little rust repair help?

I have the usual above gutter rust spot on an XJ I just bought and want to get it stabilized before it rusts through, I've been sanding by hand with some coarse emory cloth and here's where I'm at (big photo):




seems like I'm down to solid metal but there's still some rust in there, so I'm wondering what to do next, have I gone down far enough I can hit it with that rust stabilizer stuff and prime over it, or should I keep going down until I have nothing but metal? What can I use to really get in there and knock it all out? By hand is going to take days!

it's not really noticeable so appearance isn't as much of a worry as getting it stable and sealed up so I don't have to keep "fixing" it

As long as you have any loose or potentialy loose rut out of there convert it with a decent converter prime with a decent primer (i use Duplicolor or Plasticoat lacquer primer in rattle cans) & Duplicolor or mixed rattle cans for small touch up. Some auto parts stores can mix your color & put it in a rattle can, slightly pricey but it works pretty good.

alfman said:

As long as you have any loose or potentialy loose rut out of there convert it with a decent converter prime with a decent primer (i use Duplicolor or Plasticoat lacquer primer in rattle cans) & Duplicolor or mixed rattle cans for small touch up. Some auto parts stores can mix your color & put it in a rattle can, slightly pricey but it works pretty good.

Click to expand...

I got a little metal brush wheel for my dremel and took it completely down so it's all shiny metal, I'm mixing up a little bondo just to smooth and seal it then I'll prime it and get some paint, I have a gun but a rattle can will work for such a small area easier I think.

Sounds like you've done this before. That's exactly what'd I'd suggest since that's what my body shop guy does. Make sure there is absolutely NO RUST on the metal (grinder/dremel etc.) and then get some primer on it quick... unless you like doing this a lot of course. Just make sure your bondo is no thicker than it needs to be by block sanding over it once its dried (180 grit, then 320 grit wrapped around the flat side of some foam works well, don't ever use just fingers behind the paper). After that the pro's would use filler primer, then final blocking with 1500 grit then paint. The more time you take the better the results... good luck.

nope, never have.

got it bondod in and sanded and primed to seal it, think I'll need another sand and prime, it doesn't have to be perfect I just don't want it rusting through the roof.

Hang on I'll upload the pics.

here go, the first one is the bare metal then of course the last is my pretty mediocre bondo job, long as it works, right? Like I said I'll feather the primer in with fine paper after I smooth it just a tad more, just wanted to get it sealed up for the night





something I noticed tonight is there is no paint in my gutters under the outer trim piece.