The lower area of the drivers-side rear door on my sisters 95 Contour has a rusty crack in it that is starting to get longer and longer. Right now it's about 5 inches from left to right. It's very thin right now though, maybe only open like 1/8 of an inch.
Is there any auto body patches or something that's available? Should I just try using some auto body filler such as Bondo? I know a lot of people use Bondo to fill in dents and stuff, but now sure if it will work as well with an actual "crack" in the doors outer surface?
THANKS!:)
PS Is the door skin actual metal or just some type of plastic? Cause if feels like plastic...
If it's rusting it's metal, if you dont know that then you're doomed. If the metal is cracking you probably have some serious cancer. Poke it hard with a screwdriver and see if it collapses. Dont stuff bondo over rust or it will last 2 weeks. What you do is this:
- Clean it good, use acetone in a pinch
- Grind out ALL rust and down to bare metal all around
- clean with dish detergent and rinse
- repair any gaping holes with polyester fiberglass and mat (from the back if you can) dont seal in any rust and apply resin only to bare unrusted metal (not paint)
- bondo plastic filler
- block sand with 80 for rough shaping, 220 for fine shaping
- clean with dish detergent and rinse
- automotive aerosol primer/filler GREY
- primer RED
- wet sand with 400 and a foam/sponge as a block till you see no more red
- clean with dish detergent and rinse
- paint with a cheap aerosol can that matches your car color in 70 degrees indoors with CLEAN AIR
- clear coat if you want it to look nice
- color sand the clear with 1500 wet and buff if you want it to look REAL nice
The important thing is grinding out ALL rust and sealing with resin. If you do this it will not rust again for a long, long time. If you don't it will start rusting through your new paint within a month. Angle grinders cost $50 and they're one of the most useful tools you can own, do yourself a favour.
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