust down there is normal for a mid-western vehicle lol...surprisingly has minor rust for a vehicle that has spent most of it's life in Minnesota.

Anyways with the rust I came across...the affected area is on the front passenger wheel arch and about 1.2 inches tall and 1/4 inch wide??...It had surface rust on it...hasn't eaten into the metal yet I used some homemade rust remover (Baking Soda + Water) and very fine sand paper to remove it...I didn't remove it all but will tomorrow.

Hopefully someone that has knowledge in auto body/paint/repair will read this post What's the best way to get this little affected area painted and looking good again ? I don't think a paint shop will like me bringing them my car for that little work (or will they?) I'd like to get this repaired before it becomes larger, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

The body shops will indeed welcome your job. You may not welcome their bill, but that's another story....

The only way to permanently defeat rust is to sand down to bare metal, re-prime, re-paint, and re-clearcoat....

 

I found out that they sell auto paint in a can that matches the vehicles color (not the walmart $3 spray paint LOL)...Picked the car year, make, model...and it comes up with the list of colors that were made for the vehicle which mine happens to be metallic zircon blue...which was available...I ended up buying a can of auto primer, auto metallic zircon blue paint, and a auto gloss clear coat...total came out to $49 including S&H...I thought I might as well do it..as it's a minor job...I have no painting experience but researching & learning as I wait for the paint to arrive ! I will post before and after pictures when complete !

 

Looks like someone repainted that area once already from the paint on the black plastic. Should be a fairly straight forward job- sand, prime, 2 coats of paint, and a couple of coats of clearcoat. Would mask off the areas you don't paint to go and feather in the edges. Just practice a few sprays on a piece of cardboard. Also I like to get the spray going by first spraying into cardboard box and then hit the area with a light coat. Don't try to cover it all at once. Go back with a second or third coat letting it dry in between. If you mess it up - let the paint dry and sand and start over.




Same thing with the clear coat spray it only after the paint is fully dry like the next day. You can get a spray can at the Auto store as well. Clear coat dries fast - can get multiple coats without having to wait long. If you mess it up sand with a very very fine grit paper so you dont scratch the paint, clean and do over. The actual spraying takes all of 30 sec but the whole process takes a couple of days at least.

 

It's just dirt on the black plastic

 

Unfortunately Scotland's roads have tons of ice dumped on them every winter. Sadly my suspicions of problems inside the sills have come true. So I have been relieved of £800 to have them (and some spots on all four arches where they meet the sills) taken back to the bear metal, the rust removed, filled and resprayed. Inside has been treated.

It looks like I have reacted quickly enough that the damage is not bad and no welding or replacing of bits was needed.