Rusty wheel arch?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

I've noticed the wheel arches on the car have started to rust. Is there any easy/cheap way to restore these? It's not a massive area, just the start actually but i figured the sooner i do something the better

rich13348

You are right to tackle it before it gets worse and you have to replace the whole wing. Easiest thing to do yourself is sand back the paint and loose rust, then treat the remaining solid rust with chemical which will stop the rust by chemically altering it. Just Google rust treatments. Then prime and paint the area if it's small it might not need much blending.

Iceweasel

It could well be that the rust is coming through from the inner surface of the wheel arch.

Check carefully behind any plastic inner wheel arch linings - you may find compacted salt-laden mud.

Clear them all out and apply a coat of rust-killer followed by underseal.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

I'll grab some pictures tomorrow and try and upload them , see what you think - thanks!

motorguy

Iceweasel wrote: »

It could well be that the rust is coming through from the inner surface of the wheel arch.

Check carefully behind any plastic inner wheel arch linings - you may find compacted salt-laden mud.

Clear them all out and apply a coat of rust-killer followed by underseal.

+1

Most likely coming through from the rear.

The only sure fire way to resolve it for good could be to replace the metal.

EdGasket

Just rub off most of the rust with sandpaper/wet n'dry. Cover with closest match Hammerite/Smoothrite paint (can be painted directly onto rust). If you want finish off with the actual paint for your car. If it's a small area, just brush it on; don't spray as you'll make a larger patch look wrong (if you buy a spray match paint for your car, spray the paint into the lid and brush that on). If you can live with the Hammerite/Smoothrite finish then it'll only take a few minutes to do each patch.
If the damage goes right through, use a two-part filler to plug the holes. I've kept rusting wings going for years doing the above once a year.

Strider590

Could also be that your door seals, window seals, aerial seal, etc are leaking in water, which is then pooling anywhere it can (rear wheel arches are common).

jimjames

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

I've noticed the wheel arches on the car have started to rust. Is there any easy/cheap way to restore these? It's not a massive area, just the start actually but i figured the sooner i do something the better

What car is it? Some cars are renowned for it

http://ford-puma.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/ford-puma-rusting-rear-arches.html

motorguy

EdGasket wrote: »

Just rub off most of the rust with sandpaper/wet n'dry. Cover with closest match Hammerite/Smoothrite paint (can be painted directly onto rust). If you want finish off with the actual paint for your car. If it's a small area, just brush it on; don't spray as you'll make a larger patch look wrong (if you buy a spray match paint for your car, spray the paint into the lid and brush that on). If you can live with the Hammerite/Smoothrite finish then it'll only take a few minutes to do each patch.
If the damage goes right through, use a two-part filler to plug the holes. I've kept rusting wings going for years doing the above once a year.

Depends on the car though. Something at £500 that you're running on bangernomics then absolutely the above, £15K M3, not so much.

Anything over £1,000 and i either dont buy the car in the first place if its present at the time of sale, or replace the metal. Not very keen on the DIY hand painted look.

Strider590

You see to me that looks like classic water pooling in places where no drainage exists.

Mazda MX5s have a similar issue, where water pools just infront of the rear wheel arches and most cars, if the window seals perish, can get water pooling inside the doors.

jimjames wrote: »

What car is it? Some cars are renowned for it

http://ford-puma.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/ford-puma-rusting-rear-arches.html

motorguy

Strider590 wrote: »

You see to me that looks like classic water pooling in places where no drainage exists.

Mazda MX5s have a similar issue, where water pools just infront of the rear wheel arches and most cars, if the window seals perish, can get water pooling inside the doors.

Yes, incredibly common on the Puma and sadly, its putting a lot of them off the road. Very hard to get a good, clean 1.7 Puma these days.

Fun little cars.