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Rust (and what to do about it?)


nowhereboy

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So last weekend someone decided to put nails in my front tyres and while the wheel was off to put the spare on I noticed some small patches rust for the first time on the wheel arch. I've since had a proper good look around the car and come to find a few small patches here and there.

 

There's small dots of rust on one of the rear arches and both the front arches, slightly more concerning is a small bit of paint bubble on the front quarter panel where the arch meets it. It's quite minor at the minute and you'd really have to be looking to find it but I'm still concerned.

 

I assume this is a pretty common thing for a 10+ old year nissan but I'm not sure what to do about it.

 

Once the paint has bubbled is it time for a whole new panel or can it be fixed? Is it even worth doing if i only plan on keeping the car for another couple of years? I'm a bit of a clean freak and like to keep my motors in top notch condition so it's likely that this will bug me and I'll end up getting it sorted anyway.

 

Anyone else have similar problems and what have you done about it? I've no idea about the cost to get this kind of thing sorted. I'll get some pictures up soon and I'm probably overreacting but I'd like other peoples opinions.

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The lip is very small if I remember and is facing into the arch as oppose to down?? if so just rub the loose stuff off, treat it with that hammarite rust to iron solution (sorry cant remember the name) then paint it with hammerite or a good metal paint as its not seen (if the lips are facing in) lol

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Sounds good for now, I guess I'll just do that and keep an eye on it. I'm going to get some pictures of the paint bubbling on the side panel to get peoples opinions. It's not even bubbles as such, it's a slightly raised bit of paint work just on the edge as it meets the arch. Worst case scenario the whole panel can be bought for less than £150 anyway.

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it won't ruin my enjoyment but it's gonna get on my nerves now that I know it's there. Plus I'm paranoid about it getting worse and becoming obvious, I've spent way to much £££ on it to be driving around with rust visible.

 

I'll report back with some pictures tomorrow.

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My Eleven-year-old Zed (04 plate) is showing rust above the rear wheel arch just below the filler cap.

 

Its been treated once about 18 months ago but seems to be coming back.

 

I'm going to ask my (trusted) Nissan dealer what my options are for treating it - but would be interested in any opinions from forum members.

 

As I understand it, that panel is part of the chassis and cannot easily be replaced (this advice from a pertol-head friend of mine - I obviously know nothing :lol: )

 

Thanks,

TT

Edited by The Trouser
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Got round to getting some pictures today....As I said the arches aren't too bad but the side panel is what I'm more concerned about. The panel feels ok behind where the bubbles are so I assume it's just surface?

 

2mc7syx.jpg

 

etd5wi.jpg

 

Still, on the whole she looks pretty clean for a 11 year old car

 

ngsfa0.jpg

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Been watching some youtube videos and reading up on this and it looks like it may be possible to attempt to fix the rust bubbles myself?

 

From what I gather it's just a case of sanding down the affected area, priming and painting.

 

Whats the likelihood of someone with no experience being able to pull off a job like this? On the other hand, could anyone estimate what it would cost to get it done professionally?

 

Alternatively I could just buy a new panel but this seems quite extreme...

 

http://www.autocrashparts.co.uk/nissan-350z-03-front-wing-rhs-front.html#.VdrvYPnF_0w

 

Well priced tho.

Edited by nowhereboy
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Certainly in terms of the wing that is neither an easy or inexpensive job pal.

 

If the job was coming into us we'd need to take the rust off. Prime and base coat rusted area and blend out into the wing, blend into the front bumper and theoretically blend out into the bonnet but in all honesty we'd try and avoid that. Blending is done as the paint will look different as you'll never replicate the spray pattern of the machine in the factory. Paint on zed plastic bumpers/metal panels is notoriously hard to get to match (hence some factory cars looking mismatched......azure in particular is a right git)

 

Entire wing would be clear coated and bumper blended out to a line near the front.

 

If you are thinking of using rattle cans I reckon it'll look an abortion to be honest dude.

 

We'd be charging around £300. 'Dumb' repairers will do it at your house for prob £150.

 

Lastly as someone mentioned above........once rot is in its very very hard to permanently get shut of it.

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Which option would you recommend? I don't fancy paying £300 for it to come back again a year down the line. How much would you estimate it to fit and paint a whole new panel? I've been thinking about getting a new front bumper in the near future so I guess I could get the whole lot done at the same time.

 

Roughly what would you charge to fit the panel/bumper and get it resprayed? Should this option stop the rot from setting in again in future?

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Dead honest mate. We'd probably charge the same but that's because we're nice!

 

Virgin panel is pretty easy to work with. Not sure if the zed are a nice easy bolt off job or what but if they weren't too tricky we'd just fit it all in

 

Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk

 

 

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