I had some rust sorted on my Coupe rear arches in early August this year

Unfortunatly the rust has returned after just over 4 months & less than 3000 road miles

As you can see from the photos the Nearside is not too bad – just starting, but the offside is quite bad in relation to the time since it was done.

I fully appreciate rust can return over time, esp over the winter/salted roads etc , but surely not in such a short time/mileage?.

Could this be due to the rust not being completely removed the 1st time round?, I have emailed the person & attached the photos, waiting for a response.

Obviously with the winter now in full swing I need to get this sorted before it gets any worse.

Do you think the job wasn't done properly 1st time & I have a case for asking him to sort it without charge?, with it being only August when he did it?








Thanks in advance

i think you could go back to the person who did it for you.

4 month down the line the rust has come back... i dont think thats right!

how bad was it before?

at the end of the day, you have nothing to lose and all to gain!!

Not much worse than what it is 5 months after the work!

Sorry, it was July, not August

I would go back,looks like the rust was not treated.

It's enough if there's still rust on the inner thin edge (hard to see from outside) it WILL creep into and under the paint.
IMHO, what you have to do is remove ALL rust, prime with zincspray (as it's galvanized areas), then paint, and lastly impregnate as good as you can with thin rusproofing wax, then thicker wax.

I believe that is an area that is double skinned so the rust that is almost certainly between the panels is very difficult to stop.

It is also difficult because you can't immerse the panel in rusteater.

All the rust converters I've tried seem to only penetrate to a certain depth, and if you scrape at them, you'll find brown rust underneath.

I suppose the best approach I can think of is to remove all rust with a proper angle grinder mounted cup brush, then sandpaper to break the surface and make it absorbent again, then treat many many times with rust eater, then treat with zinc primer, and lots of coats of paint (because it is difficult to get any depth around the edges of panels) and then try to apply a wax like dinitrol from the inside with some heat to try and get it to seep between the panels.

But as somebody who has never succeeded in stopping advanced rust like that without cutting it out perhaps I should defer to any professionals out there.

I'd agree with those who think that the paint didn't go onto clean metal when it was applied for it to look like that so soon.

Best tackle it yourself if thats the best they can do Jamie!

Angle grinder with wire brush head as mentioned above, but, also, trim the edge of the effected part of the lip back a little, 1-2 mm before treating very heavily with Jenolite or that machine mart stuff discussed elsewhere.

Etch primer, several coats, shultz anti chip paint, several coats, then your top coat. Finish off with a good coat of clear underseal of your choice (re apply once a month as routine, it's only a case of spraying it on)

You'll NEVER stop rust once it gets a hold, by the time you have good metal, it will be paper thin a lot of the time but you can hold it back very effectively with a bit of effort.

As a side note, it was on it's way through when I viewed your car a few months back, but nothing like it is now! If you don't want to tackle it yourself, get it back to them, looks like a poor effort to me.

Gareth

A proper repair should last 2 years minimum, depends how deep they went in, and as PER says above, the thin edge needs doing aswell as the inside of the wing (arch cover off)

I would have a think if the spayer just didnt do a quick fix job, id take it back and moan like a b"*ch!

I've had a response:

"I've had a look at the photos and unfortunately once rust starts to take hold of a panel you are only " band aiding " the problem. Rust will keep on coming back unless the panel is replaced or the problem area is cut away and a new sheet of metal welded back in its place. The vehicle is of a certain age and unfortunately these things will start to happen irrespective of whether the vehicle has only done 2,500 miles and the repair was done 24 weeks ago, once rust takes hold, its very hard to shift. I will gladly take another look at the vehicle in the new year to see if anything can be done. Maybe able to stonechip the wheel arches or put underbody sealer on the inner wheel arches?

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

I apologise for any inconvenienced cause"

I'm not dissagreeing with what he has put, but judging by that he's going to want paying again to sort it, it's just one of those things you don't expect to pay for twice in such a short time

I will tell him the additional information you all have posted above, see what he says.

BTW what does he mean by 'may be able to stone chip the arches'? - is that some sort of coating?

Here is a tried an tested cheap way of rust stopping & doesn't mask rust spots but actually stops them to a degree.

What you need is cheap engine oil & thick grease. Heat the two together & brush on, over the rust spots as well. This forms a seal while impregnating into the metal & stops further oxidation, unlike under-seal & other similar products that trap moisture. Its a bit messy, ideal if you have access to ramp Just to clarify, this is aimed at the under side of vehicle. Thought I would point out the obvious

There was some spray on underseal called "stone chip protect" a few years back.
It is a spray that hardens to a kind of rubbery, orange peeley effect.
Because it isn't too waxy you can put paint over the top and I personally quite like it.

I wouldn't put it over rust as it won't stop it, just prove to be a pain to get off when you need to retreat it.

Here are some simiar products: Stonechip

I had my arches coated in stonechip protector when the whole car was painted two years ago

the arches have still gone rusty

You can delay the inevitable, but you'll struggle to prevent it forever

Next time, I'll be using the anti-chip stick-on film - I put some on the leading edges of my Zender skirts and they are still perfect