Some people are very frustrating.

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
05/02/2015 at 13:20 • Filed to: None

My gfs Micra has a serious rust issue developing. I said I can grind back the rust and do something to protect it and at least slow it down, since the car is mechanically spot on. Her parents refuse to let me do anything about it, which I previously didn’t care about since it’s their money (they bought the car for my gf a few years back).

But I’ve since realised that since my gf is moving out very soon, she’ll be covering the costs related to the car, so death due to rust would hit her finances hard. I told her to tell her parents that I’m fixing it and they can just deal with it. They’re very resistant to this idea and said they don’t want it touching unless the car fails an MOT (annual roadworthiness test). Apparently I can’t be trusted to do this work.

They don’t seem to be able to understand that right now it’s barely past surface rust and can be slowed down, MOT fail means holes and requiring welding to repair (I don’t own any welding gear so she’d have to pay for this). One day I’m going to just disregard all of this and grind the rust off.

DISCUSSION (22)

jkm7680 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 13:23

Where on the car is the rust?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > jkm7680
05/02/2015 at 13:24

Sills, all 4 arches, a spot on the hood and crossmember. Mostly paint damage so far but on these cars it develops quickly and kills the car. My stepdad had one the same age that rusted through and got scrapped.

jkm7680 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 13:26

There’s a few prodocuts that prevent rust from spreading stateside. I don’t know about the UK, but you might want to look into those.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > jkm7680
05/02/2015 at 13:29

I usually use a clear rust treatment then paint over it with a few coats of high build metal primer, then normal primer and top coat. The thick coats of primer help protect it for a good while.

Xyl0c41n3 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 13:41

Is your girlfriend an adult? Is she listed on the car’s title? If yes to both questions, then do it.

Tell her parents to stop being penny wise but pound foolish. :)

PS9 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 13:43

“okay, whatever you say future MIL/FIL.”

Then you do it anyway. They’re not gonna check to see if you got rid of the rust because who does that? If they do, then you can *safely write them off as control freaks and have the gf intermediate if they want something.

*Probably not, but you should still do it anyway.

Frank Grimes > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 13:45

primer doesnt waterproof its porous. but you might know this already. I dont know if you know this but I got a can of paint matched spray paint at a auto paint store. using a self etch primer and then the paint matched can of spray paint would be a good repair and should last a long time. there are also products that can be used on the backside of panels to prevent rust as well.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Xyl0c41n3
05/02/2015 at 13:46

Yes to both, but they still pay her insurance until she fully moves out (we’re just about to finish university/ college and start working but haven’t yet) so she can’t piss them off too much for now until we’re earning. They’ll just cancel her insurance if they see I’ve worked on the car.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Frank Grimes
05/02/2015 at 13:50

The metal primer I mentioned is basically etch primer and is made to protect bare metal. It’s supposed to be for painting outdoor metal fences and such, so it’s extremely hard wearing which is why I like using it. It doesn’t give you as good of a top coat finish as an automotive etch primer but it does a great job protecting the metal. It still gives an acceptable finish for an older beat up car like this if you wet sand properly.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > PS9
05/02/2015 at 13:52

They will check trust me, they’re very unusual like that. I knocked out a dent once and they were not best pleased (how someone can be annoyed about a free dent repair is beyond me).

For obvious reasons I tend to avoid the future in laws.

PS9 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 13:54

Another option is to give the car back and you and the gf can get another one together. That also sucks, but at least you can do your own friggin repairs without anal control freaks looking over your shoulder.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > PS9
05/02/2015 at 13:57

A fair few of the jobs I’m looking at offer company cars, so best case scenario I get a company car and she can use the Twingo as a daily (although I’ll still keep it in my name). We have to keep hold of the Micra for now though since that might not happen.

I think I’m just going to repair it and help her out if they do something dickish like cancel her insurance.

Frank Grimes > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 14:01

sounds good. is it a zinc primer? that stuff would be good its most similar to what e coating is on a factory corrosion protected panel. since it seems you know what you are doing and plan on painting over the primer. some people seem to think that primer provides protection from rust when it doesn’t thats the job of the paint primer basically just bonds to the paint and primer grabs to the metal.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Frank Grimes
05/02/2015 at 14:06

I have two, a zinc version and a standard version, both by Plastikote.

Kinja'd!!!

I haven’t really noticed much difference in corrosion protection since the first car I used them on was only a couple years ago. The Zinc stuff is much harder to paint over properly though. The standard metal one gives you a much better finish.

I actually paint over the metal primer with a standard automotive primer, then top coat, then clear if required. Gives you a nice thick layer of protection.

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 14:07

Inlaws are always a pain.

Try some Bilt Hamber corrosion treatments. to arrest the rust or to remove and repair.

http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-prot…

With regards to the Outlaws, just bide your time.

And if they ever get too annoying just look at them and say to yourself ‘I’m doing your daughter’, it helps greatly.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Svend
05/02/2015 at 14:12

They sure are.

Is it good stuff? I use some ancient rust converter I found in my grandads garage, seems to work pretty well.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 14:26

Come to Wylam and we’ll do it over here. That way you can either blame me for doing it whilst you had your back turned, or you can tell them I run a body shop.

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/02/2015 at 14:35

I’ve only used the decon stuff when washing the car such as Surfex, Korrosol, Autowheel, etc... but many on the forum I’m on highly recommend the stuff.

BH Deox Gel did this in 20 minutes. It removes rust and just rust.

Kinja'd!!!

“This is a flywheel for a Rover V8, pretty grubby, before and after being half immersed in Deox C solution for show purposes. It was half immersed in Deox C, and then the clean half was sprayed with Ferrosol to keep water (and rust) off. It has been outside (under cover) since, and is still as rust free on the clean half now. The staining on the rust on the 50/50 shot is the Ferrosol.”

Kinja'd!!!