Rust. And how to kick its balls in. Help please.

[jtbo]

Should make life a bit easier.

Indeed, if something can be done easier, it should be done easier, that is at least my motto

[magnumpi]

Wilkinsons is your firend for any rust removing implements. I bought a flap disc for a grinder to use on the Beetle ther, cost around £3 IIRC the same thing in Halfrauds is just shy of £8. I've done quite a lot of rust obliterating and it's still got loads of life left in it. They do various types aswell, like the ones that fit the drill.

Good luck with it and off course as always we NEED to see before and after pics

[volvosneverdie]

Off to Wlikys to save some money then dude.
Thanks for the bargain-mungus heads up.

[Ian Mac]

And don't forget the eye protection......

[volvosneverdie]

Didnt even think of that Ian.
Cheers.

I'll borrow our lass's Rayban Aviators. And squint.

Thatll keep the big stuff out.

[jtbo]

Didnt even think of that Ian.
Cheers.

I'll borrow our lass's Rayban Aviators. And squint.

Thatll keep the big stuff out.

Why not use your leather eye protectors?

[magnumpi]

Didnt even think of that Ian.
Cheers.

I'll borrow our lass's Rayban Aviators. And squint.

Thatll keep the big stuff out.

Why not use your leather eye protectors?

But his eyes still won't be covered

[volvosneverdie]

Didnt even think of that Ian.
Cheers.

I'll borrow our lass's Rayban Aviators. And squint.

Thatll keep the big stuff out.

Why not use your leather eye protectors?

But his eyes still won't be covered

always wondered what you looked like dude.
i'd imagined a slightly smaller cocknose.

[foggyjames]

Bump! Cocknose just made me laugh. A lot. Here's a celebratory post...

You can waste a lot of time doing bodywork 'incorrectly'. Here are the key notes I've learned on doing it right:

1) Locate brown.
2) Cut out brown with angle grinder / dremel / carbide burr.
3) Strip surrounding area (at least 1") to bare metal with flapper wheel or similar...both sides, if you can. Make sure it's shiny shiny.
(At thing point, if you're really doing it properly, you'll weld in some new metal to fill up the hole you made earlier. Weld-through primer may well be a good idea at this stage, but I'm not a welding expert. At all...)
4) Prime with acid / etch primer. This is barely available in rattlecans, but Frost do it. Zinc primer will do if all else fails. Avoid lesser primers, for they are made of fail.
5) Don't allow moisture to get to it before top-coating it, as almost all primers are porous.
(At this point, if you decided to wuss out of the welding, you'll want to crack out the filler / bondo. The important things to remember are that a) it can't carry any load - it's purely cosmetic, and b) you need to have protected the area behind it and around it first.)

The big problem with welding is that you usually can't paint the inside...so unless you're planning on having the car dipped / electro-primed you're relying on weld-though primer and a liberal coating of Waxoyle...which isn't ideal. Even the (very expensive) former doesn't get you top-coat inside the cavities.

My own emergency measures (cut out, paint to make solid, cover up with bondo) still meet with varying success...mainly related to how effectively I can treat both sides.

The basic conclusion I've come to is that it's impossible to 'correctly' protect most monocoque chassis'ed cars (including the factory protection)...so you'll have to treat some rust sooner or later.

If you've got a few quid to spend, I know of a very talented Volvo specialist bodywork-ist / panel beater. His rates are very reasonable for what he does, but I could still buy a pretty nice second hand car with what I'm about to spend on having the 343 look like...er...well hopefully, new!

cheers

James