Hello all, Happy Holidays to all. Finally got and orbital sander; flapper wheel, and wire wheel attachment for my drill, some bondo, matching finish paint and clear overcoat. All i need to do some surface rust... I'm struggling to figure out how i should go about this though and that's why i need a little of advice from some experts.. The rust is on the rockers and because i have no camra im pictureless, but its not bad at all. Its surface rust as far as the eye can see so im hoping it will stay that way threwout my process.

My game plan is too oribital sand the rust down with a sanding wheel, wire wheel any remnants afterwards, and because i have one little bubble under the paint possibly some bondo if anything becomes oneven, and spray some rust eliminator or w/e its called Its all on my rocker panels and i plan on bed lining up to my door plastics in spring. My questions are this:

1.) Should i just bondo anyways despite it being even or uneven and sand it even so i know its good?
2.) The flapper wheel i would imagine is too aggressive as it says on the package made to ''remove from stock metal'' and i need something to work with.
3.) I'm going to tape everything off with painters tape, and spray on 1 layer of primer, 2 of the base, and 2 or 3 layers of over-coating, all from aerosol. Anyone have any tips that will help me make it look good other than cleaning, a steady handing, and common sense???

Thanks guys, appreciate all the help that is givin'.

 

I know nothing about the paint part of this, or about body work...

All I've got here is can you not clear away the surface rust with Naval Jelly? That stuff works wonders. Wipe it on, wait about 15 minutes, then hit it with a simple scrub pad. Took every bit of my surface rust off this way.

 

i will tell you right now you are far from prepared for this......the rockers rot from the inside out the small blisters and such are the tip of the iceburg..i'm not sure what you plan to paint with is this rattle can or base/clear from a gun?

 

Sounds like a plan, just make sure all that rust is gone. If you see a bubble, there is more underneath ! Bondo/paint over rust only lasts a year at best.

When applying the bondo, keep it smooth and air bubble free. You'll have to sand all that later and smooth better than rough.

 

Bondo is not a rust fix. The purpose of bondo is to give a smooth surface for paint. I wheel my jeep, from experience, I know that bondo and brush, debris and body flex don't mix. So if you need pretty paint bondo it. It you want that paint and bondo to remain attached to your rig, stay on the pavement.

Rust is fixed by removal of the rust. This may require replacement of the sheet metal involved. Metal replacement is the only true remedy for rust.