hey guys,

I'm investigating a popping sound coming from the rear passenger side suspension area and while looking around, noticed a bit of rust by the strut mount. Just wondering how I should go about to repair/prevent this..it looks like surface rust...I'm guessing I can try to hand sand it with some 200 grit or so sand paper...but what would I spray it with?

I've attached a pic of passenger(with rust) vs driver(no rust)

 

Use POR-15 and nothing but. It's the only thing that's really made for a job like that.

 

Ok great, i will look into it. I'm assuming I would have to sand away what I can, then just spray?

 

Give the area a good hosing down first and let it dry completely, Then just use a 3M Scotch-Brite pad to get rid of the flaky rust and blow out the area with compressed air. You apply the POR-15 with a brush or a stain applicator. WEAR GLOVES. If that stuff gets on your hands, it won't come off for MONTHS. POR-15 is UV-sensitive and will degrade over time if exposed to direct sunlight, but since that area doesn't get exposed, you won't need to hit it with a topcoat (i.e., Rustoleum UV clear coat). I've used it for years to great success. I've never had rust come back after applying it; it pretty much kills the rust dead in its tracks.

 

hey zakmartin,

Thanks! I will grab the stuff and hopefully get to it this weekend or next. Thanks again!

 

So I ended up getting Rust Bullet instead based on many many reviews I read on various forums. Obviously there were both positive and negative reviews for each, but I felt that the amount of positives over negatives for Rust Bullet were more convincing, and, with Rust Bullet, I was able to order locally from kapcor.com a smaller amount(1/4 pint, $16CAD with free shipping) vs from canada-por15.com(about $50 shipped).

I grabbed a roughly 80 grit sand sponge for $1 at Walmart along with 80grit sand paper I had lying around to do the job. As you can see in the pics attached, it was very much just surface rust and not deep at all. I sanded away the rust, put one layer of rust bullet, let it dry for about 4hrs(instructions say 2-4hrs), then put a second coat as per instructions to fill any hole in the first layer. I also made a gasket from cereal box(temporary) to put between the upper mount and the car as I noticed the top mount was scratched up(not sure how this happened, maybe something with the previous owner, but this looks like it caused scratching and the eventual rusting). I'll grab gasket paper when I can and replace the paper one, but for now, it should be fine.

I plan to take a look again in the spring/summer and see if any rust has developed.