rust on the car - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

06-17-2003, 06:05

hi,

just bought a white 90 tempo with 81,000 miles on it. the car seems to be in a good condition. but has lots of rust on the door and side of the car.

any suggestions how to get it in shape ? is it possible to re-paint it ? if yes, then how do i do it ? this is my first car... and i would not wanna spend money on getting it to a paint shop...

plz help !!!

LunaticSVT · 06-17-2003, 11:05

you can go about it in many ways. Depending on the level of rust you have on the car.

You can get by usually by prepping rusty parts by using a wire brush attachment on the drill. There are several sizes and types that are available at any hardware store; ie. Home Depot, Lowes.

Once you have removed most of the rust you can use the spray cans of rust-converting primer. Just use several layers. A MN car probably would be a more likely candidate for a rust converting primer. I have seen it at auto parts stores, but it is also at hardware stores.

On areas with serious rust getting started, I would use the POR-15. It is more expensive than the spray rust converter, but it does a great job stopping the rust.

If you have areas that are jagged ir have pieces that have come off I would recommend that you cut that section out and tack a new piece of metal in. Or you can always go to a bone yard and look for those parts, ie fenders, sills, door pieces etc and buy the ones that are not rusted.

06-18-2003, 05:49

thanks for your info... seems like you have lots of knowledge abt working on cars...

one more query... we showed the car to a certified mechanic. he told us that we may have to replace the brakes in the next few months, surely before winter !!! he said it would cost us abt $ 500-700. don't have that kind of money to spare right now...

i was just wondering if you could tell me if there was some book we could look at and read thro' and get the parts and do it all by ourselves ?

look forward to your reply... thanks in advance...

LunaticSVT · 06-21-2003, 13:00

There are several books out there that you can get at most parts stores or even online. Buying aftermarket parts is usually cheaper than OEM....in most cases. Brakes are not a hard thing to do if you have ever done some wrenching. I have replaced the brakes on several of my cars with no issues. Just be ready to spend some time if you have not done it before just to make sure you do it right.