Rust Bubbles - Any cost effective repair solutions?

[EcoAuto]

I'm determining budget priorities for my '75 and wanted to get a reality check on this. My car lived in Northern Cal until 2 years ago. It's been well-cared for and is free of visible rust, EXCEPT for 4 slowly growing rust bubbles - one on each of the lower door corners, and one on each of the side panels. I know these indicate hidden problems, and I want to do preventative repairs. While I'm at it, I also want to repaint the front panel (rock chips), and repair the zit on the hood where a PO dropped it too hard.

The car was painted in 1999 and the Fjord Blue paint still looks great. I didn't think I was ready for full body paint.

I live in a small city where a major hail storm last year has kept all the body shops flush with insurance money. They're not exactly hungry for work. Reputable shops are still 4-5 months out.

Two estimates from honorable shops came in close to $4,000 - 52 hours of body and paint labor @ $65 per, plus $500-800 paint. Both shops said spraying to match the 12 year old Fjord Blue paint would be difficult.

$4k is hard to swallow given what I was anticipating. A full paint job would cost only $1,000 more. Both options seem disproportionate to the value the car.

I don't have the knowledge, skills, tools or garage setup to do my own body and paint work. Would like to compare with other's experience dealing with rust bubble problems. Are there any more cost effective ways to deal with it?

[Colin]

I am sorry to say that you already know the answer to your question.

There isn't anything else to do besides remove the rust, and whether that be mechanically done or via phosphoric acid, either process will require painting afterwards.

You could do it yourself (I have) and do it for well under $1000.

[Kpeters]

Ahhh well I burst them, sand them and around the area and if I have to spray paint it with primer meanwhile I get the cash to paint the car I'll do it since rust will start spreading if you don't stop it!

[SteveJ]

The tip of the iceberg.

A few choices:

Live with it.

Repair it yourself.

Pay to have things fixed.

The first choice doesn't fix the problem, only how you deal with it. Things will spread if not put in check.

The second choice could save you some money, but could make things worse as you delve into the problem areas and maybe beyond your scope.

The last choice will cost you money. You will not know how much until the repair tech is deep into the job. At that point there may be no turning back. The only choice you would have is how much time(money) you are willing to put into the job.

Not good news, but rust is bad. My car has a few bubbles in the usual places. I have come to the conclusion that right now I will not be doing a full on restoration, so I am living with it the way it is...and driving it everyday.

You could look at the Eastwood catalog and see if they have any 'spot' solutions.

[FunElan]

My rust is much worse than yours. I choose to just enjoy the car still.

[EcoAuto]

I know I'm not alone trying to figure out the urgency, weighing the pros and cons: Can I afford to take care of the metal and paint NOW, or can I afford to procrastinate another year? Since rust never sleeps, either way, repainting is inevitable.

In this day and age, one would think high-tech body shops would have diagnostic equipment to see behind the skin and determine the locations and extent of corrosion. My 8 year old daughter just had an ultrasound and CT scan to diagnose an abdominal problem she was having. Drilling holes, scraping, prodding a car seems so primitive.

That's where the fear lives - what secrets lurk between those metal panels.

[Kpeters]

That's where the fear lives - what secrets lurk between those metal panels.

Yeap I'm always scared of what I can find below the weatherstrips on the windshields of cars.

Scary stuff.

[ziff73]

$4000 to repair and blend the little rust bubbles and hood zit!? Did I miss something in the reading? It has been a long day.... I don't own a body shop or anything, but doesn't that seem really expensive? Can't the rust be taken care of and just paint below the lower trim? Seems like that's a good natural eye break point for any slight color change.... maybe I'm just so used to doing everything myself I never realized how expensive stuff got! Geez.. I wish you the best of luck.

[EcoAuto]

Part of the problem is living in a town with a captive audience, few paint shops, fewer vintage cars, and more demand than supply as damaging hail storms have become an annual Summer occurrence these last few years. The next town with a body shop is over a mountain pass 30 miles away. Might find a better deal there. I'd like to find a community garage where I could learn the DIY solution. Our single car garage is filled with bicycles, lawn mowers and stuff, and is unheated. There's room for the 02 and to do light mechanical upkeep, but not enough room to do bodywork or painting.

[beammmer]

of the door come from the inside? If you fix the exterior will it not reappear from the inside out?

Don

[EcoAuto]

Yep, the rust bubbles are at the bottom corner of the door where the outer skin meets the inner door. I suspect this is a common weak spot since water collects in this corner.

[wegweiser]

You have an interesting thought regarding high tech diagnostic equipment to scope out the extent of the rust. I wish such equipment existed!

This made me wonder...."how many other professions use high tech scopes / equipment like this?"

Physicians

Hospitals

Labs

Fully equipped diagnostic mechanical repair shops

Optometrists

...when was the last time you paid a mere $65 an hour for one of THOSE people to perform a service for you?

That equipment is frighteningly expensive. For reference: The BMW diagnostic computer we used in Baltimore was $12,000. (yes, THREE zeros after the comma). It was the size of a laptop.

Body work is 90% sheer labor...labor...and more labor. To do it right takes a great deal of time. To do it quickly and "on the cheap" affects your reputation as a business in the long run, and a good shop will often refuse to perform such work, even to please a customer with short term goals....that's the edge shops must constantly walk.

To make even half a car straight, rust free, and smooth takes hundreds and hundreds of hours. I watch it every day where I now work....it's almost surreal to a wrench / fabricator guy like myself to see the monumental effort and patience required by my rather skilled body guy co-workers.

Just a semi-insider perspective. I have totally been where you are. If it were me, I'd live with it and eventually replace the doors with perfect new / rust free ones.

Paul Wegweiser

[c.d.iesel]

REALITY CHECK

I'm with you Paul

cost of overhead to open the doors?

employee salaries? - insurance?, taxes?,

and labor rate of $65 per hour? is low by

cities with people living in them.....

$ 4k is a low ball.

And what was the cost of that diagnostic medical procedure?

wasn't @ $65 per hour you can bet yer bippy

order touch-up paint from PAINT SCRATCH

a little elbow action, touch it up. Nothing wrong with patina.

[Colin]

Yeah I was going to say that the $4k estimate sounded pretty damn good to me...

[jrhone]

If done right $4k is a bargain....Hell you can get a $1000 paint job...even a $300 paint job...but you will see the difference in all of them...$4k is to get a NICE paint job (not perfect) just a very nice job. A perfect job is more like $7-10k.