Rust?

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[censored] GM and their fit and finish....
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Anyways, I've been cleaning up my cars, and my wife' Cavalier(03) is getting some rust under the doors (on the inside). Which is sad because the outside of the car still looks quite good (it gets a good waxing next week). I was thinking about just sanding it down, putting some Por on it, and call it a day. I guess I'm lucky, beacuse these are the only places with rust.


I don't plan on spending truckloads on money here, but I do not want the doors to get worse either. All this while trying to keep it shiny too.


Any good ideas that I could use?
 
You can get the sections replaced.Rust repair is only good for 2 years.most auto body guys hate rust repair including my neighbor Ken whom does auto body work for a living.
 
Been there, done that. It's a losing battle. If you don't want your car to rust, buy a winter beater for the salt.
 
Those folded under door edges are infamous for rusting-replacing the door is usually the only way to stop it. The ones I've had do it looked like they rusted from the INSIDE out-poor galvanizing.
 
Well, good news is that it is only rust is on the surface, as it is bubbling, and the rest of the door seems fine...
 
U must spray some heavy oil rust preventative stopping product. amsoil sells a good one. Another excellent one is called Fluid Film. The Fluid Film wool wax / oil product will seep into the rust and STOP it dead. Every year, spray more product into your doors to replenish it, the excess will drip out the drain holes.
Most places in Canada will drill access holes to spray this stuff INSIDE the panels. it runs to the bottom and fills up the gaps in the seams, which blocks oxidation (metal plus oxygen equals rust). The oil also slowly creeps its way UP the panel, by some kind of affinity to the very thin layer of dust on the metal.
Fluid Film can even be purchased on ebay if u can't find it in your store. The Amsoil product might be available from your auto parts store.

I had my Chevy Venture FILLED with drill holes, that are plugged with plastic caps, so every year it gets a solid drenching of oil. I just laugh at rust. an annual 100$ application is well worth it, or U can do it urself cheaper.

All of my 7 cars are totally clean of rust. I bring my vehicles to a friend with a compressor paint sprayer and a modified cut off propane tank with a heating element in the bottom to heat the oil. Every summer we spray my fleet with Safety Kleen Oil/ Fluid Film ARS mixture. Fluid Film is available in a kind of a grease, that you can stir and heat, mix with oil, and it is very sprayable. My entire fleet costs me 400$ a year to oil spray. Because I use a very heavy product, the underneath of the car seems to be coated with grease. All of the brake lines are in perfect shape, and it is always really easy to work on my cars, because the nuts are not all rusted on - the come off really easy, my mechanic loves it. Also my repair costs are low, because I don't have to pay my mechanic extra hours to heat the nuts to remove them, or replace broken bolts :)
 
Last edited:
Dave:

How close are you to the Canadian border? Why not bring it across and have it sprayed at Krown?

Best rust-stopping product I've ever used. Also has the best reviews.

They offer a (I believe lifetime) warranty on rust protection if you get your new vehicle sprayed.

My '89 Townie has been sprayed since new, no rust.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Dave:

How close are you to the Canadian border? Why not bring it across and have it sprayed at Krown?

Best rust-stopping product I've ever used. Also has the best reviews.

They offer a (I believe lifetime) warranty on rust protection if you get your new vehicle sprayed.

My '89 Townie has been sprayed since new, no rust.



Will they spray an older car?
 
Originally Posted By: scoobie
U must spray some heavy oil rust preventative stopping product. amsoil sells a good one. Another excellent one is called Fluid Film. The Fluid Film wool wax / oil product will seep into the rust and STOP it dead. Every year, spray more product into your doors to replenish it, the excess will drip out the drain holes.
Most places in Canada will drill access holes to spray this stuff INSIDE the panels. it runs to the bottom and fills up the gaps in the seams, which blocks oxidation (metal plus oxygen equals rust). The oil also slowly creeps its way UP the panel, by some kind of affinity to the very thin layer of dust on the metal.
Fluid Film can even be purchased on ebay if u can't find it in your store. The Amsoil product might be available from your auto parts store.

I had my Chevy Venture FILLED with drill holes, that are plugged with plastic caps, so every year it gets a solid drenching of oil. I just laugh at rust. an annual 100$ application is well worth it, or U can do it urself cheaper.

All of my 7 cars are totally clean of rust. I bring my vehicles to a friend with a compressor paint sprayer and a modified cut off propane tank with a heating element in the bottom to heat the oil. Every summer we spray my fleet with Safety Kleen Oil/ Fluid Film ARS mixture. Fluid Film is available in a kind of a grease, that you can stir and heat, mix with oil, and it is very sprayable. My entire fleet costs me 400$ a year to oil spray. Because I use a very heavy product, the underneath of the car seems to be coated with grease. All of the brake lines are in perfect shape, and it is always really easy to work on my cars, because the nuts are not all rusted on - the come off really easy, my mechanic loves it. Also my repair costs are low, because I don't have to pay my mechanic extra hours to heat the nuts to remove them, or replace broken bolts :)


I will have to look into this too..Thanks...
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Dave:

How close are you to the Canadian border? Why not bring it across and have it sprayed at Krown?

Best rust-stopping product I've ever used. Also has the best reviews.

They offer a (I believe lifetime) warranty on rust protection if you get your new vehicle sprayed.

My '89 Townie has been sprayed since new, no rust.



Will they spray an older car?


Yes, without issue. Had my (new to us) Expedition done for the first time in its life this year (poor thing).
 
This is usually where rust starts in all cars, the seam where the door skin meets the frame of the door. If you look at cars around the 5-6 year mark (in Pittsburgh at least) you will see the rust starting to work it's way out.
 
If you want to DIY give Amsoil HD Metal Protector a try, it works great.

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I have the same problem with my 1998 and 2001 Cavaliers. Once a year, I just plug up the drain holes in the bottom of the door with plumbers putty, used gum, anything of similar consistancy. I have a small 1/4 inch hole drilled on the door jam and stick the end of my hand pump oiler in the hole and squirt in a good 20-30 pumps of oil. I just let it sit for a while and then remove the putty and the oil drips out the drain holes. I gave up trying to paint the bottom of the door. I just run some grease along the bottom. So far that seems to have stopped the rust through.
 
Unfortunately as I hate to say it's not only Chevy with this problem. I have the same problem on both my Ford's in the same place. I've cleaned them regularly and seeing their both under 5 years old never would of thought I'd have this problem. Haven't figured out how I'm going to fix em yet.
 
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Unfortunately as I hate to say it's not only Chevy with this problem. I have the same problem on both my Ford's in the same place. I've cleaned them regularly and seeing their both under 5 years old never would of thought I'd have this problem. Haven't figured out how I'm going to fix em yet.



That just seems strange...do they use quite a bit of salt there?
 
Originally Posted By: xtell
I have the same problem with my 1998 and 2001 Cavaliers. Once a year, I just plug up the drain holes in the bottom of the door with plumbers putty, used gum, anything of similar consistancy. I have a small 1/4 inch hole drilled on the door jam and stick the end of my hand pump oiler in the hole and squirt in a good 20-30 pumps of oil. I just let it sit for a while and then remove the putty and the oil drips out the drain holes. I gave up trying to paint the bottom of the door. I just run some grease along the bottom. So far that seems to have stopped the rust through.


That's not a bad idea, I've done just that it works well. You can also take some oil and work it into the metal creases at the bottom of the door, or even a little grease. The Amsoil HD metal protector works well, but it takes time for the smell to gas out. There is no smell with the oil. Rust prevention is an ongoing battle, a once a year love affair. Especially for those people living in the rust belt.
 
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Unfortunately as I hate to say it's not only Chevy with this problem. I have the same problem on both my Ford's in the same place. I've cleaned them regularly and seeing their both under 5 years old never would of thought I'd have this problem. Haven't figured out how I'm going to fix em yet.


Get it fixed, then start spraying them with Krown or some US equivalent. The bottoms of my Expedition doors have the paint peeling and some rust poking through at the seam, they were coated with white lithium grease mixed with Krown for the first time in their life this year, since there is no prior evidence of the truck ever being rust treated prior to my ownership.

In contrast, on my '89 Town Car, the bottoms of the doors are immaculate. The difference is that it was treated since new. Makes a huge difference.
 
Once car starts to rust, it is not curable. It's like cancer and eventually will spread out. You can try and fix it, but it's going to show up again within a year or two. It can be slow down if you apply some Rustcheck or Rustcure.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Those folded under door edges are infamous for rusting-replacing the door is usually the only way to stop it. The ones I've had do it looked like they rusted from the INSIDE out-poor galvanizing.
GM "quality" is a true oxymoron. My '00 cav had the left quarter panel replaced and it is rusting in the same places. I am waiting until June until I can be sure the warmth is going to be around for a couple days, and take time off and deal with the problem. I have rust on each side and end of the car. At least the ford I used to have only rusted in the trunk edge and that was easy to fix and didn't come back as quick.
 
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