Fighting OH Cancer

[2o6]

I have a little bit of rust on my CD Silver '00 Focus, most notably in the usual places. Just a little on the rockers and on the bottom of the doors.



I want to get it painted up before the winter, because I like this car and I want it to last long and look nice.


How much would this (roughly) cost? Anyone in the OH area know anyone good?


I posted this on the Focus forum, and those guys basically told me to replace all the parts on the whole car. 

[Mustangfan2003]

Or you can move somewhere warmer 

[Secret Chimp]

Use that pink spray crap.

[Rupert]

The general rule with rust is that there is 2-3 times as much that you can't see than what you can see, and it's never cost-efficient to fix unless you can do it yourself. Also, my experience with cheap paint jobs (still at least $500) is that they suck balls and aren't worth it unless the car is in dire, dire need of paint.

[Soup DeVille]

I have a little bit of rust on my CD Silver '00 Focus, most notably in the usual places. Just a little on the rockers and on the bottom of the doors.



I want to get it painted up before the winter, because I like this car and I want it to last long and look nice.


How much would this (roughly) cost? Anyone in the OH area know anyone good?


I posted this on the Focus forum, and those guys basically told me to replace all the parts on the whole car. 

Best thing to do here is to apply POR directly over the existing rust ( do NOT try to scrape it away), and then cover with the proper color rattle-can touch up paint.

No, it won't look great, but it will slow the spread of the rust, and reduce how noticeable it is.

If you start getting into professional looking paint jobs, you'll quickly spend a lot of money or a lot of time.


For the doors, if it gets bad enough, your best bet might be to find a new set of doors in a junkyard.

[2o6]

That is going to look worse than doing nothing.

Here is the rust:

[Soup DeVille]

That is going to look worse than doing nothing.

Here is the rust:

You keep the touch ups small, and it keeps the rust small. What you want to do is slow it down.

[2o6]

I'm not rattlecanning this car.

[Rupert]

Fact: In order to both fix the rust and make it look good, you will either spend a lot of time (learning + doing + doing over = a LOT), or spend thousands of dollars, or both. If you can replace the doors (all of them = $$$), then you'll probably save some aggravation, but the rockers will require cutting, fabrication, welding, painting, and not easy fabrication and welding, either. The best way to really truly fix rust on a car is to buy a new car. Or you could do what Soup said, or you could forget about it.

[Rupert]

I'm not rattlecanning this car.

Then you are spending thousands of dollars.

[Soup DeVille]

Then you are spending thousands of dollars.

Or none at all.

[hotrodalex]

Strip all the paint to let the rest of the car rust; rat rods are "in"!

[68_427]

Spray your car with Line X or Rhino Lining.

[S204STi]

I'm not rattlecanning this car.

I did a minor paint repair on my first car using Martin Senour paints from NAPA and it came out really nice.  It was never noticed by anybody other than myself.

[2o6]

I did a minor paint repair on my first car using Martin Senour paints from NAPA and it came out really nice.  It was never noticed by anybody other than myself.

The Neon was in terrible shape.


This is in much better shape. Anyways I found a guy that can do it on the cheap.

[850CSi]

Anyways I found a guy that can do it on the cheap.

sigh... then why ask for advice?

[280Z Turbo]

My Focus has rust too.

Live and let die I say.

[2o6]

sigh... then why ask for advice?

Because I asked you guys and the Focus forum at the same time, and a guy at the Focus forum said he'd do it for a reasonable price.

[Rupert]

Because I asked you guys and the Focus forum at the same time, and a guy at the Focus forum said he'd do it for a reasonable price.

Nope nope nope. I don't know what he proposes to do, but a real fix will involve a lot of money, because it will take a lot of time and skill. A reasonable price for this job is thousands of dollars. Band-aid "fixes" just make the next person to own the car hate you when they discover all that rust under the crappy bondo and paint. It's one thing to POR15 it and then paint it (anyone who looks will know what's up), but it's another to do a crappy (i.e. cheap, i.e what you are planning on) job and try to make it look good (i.e. hiding the damage, which is idiotic at best and dishonest at worse).

BTW, what's his "reasonable" price?

[2o6]

I just want it to look nice(er), guys.

[MrH]

[2o6]

Nope nope nope. I don't know what he proposes to do, but a real fix will involve a lot of money, because it will take a lot of time and skill. A reasonable price for this job is thousands of dollars. Band-aid "fixes" just make the next person to own the car hate you when they discover all that rust under the crappy bondo and paint. It's one thing to POR15 it and then paint it (anyone who looks will know what's up), but it's another to do a crappy (i.e. cheap, i.e what you are planning on) job and try to make it look good (i.e. hiding the damage, which is idiotic at best and dishonest at worse).

BTW, what's his "reasonable" price?

I still have to go down and see what he'd do and how much he would charge.


I just want it to look nicer.

[Secret Chimp]

You bought a cheap car in Ohio. Spend zero dollars on how it looks. You're already beyond your dollar threshold for fixing any rust problems with a solution that will actually look better than the rust. Save your money for gas and maintenance. There's no point in doing what you're doing.

Or just do what you always do, i.e. ask for advice, ignore everyone and do what you were doing already.

[2o6]

I might POR-15 it then take it to the guy who said he'll fix it up.

[shp4man]

Just keep driving the damn thing. Save your money for a better ride. As long as it's not a Flintstone car that you can see the pavement through the floor. 

[CJ]

Do the timing belt.

[2o6]

Just keep driving the damn thing. Save your money for a better ride. As long as it's not a Flintstone car that you can see the pavement through the floor. 

It really depends. I don't want it to be like the Neon; after a week of winter the car looks atrocious.

[Rupert]

It's a Focus, not anything rare or even interesting. Good car; not worth it to bother with shit like a bit of rust.

[CJ]

Do the timing belt.

Do the timing belt.

[Rupert]

It needs a timing belt?!

FUCK THE RUST; DO THE TIMING BELT!