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R230 rear arch rust repair - grind back the lip?

Hi everybody,

Thanks for the positive encouragement and yes it seems like a ballsy move. I certainly had to get myself together after cutting the chunks of metal off, but I feel good about it now, with all the clean metal in sight.

Cleared off the Deox Gel today and looking good. A few spots I will ream out with the Dremel and also some black spots I need to understand. But I will do another lash of Deox gel and then get into a bit of filing/priming, which will be the next test.

By the way.. what do people think of these products select? We have:

  1. CarPlan fine surface filler (spec filler) - Note this is just to fill specs not overall.
  2. Stevens Body Filler (2 Pak)
  3. Tetrosyl brushable seam sealer
  4. Spray Max 2K Epoxy-Primer Filler

 
Ok guys,

So an update from me. On Sunday and today I took off the rust remover, which did a great job of cleaning up. Got plenty of clean metal now.

I then spent a nice amount of time, slowly inspecting and cleaning back the areas/corners/angles where the arch meets the front skit area and the rear bumper area. Kind of complex areas but I was sure to give them attention as they could easily be fobbed off.. and would be a total shame if they bubbled in 6, 12 months time after all this work. Clean metal there now too.

There are some bits of the original sealant there in places, but most importantly it is clean to metal around the edges of both arch time to ensure no rust. I am wondering now if I need to remove all of it, or if the final bits will be safe there as they seem pretty stuck on.

For cleaning the intricate areas I used my Dremel with 90 degree adaptor which worked great. Jury is out on the bits I used, especially the wire wheels / cups. They weren't OEM Dremel though only cheapo bits. I suspect Dremel bits would be ace. In fact any of the bits I have used are good. I am very dubious about using cheap bits because of the fear of a bit exploding at 20k RPM. I'll probably be only going Dremel from now, but they are expensive and somewhat consumable for this kind of work. -- I guess a die grinder tool is what I should really be using. Next time ;)

You will see in the pics, that I needed to use the cutting disc on Dremel to nob off a bit of this black plate that is used to mount the side skirt. The plate was fixed with a rivet and wouldn't come off. The piece I remove however, shouldn't affect it's function - I will have to eat my shirt if it does. :shrugs.

Pics, words and all that.......

To finish today, I put on more Bilt Hamer Deox Gel all over any exposed metal (just because) and the newly cleaned bits as described above.

Next up I am trying to figure out how I am going seal up the inner lip. I am in a situation where the inner arch steel and quarter panel come together and are both exposed (with a slight gap in between) due to the cutting. I think I will be using U Channel rubber to cover over along with some combination of seam sealer and filler. I will draw a diagram to show my proposal for critique, shortly.










 
By the way, whats the black stuff on the metal after the rust remover was washed off?

---

So here is something I was planning to do with the inner arch.

I forgot to add that on the internal (hidden from view) areas, there will be some kind of topical treatment such as waxoyl / dinitrol too.

Very much belt and braces, but I think it looks like a decent enough solution - I feel like the U channel is key to protected the absolute edge, because in my opinion is the ultimate flat in the original design and the most sensitive part.

Anything I can use instead of seam sealer as I don't fancy opening a tin for just than (will return it) as it seems I don't need it anywhere else.

 
90 degree angle tool is a nice touch. Need to get one of those. What dremmel bits did you use? Need to get some of those

you can also apply hydrate 80 once you have clean metal. That will convert any rust pits (the black stuff) into something else. Have just used that method on some of my struts. (Grind down/citric acid bath (same as geox gel )/more grinding down/hydrate 80/epoxy mastic and tomorrow will be spray painting it with a top coat.

I am removing my front fenders on the weekend as surface rust has Appeared only 5 years after having replaced the front fenders (damn!!).
 
2k primer all the way, I would prefer epoxy mastic , the toughest thing there is now
 
Hello guys,

Just a quick question. I have started work on repairing the rust on my rear arches and hit a bit of a conundrum. Wondering if you guys can help?

You will see in the drawing below, a rough outline of the rear arch and internal lip. I need to remove all the rubber sealant in the lip along with the rust. The problem is that it is all quite difficult to get at with grinder/sandpaper and possibly fill up with dirt again after repair. This has led me to consider grinding back the lip a bit, as highlighted with bright green line.

Is this advised against? I am trying to figure out any possibly downsides to this.

The plan is to bring back to metal with sandpaper + wire wheel, then use Bilt Hamber rust remover + converter after, followed by some epoxy primer/sealer to seal and fill the lip/protect edge.

There is no going back after I grind the lip down a bit.. good or bad?


View attachment 98541
View attachment 98542
Some times the wheel arches are rolled right back to facilitate fitting of wider wheels,normally models with staggered wheels to start with.
I would clean the rear lip of all crap give the inside a couple of coats of Kurust or similar then roll the lip back till it reaches the wing then cover with stone guard or under seal.
 

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