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Rust question

I did a search but I did not find what I was looking for. I just took my fender flares of a few weeks ago and noticed that where my front bumper wraps around the side of my vehicle and comes to a stop right before the fender, there is a little bit of rust on the fender looks from where the bumper has come up and made just enough contact to rub the paint away. Before I put my flares back on, I want to fix that. It has not eaten away the metal or anything, its just where the paint has been taken off and the surface is rusted. I was thinking of taking a wire wheel to it then painting over it, but not sure of how long that would last. Any suggestions? I will get a pic of it in the morning...
 



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I would sand it down to clean metal, prime it, then paint it.
 






it will work

Wire wheel will work fairly well. after that use maybe a 150-220 grit paper and then something a little finer (do it by hand). Then clean the bare metal with metal conditioner. spray primer (use the filler type and sand between coats w/ 320-400). Clean surface of dust and paint it.

you should be good to go.

Notes:

make sure that you get all the rust. It may be rusting under the paint so make your work area bigger than the spot you can see right now. You will be able to tell when you are into solid metal. Just don't let the whole fender suck you in since you are trying to do a spot fix.

You can get the conditioner at autoparts stores in the body work section or possibly at home improvement stores. I got a bottle for like $6 at the local autozone.

You can do it w/o the conditioner but i have it so i use it. Just make sure the metal is clean and cool before you spray.
 






I would not suce such a fine grit intially, unless you want to take your time.
Hit it with some wire, or 80 or what have you.
Do like Goski said, go a bit well past the paint area and make darn sure you see no remaining rust.
If it is a visible area throw a thin coat of body filler on it, otherwise hit it with some 180, prime, hit it with 400 and color.
 






Here is a pic of it. I don't know why its out of focus, but it gets the point across. Thanks for all the responses, I am going to start on it in the next day or so, hopefully, and I will be able to see how bad it is.....
 

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Fixing it is one thing, but see if you can keep it from happening again.
Check the body mounts up front see if they need replacing and are letting the fenders come down a bit more than they should when you are moving the frame around.
Maybe fab a rubber or plastic guard for the bumper so that at least it will take longer next time for the paint to wear away.

Good Luck
 






I got to looking at it its just where my bumper has been pulled down some. So I am going to loosen the bolts and drop down the bumper to fix the rust, then retighten them with a little more space between the fender and the bumper. A plastic guard is a good idea, I think I will look into that....
 






I got the chance to work on it today. I tooka wire wheel to it and made sure that that was the only area that needed fixing. Then I put about 5 or 6 coats of primer on it, and intended on painting it but what I thought was my white spray paint was really silver with a white cap on it :mad: Do you think I would be okay with leaving it primered, since my fender flare will be covering it, or should I paint it tomorrow?
 






caleb, i would jsut leave it primered if it is getting covered.... but hey what do i know

PEACE

GOOD LUCk

ps; i got my body lift on
 






Originally posted by XplorerKid
caleb, i would jsut leave it primered if it is getting covered.... but hey what do i know

PEACE

GOOD LUCk

ps; i got my body lift on

Yeah I saw the thread, congrats man! Now don't hijack my thread:nono: ;)
 






yeah, prime is fine.
as long as there is zero bare metal showing you are fine.
 






Cool, because I went ahead and put my flares back on today:D I looked at it and my flare is not rubbing any part of where I primed.
 












I may go back over it at some point, I am going to have the trim on my Ex painted too and the flares will have to come back off. So that will give me the chance to check it over again.
 






My X has cancer ;(

So there I was this morning, gettin' ready to ''winterize'' my X for the great 'ol Canadian winter that's coming. I noticed a few rust spots on the inside of the doorsil (that metal part of the body next to the front seat and where the door makes contact on the bottom (I'll post a pic) So I take of the black plastic runner underneath the door and discover that the runner was practically falling off cuz the metal band that goes down is rusted through... anyway to replace that?? maybe welding new metal in??? Please help me cuz its the only thing wrong right now... (well other than my cool 5 speed manual... :rolleyes: )
 






Yup replacement is the best way. It doesn't have to be a Ford rocker panel. You can use about any sheet metal.
That is a flat area, that would be easier
 






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