Repair or treat rust spot on car

July 9, 2018 7:55 PM

What would you do to treat this small rust spot on my car? It has been like this for years and not spread. I'm not looking to spend a lot of time and effort to completely fix it, but I don't want it to cause any major problems down the road. Also, because of the car color (gold/tan) it is hard to find regular touch up paint. What would you do? (Also, would a rust neutralizers/converters work in this situation? And what would you use to remove that rust color under it?)
posted by roaring beast to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Best answer: Since the rust is mostly hidden by the taillight, I think your goal should be to not disturb the rust as much as possible.
Start by removing the taillight. Try to remove the rust stain with fine steel wool without disturbing the loose paint.
You can try to remove the loose paint but only a little. Be careful, you could easily turn a small rust spot into a large rust spot. I wouldn't even do any sanding. A rust converter is probably your best bet. Then encapsulate with touchup paint (liquid). If you can keep the new paint under the taillight it won't be very noticeable.

Sometimes, especially with car paint, less is best. Remove the rust stain once a year and be happy.
posted by H21 at 9:52 PM on July 9, 2018

Best answer: Consider POR15 (POR = Paint Over Rust)
posted by AugustWest at 9:55 PM on July 9, 2018

Best answer: There are plenty of rust converters with a built-in poly sealant to be had at auto parts stores. Some people swear by the POR 15. I read up on it and wasn't overly impressed. The converters need tight rust to work - loose flakes can be gotten rid of, don't expose shiny metal. They are based on phosphoric acid, which turns iron oxide into iron phosphate, which is very stable.
Seconding taking the tail light off. Brush away loose rust and apply rust converter.
posted by rudd135 at 6:48 PM on July 10, 2018

Lasers! Someday...
posted by mhh5 at 11:32 AM on October 5, 2018