E30 Zone

As far as I know, this is the only rust I have on my touring



I've been watching it grow since I bought the car and it's now time to do something about it as it's getting ugly. Can someone give me a step by step idiot's guide on how best to fix this? Needless to say it's on the tailgate, just below the lower window rubber.

i think the only real way to get rid of rust is to cut out the infected area ,welding in a new patch of metal and filling and painting as required.anything other than that is just a temporary measure that will come back in future. or you could try sticking a hilarious bumper sticker over the hole

i agree that it needs to be cut out. but i think the hole is small enough to fill it with some glass fibre stuff. anyway, make sure you absolutely completely remove all of the rust, and that the surface youre working on is 100% clean.

My wheel arches (some worse than others) are suffering badly has any one had this sorted?
What sort of money will i be looking at, and can the new paint be blended for a good finish or is a complete respray a must?

The main cause of rusty heelarches gents is the failiure to wash the crud out of them which stays damp and promotes rot.

GET THEM CLEANED!

I try to avoid cleaning them coz last time I did a lump of rust came away!! So not really that helpful Mr golf owner but thanks and that

Ok, I managed to find another tailgate in malachite with a bit of rust on the inside around the number plate panel. I've fixed it up, primed it and given it a top coat. Question is, do I now wait a week or so for the paint to harden, smooth it off and then do the clear coat, or should I do the clear coat immediately and then smooth it all off?

I think you could get away with spraying the clear coat about 24 hours after the last coat of paint. Just make sure that it's clean and dry after you've wet and dry'd the top coat, then leave it about 2 weeks or so after clear coat before you use cutting compound to get rid of the orange peel

would 2000 wet & dry be suitable for smoothing the top coat?

I would think that if you used 2000 grit with warm soapy water you would get a superb finish. Just make sure it's bone dry and free from greece before applying your clear coat, any moisture on the surface will result in blisters and bubbles which will set you back days. I use paint thinners to remove dirt and greece in between coats.

Cheers

Spark,
I also own a 318 iS that is what I was reffering to.

Spark wrote:I try to avoid cleaning them coz last time I did a lump of rust came away!! So not really that helpful Mr golf owner but thanks and that

Why the sarcasm ?.....Frenchy was just trying to be helpful.

Cheers Steve !

That is why the arches on my E30 are as they left Munich!! me old mam had the car for 12 years and when she brought it up to my house it used to get a good cleaning which has now paid off.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of whit.

Frenchy wrote:Cheers Steve !

That is why the arches on my E30 are as they left Munich!! me old mam had the car for 12 years and when she brought it up to my house it used to get a good cleaning which has now paid off.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of whit.

Agree with you mate, Im always giving the arches a good blast underneath, Thats why my arches are absolutley mint......Im always getting comments of how immaculate my car looks, Ive got mates with e36's and some of them are really rusty, mines not got one little bit.

Steve,
A mate of mine has a 330 ci E46 just had wheelarches done due to rust you could plant tatties under there mine is not used everyday but the weather has been quite good today so give it a run after a wash and sorted some little jobs.
Another hidden rust spot is the rear number plate light cutouts took my lights out today cleaned(sad i know !) and give the cut outs a good squirt of cavity wax.
Gonna run the E30 this week.

Cheers Jim.

Sorry if I affended you girls!?

Your reply was to prevent rust forming my question was about dealing with th bas!*rd stuff!!!!!!

My predicament is probaly similar to most, love my e30 have already spent a couple of grand keeping her alive and can't aford to spend anymore coz A:- the missis will beat me and B: - I'll never get it back when/if I sell her.

so I was kinda lookin for a cheapo diy patch up suggestion to stop the ROT!!!!!!

there you go no sarcasm - oops lol

datourer wrote:Ok, I managed to find another tailgate in malachite with a bit of rust on the inside around the number plate panel. I've fixed it up, primed it and given it a top coat. Question is, do I now wait a week or so for the paint to harden, smooth it off and then do the clear coat, or should I do the clear coat immediately and then smooth it all off?

Ed,

I don't think you can sand metallic basecoat before putting the clear on top. You should put the clear on before you do anything else.

Ian.

get your base coat on and give it about 6-7 hours (at room temp) and then get the clear on.Give that about 24hrs and then flat off with youre 2000.i use the power polisher after that with '3M Finnese It' to be honest i have'nt tried to polish by hand as they are only £60 at Machine mart its not worth the hassle .If you leave the base coat on too long it will gather too much crap and contaminate the clear

ian332isport wrote: Ed,

I don't think you can sand metallic basecoat before putting the clear on top. You should put the clear on before you do anything else.

Ian.

I'm sure you're right on this, but if I apply the clear coat without doing anything to the final top coat, won't I be sealing in any imperfections??

datourer wrote:

ian332isport wrote: Ed,

I don't think you can sand metallic basecoat before putting the clear on top. You should put the clear on before you do anything else.

Ian.

I'm sure you're right on this, but if I apply the clear coat without doing anything to the final top coat, won't I be sealing in any imperfections??

You spray on the colour coat in a protected environment, ie without dust blowing about, DO NOT sand the colour coat.