I have an 01 max that is flawless except for some rear passenger wheel well rust that is bothering me.....All these Cleveland winters have taken a toll and finally gotten my wheel well...I have used touch up paint in the past but now is bubbling on the wheel well and I want to catch it before it goes to the outside of the car....Right now it is only in the wheel well...Should I take it to a body shop to be fixed before winter or is this something I can do myself with products out there... My car is the white pearl so it has the base and top coat applications...I am **** about keeping the car clean as I always wipe down the wheel wells, doors and painted under carriage under the doors after washing the car...Please help me keep my car beautiful.....

 

I have an 1990 max and when i got it noticed a couple of small rust spots where the paint got chipped off. instead of just touching up the spot with paint go to a local auto parts store and buy a little bottle of clearcoat touchup paint and put the clearcoat over the spot. This is what i did and those rust spots havn't spread they have stayed very small. hope this works

 

I have the rust issue on my 01 Maxima. I dont want to repaint it as its my DD, my money gets sunk into my MR2.

After some research, I decided on using a paint product called POR15. My rust is an issue with the welds. Its only rusting around the welds in the rear wheel well. Why, I dunno.

I prepped the area and used the POR15 Super Starter pack (all three necessary pieces in a $18 package). I prepped according to the instructions and painted. This stuff is amazing. It gets super hard (no homo) and is "supposed" to seal the surface from air and "stop" it from rusting anymore. While I dont believe my rust issue is gone, I am hoping to buy 5 more years or so outta the car.

In the wheel well, after allowing the POR15 to cure, I then used 3M Rubberized Spray sealer (rust proofing agent, about $15). I sprayed the entire wheel well, and it looks GOOD. So now I have two layers inside the wheel well.

On the lip the last thing I have to do is a slight sanding to remove the edge and apply touch up paint. I did about 2 CM in from the tire side edge, wrapped around the lip and then the inside of the lip and about two inches beyond that.

Is it perfect, no. Is it noticable. A bit now because the two silvers dont match but I am guessing it will be fine once I go over it with touch up paint.

Of course the proper way to fix it would be to cut out the welds, repair, reweld and paint. But that is WAY to much money for a DD. Its a shame as my 16 year old MR2 has no rust, yet my 01 does. Go figure.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply about your rust issue....My rust is in spots of only my rear passenger wheel lip and not the wheel well itself...It is not through yet but is starting to "bubble" in 3 or 4 spots in a six inch area of the lip..The car is rustless anywhere else and I want to protect it for years to come..QUESTIONS??? Where did you get the 3M spray??? Also I am thinking or ordering the POR-15 kit but I want to sand the lip first before applying this and then touch up paint..What grade sandpaper do you recommend??? I am planning on doing this, this weekend. Thanks for any help in advance...

 

I just got a POR-15 starter kit recently to do my control arms and some other things that have surface rust. My buddy used it all over his FC RX7 which had a fair amount of rust (300k miles) and it seems like it worked very well.

 

Yeah, my rust was like a surface rust on the lip itself. Its the seam weld that goes around the wheel well. Mine was not bubbling yet and when I dremeled, It didnt flake or burst like a rust bubble. So I believe I caught mine very early.

I got the 3M from KOI autoparts. Getting it online, shipping was just about as much as local. This is what you want to get.

Yes, you want to sand the areas where rust exists. I started using a dremel buffer wheel in order to control my cut down of the paint. On the lip edge I used a 500 grit wheel.

Sand it as clean as you can tolerate. So you will sand, POR15 and then touch up paint.

Remember, you will want to sand about 1/2" beyond the existing rust to really seal it using the POR15. And, no joke, get at LEAST 4 disposable paint brushes. You CANNOT clean the brush after using POR. Its ruined. Reason for 4. Two wheel wells, two applications 15-30 minutes apart. The instructions are good. Dont use the foam brush they include for painting. Use it to distribute the chemicals in the first two steps. Make sure to really get the paint in between the seam when you look at the lip from the wheel well to the outside of the car. You should understand what I mean.

 

Also, do not get POR-15 on your skin. If you do, use acetone right away to get it off or else it will be stuck to your skin for a week or so.

 

Thanks for the response....I will order the POR tomorrow online and probably do this next weekend before it gets to cold up here in Cleveland...I have to get a dremmel also..it will come in handy for other uses on the car..Is the wheel for the dremmel about 1/2" to 1" big??? I think most are that size...Thanks again....Paul

 

Depending on your bit size might make a difference. 1" should be fine, but dont get carried away on diameter. If its a soft compound, you could get bit whip a little easier and dremel a spot you dont want to.

 

I'm in this boat as well.
dremeled, sanded, sealed/primed, painted, waxed, etc last yr, and now it's back!

 

Coolmax....I know you have this problem because Jason (00maxse) told me after I showed him my rust issue last weekend...Did you use the POR15 product?? I dremmeling this weekend my one wheel well and using this product for the first time...Thank god I only have one wheel well rust issue on my car and zero problems on the undercarriage beneath each door...I am hoping this will "slow" the rust problem or contain it to this area only...

 

No i haven't tried that yet...I cheaped out and tried Permatex 81775 Rust Treatment. I know Jason was talking about Rust Bullet or something.

I've got it on my right wheel well, and guessing you do too?

From what I've heard, you cannot stop it, you can only hope to contain it!
Even after you touch it up, it'll be back by next summer, and you'll have to do it again.

 

Coolmax(Neil???)....I am dremmeling and using the POR15 (3step process)today(Saturday) on my right rear well and also changing out my cluster lights with leds....It took me a few hours to sand,dremmel the wheel well in spots and now I am waiting for it to set up and then wetsand today and touch up paint tonite...I am hoping to contain it and will probably have to do this each year but hopefully not to the extent of today....Paul

 

Oops, haven't checked here in a bit.

I'll be doing mine this weekend, sticking with the product I already have because I'm about to get rid of the car.

My problem area doesn't look any better than last yr's, although I wasn't as vigilant as I should have been with monitoring it and keeping the area clean.

At some point in the future, you will have dremeled enough of fender lip that when next yr's rust comes, it will be on the outside of it, and that isn't pretty.