How to Get Rid of Rust Before It Eats Your Car Alive
Photo by Max Andrey under Pexels License
Become Your Car’s First Line of Defense!
The first few signs of your car’s corrosion can be quite subtle — ranging from a harmless-looking brown stain on your fender to a bubble in the car paint. Unfortunately, ignoring these signs could spell trouble for your vehicle.
The iron worm called rust will soon work its way to the other parts of your four-wheeled chariot. Before you know it, you’ll be sending your set of wheels to an early grave.
Once rust manages to land on an iron-containing metal, there’s no turning back. In a natural environment, nothing can stop your car’s unstable chemical makeup from yielding to rust over time — unless you do something to battle the process of oxidation.
Thankfully, you can still save your car from doom. The key to keeping corrosion at bay is to learn more about how vehicles rust and how to address the brown and flaky patches that show up in your car’s problem areas.
What Are the 3 Types of Rust?
- Surface Rust
When you see scratches, nicks, and cracks on the paint, you’re looking at the first signs of surface rust. The usual culprits of rust that occurs on the surface of your vehicle are mechanical or UV damage.
- Scale Rust
Ignoring surface rust will only give it enough time to penetrate further into your vehicle’s body. As the rust expands and flakes away the layers of paint, your car’s fresh base metal becomes exposed to corrosion. Before long, a rough and pitted type of damage called scale rust begins to develop. It’s important to note that besides corrupting the surface of your vehicle, the chemical process involved in the formation of scale rust also reduces the strength of the metal.
- Penetrating Rust
Scale rust that is left unaddressed can quickly progress to penetrating rust. At this point, the metal has turned into brittle iron oxide, causing holes to form. After prolonged exposure, corrosion that’s left unchecked will eat through your vehicle’s metal, affecting your suspension components, and weakening your car’s frame. To ensure your safety on the road, it’s extremely important to keep an eye out for rough or compromised parts underneath your car.
What You Can Do to Get Rid of All Types of Rust
To help you keep your set of wheels free from corrosion, Goodwill Car Donations has compiled these tips to help you get rid of the different types of rust in your car:
- Surface Rust
- Clean the area with the surface rust and allow it to dry completely.
- Mask off the area with the use of painter’s tape.
- Grab a rust remover and spray it onto the rusty spots. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- Use a microfiber cloth to wipe off the residue.
- If there’s any leftover rust, use sandpaper to sand it before wiping off the residue.
- Use a grease remover soap to clean the area and let it dry completely.
- Grab a primer and spray three light to medium coats and let each layer dry for about an hour.
- Spray about six coats of your vehicle’s color base coat while making sure that each coat isn’t thicker than the primer coats. Give each coat enough time to dry thoroughly.
- Spray a clear coat on the area. Avoid washing your car for at least two days and wait for about two months before you wax your car.
- Scale Rust
- Mark off the rusty areas and cover the unaffected parts of your vehicle to protect them from the fine dust and the sander.
- The sanding wheel has to be attached to the grinder. Use this to get rid of the surface rust.
- Clean the affected area with grease and wax remover soap before allowing it to dry.
- If you see depressions and holes left, use a fiberglass-reinforced car body filler to fill them.
- Use 40-grit sandpaper to sand the affected area.
- Follow this up with 320-grit and 2000-grit sandpaper.
- Use grease and wax remover soap to clean the area.
- Tape off the area for painting with the use of painter’s tape.
- Spray about three light-to-medium coats of primer and let each layer dry before you apply another.
- Spray five coats of your vehicle’s paint while making sure that each layer gets enough drying time.
- Spray two layers of clear coat. Don’t wash your car for the next two days and wait at least two months before you wax your vehicle.
- Penetrating Rust
The only solution for the most advanced car rusting level is to replace the affected part or cut out the affected parts before welding metal patch panels into place. If you don’t have the tools or the skills to do this, it’s best to head to a qualified body shop and let the pros patch your vehicle’s frame back together.
Tired of Maintaining an Unwanted Vehicle?
If you no longer feel the need to maintain or repair your rusty old car, consider donating it to us at Goodwill Car Donations. We’ll quickly dispose of that vehicle for free and use it to help uplift the lives of the disadvantaged and impoverished residents of your community.
Our team will put your vehicle up for auction and turn over the proceeds to the Goodwill organizations serving your area. These IRS-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofits cater to disadvantaged Americans — those who have disabilities, lack education, job experience, or essential skills, and other limiting personal issues, such as having criminal records or a welfare mentality.
Your local Goodwill organizations use the funding we give them to provide their beneficiaries with job and skills training, vocational services, scholarships, financial aid, disability benefits, family support, and other types of vital support services.
While helping the underprivileged members of your community with your car donation, you’ll also get outstanding rewards yourself. These include getting our fast and professional towing service for free and at a date and place of your choice anywhere in the country.
Your gift will also entitle you to receive the maximum tax deduction in the next tax season.
Moreover, your donation will allow you to savor the satisfaction of serving your community by helping empower your less fortunate neighbors through work and learning.
We take nearly all types of vehicles, including those that are no longer in good shape. You may head over to this page to get a list of the types of vehicles acceptable to us.
To learn more about our vehicle donation program, including our quick and easy donation process, feel free to visit our FAQs page. Call us anytime and any day at 866-233-8586 or message us here if you have any questions or concerns.
Decide to Make a Difference in Your Community Today!
With just a click of a mouse or a quick phone call, you can make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged people in your community. You’ll become a life-changer for them. Call Goodwill Car Donations at 866-233-8586 or fill out our secure online donation form to make your donation now!
Photo by truthseeker08 under Pixabay License
Last Updated: May 26th, 2023