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Someone ran into my car awhile ago. After the claim went through, I had minimal repair done to my car because I’m getting a new truck in less than a year.

As pictured below, there is a slight bit of rust forming on the exposed metal. If I used a bit of elbow grease to remove the rust and applied POR15, would that prevent the rust from spreading more?

For size reference, the are without the paint is about 0.5 inches wide and 2 inches long.

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3 Answers 3

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You could sand the rust out and spray paint the area to protect it from rusting again. All those cracks and the exposed metal on the left are also prone to oxidation, so you might want to consider sanding and spray painting them too. Since the area is small, nail polish could be a well suited substitute for spray painting.

The finish won't be very good, but from what I understand you just want something to hold corrosion a little longer until you can get the real fix done.

EDIT:

I misread the question and ended up not answering it: If you sanded all the rust out, the POR15 should stop new rusting from forming (I'm not familiar with the product but it being a rust prevention coat it should work, just like the spray paint/nail polish or even better). However, if you didn't take care of the left unprotected area and the cracks rust will start developing there too.

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  • I won’t be getting any real fix done. I’m just holding onto this car for less than one year until I buy a new truck. The vehicle is a 2002, with 230k miles. I got more money from the insurance claim than what I could have sold it for now. So at this point I just don’t want the door to rust away. When I get rid of it I’ll sell it for dirt cheap or scrap it.
    – DrZoo
    Dec 19, 2018 at 4:47
  • I don't think the rust would develop so much in an year even without adding any paint/POR15, right now it looks superficial. But preventing it from spreading is kind of an easy fix, I don't think it's worth it to just leave it there, so you did good adding some protection coat.
    – IanC
    Dec 19, 2018 at 5:33
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Yes, it would. Chip off any loose paint around the gap and the crack, then go over it with a wire brush (the sort that fits in a power drill or angle grinder will make quick work of it). Paint it with the POR15 - I think they usually recommend two coats. When dry, a quick spray over with body colour will improve it as well, or just use a cheap generic white if you're not bothered about appearance.

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  • I'm not worried about appearance at all. Is there any particular type of paint to use?
    – DrZoo
    Dec 19, 2018 at 17:06
  • Any car paint will do - my local car parts store (Halfords) sells generic colours for about 2/3 the price of the standard manufacturers colours. They also sell white hammerite (an anti rust paint similar to por15, cheaper but not as good), I'd probably be tempted to use that in your situation...
    – Nick C ♦
    Dec 19, 2018 at 19:16
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If this is a door as you seem to suggest, purchase a second hand door in the correct colour and bolt it on. This will likely cost a similar amount to buying paint and materials but you’ll end up with a vehicle that doesn’t look like it’s been crashed into.

The best way to prevent rust is to remove it from the vehicle completely.

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