Car Body Repairs to Protect From Rust
Car body repairs are important to protect your investment. Having rust-free body parts will also ensure that your vehicle looks its best. There are some easy do-it-yourself car body repair lakewood co that you can do to keep the rust away and maintain the beauty of your car or truck. The car paint job is an integral part of the value of a vehicle, so having good care for it will pay off in more than just one way.
The first type of car body fix is a stone chip repair. This is a small hole or cracks in the edge of a door or fender that has been caused by flying stones from other vehicles on the road. It typically causes metal to flake off and may cause rusting if not repaired quickly enough. To fix a stone chip, you will need some car body filler, primer, and paint.
The first step is to clean the area around the chip with denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner. This will remove any oil or wax that may be on the surface. Once it is dry, use a putty knife to fill the chip with the car body filler. You only want to fill it up to the surface of the metal. If you overfill it, it will be difficult to sand down later. Let the filler dry for about 30 minutes, and then sand it smooth with 220-grit sandpaper.
Once it is smooth, apply a coat of primer. Let it dry for about an hour, and then apply a coat of paint. You want to wait until the next day to apply the second coat since it takes 24 hours for primer and paints to cure completely.
If you have rust spots on your car, you will need more heavy-duty repairs. This process begins by sanding down any rough edges on the metal that is rusting so that it becomes smooth again. After this, use a wire brush or sandpaper on an electric sander to remove loose material from the surface of the rust.
If it is a bigger rust spot, you may need to cut away the rusted material. Once this is done, use a rust converter to cover up any exposed steel on your car that has been eaten away by rust.
There are some products that both stop and remove rust. If you have a heavy-duty rust spot on your car body, you might want to try one of these products before singe need more extensive repairs. One type contains phosphoric acid, while another works with zinc phosphate salts which react with the surface of the metal and form a protective coating on top of it so that even if there is still some rust happening below, it won’t be able to cause damage from the outside any longer.
