i noticed a little rust behind my right rear mudflap, so i took it off to clean it up. looked a little strange because there was some visible rust, but there was also a bunch of paint that had blistered out from behind. so i scraped that paint off and there was some stubborn rust that i was scraping with a screwdriver. the ufcking thing went right through the metal! (note: there was actually no metal left) and what proceeded to happen was a giant hole opened up, and behind that hole was loose rust, dirt, dead bugs, you name it. salt had corroded a hole on the wheel well side, and water and dirt had gotten inside the quarter panel and rusted it from the inside.

and i was just trying to do a cosmetic touch-up! i know i should bondo it and everything, but there's nothing that will stop the rust inside and i'm lazy, so i'm just fixing it to where it looks normal. the mudflap will cover the hole, so let's just hope the paint looks okay. basically my car now has cancer and we'll see how long she holds out.

the horror, the horror:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/jbw17/rust.html

 

Ah, might wanna get that checked out and taken care of before the cancer infects the car. Rust spreads

 

i know, but i don't have enough money at my disposal to have a body shop do it. plus, i'm leaving in three weeks and moving to nyc for school and i won't have the car for at least three years. when i'm done i should have enough money to buy a new car. my family has more cars than people so this one will just stay at my house as a backup car. as long as it runs, it'll serve its purpose.

 

yea i feel ya. i realized my car had rust settling in. didn't realize it was so bad until one day while inspecting it, i stuck my finger thru the metal on the underside of the panel.... i was gonna get it fixed and everything but decided to just forget it. i'll just run it into the ground and then get a newer max
kinda sad tho because the engine has no signs of letting up..... Heart is strong, but the body is weak...
Like you said it served its purpose

 

poor little maxima

I hate salt on the roads. I don't know why they still use it back east. We usually get lots of snow and ice and we make do with sand, lava rock and of course shovels and snowplows. Every couple of years you get a rock chip in the window, but insurance usually takes care of that. Salt belongs on french fries, not roads.

 

here is a little advice. laquer primer (which is probably what you sprayed since its what most spray primers are) does not keep water out. If you have a bare metal panel and primer it with laquer primer it will let water in and will continue to rust.

here is what you need to do. get some naval gelly or some moratic (sp) acid and let that eat the rust off. then coat it with some kind of rust converter. Then prime it with a self etching primer from a can (is better than laquer primer) since I assume you dont have a gun...If you have a gun spray it with epoxy primer (actually scratch this since you only need a small amount) then spray it with a good paint and it will slow down the rust. I would cut it out and weld a new panel in but I understand being strapped for cash and not wanting to spend a bunch on the car.

also bondo would jsut fall out once the rust continues to grow and I dont think bondo keeps water out. There is a product by evercoat called metal to metal which is an aluminum body filler. It protects whats under it from water...just thought I would let you know. I still wouldnt fill in a big hole anyway since it will push through.

 

Ahhhhh my eyes my eyes!!! Get it away!!!!!!

 

UPDATE:

The cause of the hole was not salt from inside the wheel well. It was my ******* SUNROOF DRAIN HOSE!!! It somehow came "unplugged" from its right place and receeded up into the panel. Thus, my sunroof has been draining into my right rear quarterpanel for years. Yep, that'll do it.

 

been thewre done that!

 

been there done that!

 

done. it was a complete waste of time, i should have just left it alone.

the remedy:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/jbw17/rust2.html