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tl;dr: Even if you only use spray wax after a wash, it's better than nothing. It depends on where you live, what kind of driving you do and how you generally maintain your car. The short answer is that waxing a car puts a sacrificial layer on top of the clear coat which sits on top of the paint (assuming that you have a generally standard paint job). ...

The best thing to do would be to sand down the rusted area until you can see the original metal and then apply a automotive primer to protect it from the rust. If you feel pretty comfortable with a bottle of spray paint and aren't too worried about a pro job, you could then obtain some automotive spray paint and repaint the affected area(s). One thing to ...

I used Napa Rust Treatment Permatex 765-1671 on my F-150 truck about 8 months ago and all the rust is gone! This treatment is like a grey primer. It's not pretty on a blue truck, but neither is oxidized red cancer.

Regular washing and waxing is your best bet. We kept our cars in one piece through the Rochester, NY winters with nothing more than this. The wax provides a sacrificial protective coating for the painted parts of the body. You can apply wax to your wheels as well. As a bonus, the brake dust will be easier to wash off of a waxed wheel. Then wash, wash, ...

Wash off the salt whenever possible. Inspect the car regularly (especially in locations where salt and water can get trapped). Repair any noticable damage immediately (damaged paint, damaged undercoating, etc). Set aside some spare funds in the anticipation of such repairs. My experience is that body panels don't rust, it's the strut towers, floor, and ...

First thing you need to get some type of penetrating oil. You need something like LiquidWrench,PB Blaster or SeaFoam. My personal favorite is PB Blaster. The second thing you need is patience. If you can, give the penetrant several days to work. I have had goodluck wrapping the fitting in a strip of rag and soaking it with the oil. If you can get the quick ...

Yes and you should. Rust is always bad and it sounds like you have a relatively easy job. Remember, if you have rust, you don't have paint. If you're careful, there shouldn't be any effect on the paint surrounding the threaded hole. In terms of cleaning the threads out, you're going to need an abrasive to remove the rust and then a tool to remove any ...

Remove the rust! Paint won't do much good on top of rust, and it won't last either. There are some chemicals you can spray on rusted surfaces, but I think sanding is generally best. I just tackled this project with my car. For small areas, sandpaper will work for removing rust. For larger areas (which I had), a flap wheel sander with a cordless drill was ...

Try to remove as much rust as possible with either a die grinder or other rotary device with a wire wheel. Then just use some rust paint to spray over them. You don't even have to take them off the car if you don't want to. Honestly you could even skip the wire wheel if you are feeling really lazy but you may have to respray them every 6 months depending on ...

How serious are you about this? Some pressure treated 2" x 12" planks under the tires will protect them from ground rot. Sun will age your paint job and rubber. You'd be doing your car a favor to put some kind of cover over it that will shade the car and deflect rain. I have seen canvas "garages" for $200 that would do the trick, although keeping air ...

Sand down the paint around the hole, apply a few layers of zinc spray followed by a few layers of new paint (with primer, if necessary) with 1 or 2 layers of clearcoat on top. Make sure you cover the edges well and check the edge regularly to see if any rust occurs. Make sure you wait long enough between each layer for optimal protection, check the label ...

This Automotive Touch Up Video demonstrates how you can take care of scratches in your paint. In addition, I've had good luck with Napa's Rust Permatex Treatment. It turns rust into a gray primer, which might look a little ugly but not as much as a rusted-out car. You could use the Napa Rust Treatment to get rid of the rust and then try the techniques ...

That looks pretty bad - typically when I've seen ones get this corroded, they need to be sandblasted clear of rust, properly filled and then repainted. You should be able to keep sanding until all the rust is gone - if that leaves holes, you're better off knowing about them rather than having them hidden under rust. If the holes are too big, you can always ...

Motorcycle folks seem to do this a lot, presumably because the gas tank is easy to remove and small enough to manhandle (personhandle?). A Google search produces a lot of results for how to do this, and any of the ways you've heard will probably work well. Here's one detailed list: http://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Removing_rust_from_a_gas_tank You have to ...

I think it depends on how bad the rust patches are. If it's just surface rust, I'd clean up the rust with a wire brush and some sand paper and treat the remaining rust with chemical rust remover or converter, then repaint the wheel. If there is significantly deep rust on the rim that goes deep enough to warrant grinding out, I'd be a bit careful or would ...

You shouldn't have to worry about removing the rust from the nut if you are going to replace the screw. If the new screw won't screw into the nut because of rust run a tap through the nut to clear out any rust and dirt (this is assuming that the nut has machine threads). The best preventative maintenance is to replace the bolt with a stainless steel license ...

I would be hesitant to make a raised platform using wood. Keep in mind even a very light car is around 3000 lbs, the last thing you really want to do is park your car and have the front wheels go right through that platform. The wood wouldn't be a bad idea to help kill the weeds (though weed killer would have worked pretty well also). I'm in the same ...

If you have a well ventilated area and you have a little time on your hands (a day total with waiting for paint to dry). Then you should just do it right so you're not upset with how they wheels look in a week. Pick yourself up some of my favorite product for stripping painted / rusted parts back down to bare metal. Aircraft Paint Removal (APR) This ...

If your lazy, get black rustolium and just spray over everything. Then follow up with a black gloss wheel paint. It will look perfectly fine. EDIT: Try Plastidip! Just get a can and remove the wheel, spray a few good coats, let it dry. There are many, many tutorials on YouTube.

A wire brush is the best option for removing surface rust, but I wouldn't try the brush you have in any of the tools you've got! In terms of painting, you can just use normal primer, but I would go for a rust inhibiting one (e.g. those sold by Bilt Hamber, Hammerite and others) - If it has started rusting there, there is a reason for it (usually ...

In addition to all the points made by @NickC - unless you have a huge expanse of rust, a handheld wire brush might be better than anything else. I usually keep my cars for a very long time, and this being Scotland - they rust. A lot! So I just keep on top of the sills, arches etc with wire brushes - use them at the first sign of rust and expose the metal ...

I believe that the OEM muffler for the Honda Civic is only aluminized steel, not stainless steel. As such, it doesn't even have the higher resistance to rust that a stainless part will have. As noted previously, a stainless part is only resistant to corrosion, not immune (nothing really is). If you choose to go with an aftermarket stainless part, you can ...

Stainless steel is merely corrosion resistant, not corrosion proof, and some are better than others. My 1991 Toyota with 251,000 miles (including daily driving in the rust belt Winters) is still on its original exhaust (getting rusty, but no leaks/holes). My 1995 Mitsubishi with only 116,000 miles, rarely Winter driven is already on its third. This time ...

You definitely want to clean out the rust if its not terribly invasive. Go to your local art supply store and get the finest paintbrush you can find If getting it protected is "good enough", fill it in with primer. If you want to restore it cosmetically, then fill it in with touch up paint, matched from the dealer. Then have your local auto detailer ...