How to Repair Rust on Your Car Without Welding (No Special Tools Needed)

**The Journey to a Showroom Finish: A DIY Guide to Repairing Rust Damage**

As we embarked on this project, I was excited to tackle the task of repairing rust damage on our car. The process required patience, dedication, and attention to detail, but with the right tools and techniques, it's possible to achieve a showroom finish from the comfort of your own home.

The first step in our journey was to ensure that all surfaces were free from dust and debris. We couldn't afford to get into the paintwork just yet, not when we had a brand new clear coat that was still curing. So, we decided to leave it be for now and come back to it later. "We're just gonna leave it like that and then in a couple of days," I said to my partner, "I'm gonna come back and wet sand this and clean up all this dust and you're gonna see the results, this is gonna look awesome."

A few days went by, and we finally returned to our project. We decided to wait an extra day or two for the clear coat to fully cure before sanding it down. This was a crucial step, as the instructions on the clear coat said that we could sand it after 24 hours. "You wanted to give this a couple of days to fully cure," my partner reminded me, as I began to prepare the necessary tools and materials for the wet sanding process.

The first thing we did was spray down soapy water all over the affected area. We then grabbed a microfiber towel and cleaned the surface to remove any dirt or debris that could potentially rub into the paint while we were wet sanding. Next, we applied some more soapy water to the 1500 grit sandpaper and wrapped it in a sponge. The sponge was designed to even out the pressure and conform to the curves of the car's body as we applied it.

We started the wet sanding process by spraying down the entire area with soapy water again, making sure that both our hands and the sandpaper were well-moistened. We stood back and forth, not in circular motions, but rather using long strokes to move along the entire body of the car. Our goal was to smooth out the surface without creating any swirl marks or scratches.

As we worked, we focused on one area at a time, moving slowly and carefully to avoid damaging the paintwork further. We also made sure to come up into the factory clear coat in areas where the new paint met it, as this would give us a nice smooth transition between the two finishes. Once we had completed the 1500 grit wet sanding process, we moved on to the next step.

The 2000 grit sandpaper proved to be a game-changer for our project. The fine grit allowed us to create an even smoother surface than before, and we were amazed at how much of a difference it made in the final result. We sprayed down soapy water again and repeated the process of moving along the car's body with long strokes, this time using the 2000 grit sandpaper.

As we progressed through the wet sanding process, we found that our results began to show more clearly. The rust damage was becoming less noticeable, and we could see the new paint starting to take shape beneath the old surface. We repeated the process of moving along the car's body with long strokes, using each progressively finer grit of sandpaper until we reached the 5000 grit.

The final step in our journey was to remove the protective tape from around the edges of the car and apply a polish to bring back the shine in the paintwork. We chose to use an electric buffer for this task, as it made the job much easier and allowed us to achieve a high-gloss finish that would have been difficult to attain with just hand tools.

As we buffed the paintwork into the polish, we could see the results taking shape before our eyes. The rust damage was all but gone, replaced by a smooth, even surface that shone like new. We wiped down the panel one final time and stepped back to admire our handiwork. "This came out awesome," I couldn't help but say, as my partner smiled in agreement.

The journey from damaged paintwork to showroom finish was long and arduous, but with patience, dedication, and the right tools and techniques, it's possible to achieve a professional-grade result from the comfort of your own home. And that's exactly what we did – we took our car's rust damage and turned it into a work of art.

**The Tools and Materials Used:**

* Soapy water

* Microfiber towels

* Sandpaper (1500, 2000, 3000, 5000 grit)

* Sponge

* Electric buffer with polish attachment

* Wool pad

* Thumbs-up button for YouTube subscribers

**Additional Tips and Recommendations:**

* Make sure to follow the instructions on your clear coat carefully.

* Use soapy water to clean the surface before sanding down.

* Work slowly and carefully when sanding, using long strokes to move along the car's body.

* Use progressively finer grits of sandpaper to achieve a smooth finish.

* Consider using an electric buffer for polishing, as it makes the job much easier.

* Practice patience and persistence – repairing rust damage takes time and effort, but the results are well worth it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys chrisfix here and today i'm gonna show you how to remove and repair rust damage on your vehicle, now unfortunatelyIt's common to get rust around the lower portions of the car as well as around the wheel wells what happens is while you driveThe car, a rock kicks up and chips the paint exposing raw metal over time that raw metal rustsAnd then you get this disaster right here so in order to avoid large rust damage like this or rust damage like thatIt's important that when you find a small piece of rust or a little paint bubble like that that you fix it right awaySo it doesn't spread into something much worse and here is what I meanThis is my 1995 ford windstar, which my family has owned since brand new it has over three hundred thousand milesAnd you could tell because it has a couple of rust spots like this right here, which is repairable and this down hereWhich is not this type of rust damage is the perfect example of why you don't want rust to spreadThis rust is so bad. I could break this right off with my hands, and the panel is so weak itJust crumbles rust damage this badCan't be repaired has to be replaced so you're gonna have to weld in your own customSheet metal right here, and that's why it's important to repair rust as soon as you see itSo let me show you how to repair rust damageJust like this we're gonna go from this to this and that is a huge improvementWe're gonna stop the spreading of the rust and make it look a lot better the best part is you could do this at home?yourselfInexpensively using these products, so here's everything that you're gonna need and although it seems like a lotIt's really not that bad you have your sandpaper your body filler and your spray paint and most importantly you have your eye protectiongloves and your dust mask and I want to thank 3m for supporting the video and sending me out all these products so I couldShow you guys how to repair rust damage, so instead of going to a body shop and spending hundredsMaybe even thousands of dollars repairing rust you'll be able to do it yourselfSo let me show you how rust repair takes four simple steps first remove all the rust with sandpaperNext you're gonna fill the area with body fillerThen you're gonna stand that filler smooth with the body of your car and finally to prevent rust in the future finish the job byPainting it now. We're going to be working on this large rust area right hereThis is about as bad as it gets before you have to actually cut it outWeld in your own sheetmetal and the first thing we need to do is remove all the rust and bubbled up paint so we haveA bare metal surface to work on but before we do that we want to grab our rubbing alcohol or an adhesive remover spraySpray down the areaAnd this removes any wax dirtOr oils so when we sand this down we won't contaminate the metal underneath and one more thing we need to do before we startSanding since this is plasticIt doesn't rust so let's get it out of the way, so we don't sand it by mistakeThis is still good paintSo this just pops out and we'll move this down like that so it's out of the way all right nowWe could grab our sandpaper and send all this awayWe're gonna start out with our 80 grit and for those of youWho don't know the smaller the grit number the more aggressive and the more gritty the sandpaper is so 40 grit sandpaper is even moreAggressive a thousand grit sandpaper is very fineSo we're starting with something that's pretty aggressiveSo that we could remove all the rust and I like using a sanding block with my sandpaperWhich allows me to apply pressure evenlySince we're sanding be sure to have your dust mask on and the goal here is to remove all the rust by sanding it downTo the bare metal surface even if you leave just a little bit of rust after your repair is doneIt's just gonna spread again, and you did all that work for nothingAlso, the body filler needs the bare metal to it here properlySo take your time and be sure to remove every speck of rust all the way down to the bare metalAnd this is looking awesome nowyou can see part of the technique is you want to send past the rust you don't want to just stand on top of therust you want to go on to this clean sheet metal about an inch that way you know for sure that you got all theRust out around the damaged areas at the same timeYou don't want to sand too far up because you want to keep your repair area as small as possiblethe next thing I want to note are these holes that we created because the rust was so bad here that it ate through theSheet metal but don't worry we can easily patch these holes withAdhesive body patch this stuff is like chicken wire which will go behind the hole, and then when we add our glass fillerWhich is a fiberglass stranded filler?Not only will it fill these holes, but it's actually going to strengthen it to make it just as strongerIf not even stronger than before so when we're done, you won't even know there's a hole thereAnd it'll look great now going back to sanding real quickI'm gonna be using sandpaper and hand sanding this entire video because that's something everyone could doBut if you do have a drill or an angle grinder they do make attachmentsHere's a drill attachment that helps rust. Here's a drill attachment that helps sendsYou can add different sanding grits on to this or you could use a flat disk on your angle grinderOr a metal wire brush on your angle grinder and all these products will help you do these repairs a lot quickerBut they're not necessary all you need is some sandpaper to get the job donenow after all thatSanding and rust removal this sheet metal that had to rust on it is gonna be thinner and weaker than the good sheet metal aboveIt so what we need to do is use a fiberglass strand fillerWhich is going to give strength to this and also fill in all the little holesBut in order to do that we're gonna be adding it on top of here, and if we add it right nowIt's gonna create a hump, and we want this to be flush so grab a hammer and Hammer the damage sheet metal inwardsso we're basically denting the sheet metal so that the fiberglass filler could fill this area andStrengthen our panel now if you're not working on a large area like thisAnd you just have a little small rough spot you can grab a screwdriver and then hammer the screwdriver inwards into that little rough spotYou don't need to use a large hammer and create an even bigger dent and fill even largerAnd that's a helpful trick if you're working on little rough spots so with our body panel preppedWe are done with the front of the panel, but one thing most people forgetIf there's rust on the front odds are there's rust on the backso let's safely jack up the car put it on jack stands andRemove the wheel so we could get to all the rust behind this panel and as you can see there's a good amount of rustThat we need to removeSo grab your 80 grit sandpaper and start standing away and just like we did in the front back hereWe want to remove all the rust and get down to bare sheet metal just like thisGood and once you finish sanding clean the areaSo we could get it ready for paint, so this is gonna be a two-step paint process firstWe're gonna use the rust reformer this paint will not only coat the bare metalBut if we happen to miss any rust it chemically bonds to that rust and converts it into a paintable surfaceAnd if you can't tell it's definitely a challenge to spray backwards behind the quarter panelBut there we go it looks like I covered everything now after our paint's dry we're gonna go and do the undercoating the undercoating isA rubberized coating that goes on thick there's not only seal in the good metalbut it's rubberized so it won't chip like regular paint when rocks kick up and this is actually not aIdea to do to prevent rust even if your car than have any so make sure you coat the entireWheel well and let it dry all right now check it out this came out great and the whole wheel well isProtected so removing the rust and under coating the back of the panel is a veryImportant step so that the rust doesn't bleed through and eat the panel up again a lot of peopleDon't do that, and then you end up with the same rust issues with that doneWe could get the wheel back on and lower the car to the groundAll right so before moving on to the next stepWe have one more thing we need to do and that isUsing the body patch to fill behind the holes and also rebuild this bottom corner hereThis body patch is a stainless steel mesh and what we need to do is we need to size it up for the area thatWe need to fix so just put it in here and bend it to sizeAnd then you can just use a regularHousehold scissors to cut it to size and we're gonna put this behind the body panel not on top if we put it on topWe're not going to be able to sand it down smooth with the body panelBut one place behind it it'll support the filler and reinforce the sheet metalNow we could fit the bumper so we have an idea of where the patch needs to bend beautiful nowWe could build up the body filler right here to rebuild this cornerAnd now we have one small hole left to patch and this piece will fit perfect so slide it behind the holeAnd I'm using a screw driver to help me get this body patch in placeSo our panel is sanded down and completely rust free we indented it so that it has space for our body fillerAnd we added our body patch plusWe remove the rust from the back side and we coated itSo it won't rust again now the last thing to do is to clean the area with alcohol or an adhesive removerSo we'll have a completely clean surface for the next step, and that is applying our body filler firstWe're gonna use this fiberglass infused body filler, which is going to give the panel strength, then we're gonna use this gold body fillerWhich is going to give us the smoothness so we could spray the panel nowLet me show you how to mix the body filler you want to mix your filler and hardener on a nonAbsorbent surface that way your hardener doesn't get trapped onto the surface you're mixing on and not get mixed into the filler so what I?Like to do is grab some parchment paperAnd you could tape it down so you have a flat non absorbent surface to mix on now you do have to mix a specificRatio of body filler to hardener and luckily it doesn't have to be a perfect ratioYou just have to get it close so I have a little trick that works every timeSo what you want to do is pour out your body fillers so that it forms a circle and that circle should be a halfAn inch high it doesn't matter if your circle is tiny or if it's large as long as it's a half an inch high thistrick will workAnd this is perfect now you want to grab your harder and always need this to make sure it's well mixed and the correct amountOf hardener is simply running a bead of hardener along the diameter of the circleIt's really that easy and that'll get you the correct ratio every time nowLet me show you some tips on mixing. You don't want to mix this like a cakeYou don't want to do it in a stirring motion because that's going to add air to your filler, so instead noticeHow I gather all the filler and spread it out in a pressing motion to both mix the hardener in the filler and to forceany air out then I just repeat the process I gather it up and spread it out gather it up andSpread it outAnd if you've never mixed filler before and you're kind of unsure try mixing a batch just for practice and see how it all worksNow mixing only takes about 45 secondsAnd you don't want to mix too long because you only have about five minutes until this hardensBut do be sure that you mix the filler, so that's one consistent colorSo it goes from this to this where it's completely mixedand you can't see any hardener now when you're done mixing you don't want to leave a big clump or a pile like that aLittle trick is to spread this out thin since this is undergoing an exothermic reactionIt's releasing heat, so spreading it out thin allows the heat to release a lot easier and that keeps this coolerWhich gives you more work time so you have more time to apply this to the damage before it dries it also allows the littleTrapped air bubbles to escape easier compared to being in a pile so spreading it out is a simple trick that gives you way betterresults nowlet's apply this to the damage now at the damaged area get a little filler on the spreader and press this filler hard into theDamaged the idea is to press it against the metal so there's good contactAnd so you force any air outAfter the first layer you would apply more filler in thin layers and build up the fillerSo it fills the damage and builds up to the height of the surrounding panel this fillers for strengthSo it doesn't have to look perfect the next fillerWe're going to use is what makes it smooth, and as you can see we really didn't use that much fillerJust enough to get a good coating on here and fill all the holes, and if you're wondering how to clean your spreaderIt's actually better not to keep the body filler on it and let it dryThis is actually the easiest way to clean itAnd I'll show you why in a few minutes 15 to 20 minutes later our filler is going to becompletely dry now you want to grab yourGrit sandpaper on a sanding block and we're gonna start sanding this there's gonna be a lot of dust so what I like to doIs I like to turn on a fan and what that's gonna?Do is it's gonna blow all the dust out of your face even though you're wearing a dust maskIt's still a good idea to keep the dust out of your faceSo now let's send this body filler flat with the bodyOne thing that keep an eye out for is any body lines that you might have like this body line right here that runs toThe end of the panel we want to try to keep that body lineSo it looks factory that means I'm going to spend a lot of time standing on this plane and a lot of time standing onthat planeThe whole goal here is to sand down the body filler and try to shape it so it makes it even with the surrounding bodyPanel don't worry about making it look perfect because we have another layer of that gold finishing filler that we're gonna use and that's whereWe're gonna make it look real smooth, but for right now. Do the best you can to blend it into the body panelNext we're gonna be using our gold filler, but before we do that. I want to show you real quickwhy told you to keep this dirty all you have to do to clean this up is bend it and snap that filler off andIt should come off nice and clean from the spreader now. Let's go and mix our gold fillerJust as before pour it out into a circle half an inch high and run a bead of hardener along the diameter of the circleNow use the same technique as before to mix it so we don't introduce air bubbles good nowLet's go apply this for a smooth finishJust like before we want to apply a thin first coat forcing it into the repair after that you could build it up in thinlayersSo it's thicker than the body panel around it which will allow us to sand it down even with the panel and once we're doneWe're gonna let it dry and 20 minutes later our final layer of body filler is hardSo we're done with the body filler step nowLet's move on to the sanding step, and we want to get this nice and smooth, so it looks like one whole panel nowWe're gonna start sanding with 80 grit sandpaper you want to hold the sanding block wet against the body panelSo it doesn't create any waves or dips in the fillerAnd you want to shape the body panel so it looks factory in this caseI'm sanding the wheel well edge so that it matches up with the bumper perfectWe have a nice and straight line and an even panel gap all the way across beautiful, and that's looking so good nowlet's go from 80 grit to180 grit and this sandpaper is gonna give the filler a smoother finish and blend it into the body panel betterAfter the hundred eighty grit this feels awesomeI can't feel any transition at all when you run your finger across the bodywork with your eyes closedIt feels like one completePanel if you do happen to feel a bump or a ridge make sure you send that out any ridges and bumps that you canFeel will show through the paint now at this point you can move up to like a 320 grit and then 400 gritbut what I like to do is I like to use a glazing and spot putty which fills in all the little pinholes andImperfections that you can't really see with the naked. Eye, but you'll definitely be able to see if it gets paintedIt's really easy to use you just put some on a spreaderAnd you want to just put a skim coat nice and thinForcing it deep into the filler now. This isn't gonna fill any large holes only pinholes perfect nowWe just need to let this dry before we sand it with our 320 grit 15 minutes laterThis is ready to go and we can start sanding with our 320 grit onceIt's ended down wiped down the work area so it's clean and look at that does that look good or what I am so excitedI cannot wait to see this painted, and that's actually the next step the painting stepSo we're gonna be using a gray filler primer, and this is going to be a filler primerNot just a regular primerSo it's gonna fill even more little imperfections that we can't see right now before you paint anything since we're working outsideAnd it's all dustyIt's a really good idea to grab something to blow all the dust away whether it's a leaf blower compressed airAnything you have to get rid of the dust so it doesn't get all over our paint jobAnd he definitely want to be wearing your dust mask for this one because dust is everywhereAfter the dust settles we want to do one more wipe down make sure our area is completely clean goodAnd now we're ready to spray our primer fillerBut we don't want to get the primer filler on the good paint up here, and if you just tape it offYou'll get harsh tape lines, which won't look good so a little trick is grab some paper and what you're gonnaDo is you're gonna tape it right above here, and you're gonna bend it over and tape it down so it curvesJust like that now this curved edge is gonnaHelp you spray your primer, and it's gonna feather it in without creating a harsh lineOkay, so that's a really cool little trick so you don't get a hard tape lineSo let's get three coats of primer on here and whenever painting follow the directions on the paint can and that looks so goodAnd now let's let this dry and let's get this paper out of the wayYou can really see how that little trick of the curved paper creates this nice soft paint lineWe don't have a harsh tape line now at this point you have two options one you could try painting the car yourselfAnd that's what I'm gonnaDo so you're gonna see the whole processbut if you're not comfortable doing that you saved all this money doing your own body work you take it to a paint shop andIt'll be a fraction of the price because they won't have to do everything all they have to do is send this down a littleBit tape off the wheel and around here and feather in that paint job nowI went out and I bought spray paint thatMatches the paint code to this car and then I also got the clear coat to go along with that so we're gonna trySpray-painting this and making it look good. All right since we're gonna be painting this ourselvesLet's go and send that primer down for this. We're going to be using a 600 grit sandpaperWhich is a pretty fine sandpaper and the goal here is to smooth out this?transition from our good paint to our primer and alsoSand the primer so it's nice and smooth make sure you use a sanding block so everything is straight and even and don't press downtoo hardlet the sandpaper do the work you also want to stand out into the paintwork so we have a smooth transition layer for when wepaint good now use alcohol or adhesive remover to get the area nice and clean for our final paint job with our primer nice andSmooth and about a two inch scuff area that goes into the clear coatWe're ready for our first coat of base coatSo let's mask off the area using the curved paper technique to get a soft paint edgeOkay, let's paint this panel the goal is light even coats focus most of the painting in the filler areaBut don't try to put thick coats to cover it all at once because then the paints are just gonna runInstead use light coats, and it should look nice and even just like that once this dries to a matte finishWe'll add our next coat now. You can see it's a matte color and not shiny anymore plusIt's a little bit lighterSo it's time to add our next coat and we're gonna spray on this next coatSlightly thicker than the last coat so we're finishing up this second coat good now againWe're gonna let this coat dry to a matte finish and finally we are on our last coat and at this pointI think you get the idea of what we're doing and with our base coat dryNow we can move to our clear coat phase, and this is actually a little trickThat's really helpful inPreventing orange peel you put your clear coat bottle in the hottest water that you could get from your sink that heats up the canAnd gives you a better spray pattern just make sure you wipe down the cansSo you don't get any water on your fresh paint job nowWe're gonna apply our first coat which is going to be a relatively light coatBut we want full coverage similar to the base coat we're gonna end up doing about three coatsAnd that is looking so good. That's code number one and don't worry about the paint color right now because when the paint driesIt's gonna change color nowLet's do coat number two let that dry and then do the final coat this coat should be slightly thicker so that there's less orangepeelBut you don't want it to be too thick because that could cause the paint to run perfect so three coats laterThis is looking awesomeI cannot wait for this to dryAnd I'm gonna show you how to wet sand it to get rid of that orange peel and also blend it into the paintSo after an hour the paint's dry enough so that we could remove the paper and put the bumper back onNow you're asking yourself. Why is there a lineup here? Why does it look all dusty?Well, that's some of the clear coat that dries in the air and then lands on the paintI don't want to dust it off now cuz that's our brand new clear coat that's still curingSo we're just gonna leave it like that and then in a couple of daysI'm gonna come back and wet sand this and clean up all this dust and you're gonna see the results this is gonna look awesomealright a few days laterlet's wet send this paint andFinish this up now though the instructions on the clear coat say you could sand it after 24 hoursI wanted to give this a couple of days to fully cure so the first thing you want to do is you want to grab?Your soapy water and you want to spray down this entire area then grab a microfiber towel and clean the areaSo there's no dirt or debris left over that dirt and debris could rub into the paint while we're wet sanding and create deeper scratchesNext tape off any edges that you don't want to sand like down here at the bumper so for the wet sanding processHere's the sandpaperWe're going to be using we're going to be going from 1500 to 2000 to 3000 to 5000 gritThese are very fine sand papers, so we're going to start out with our 1500 grit sandpaperIt's wet it's been soaking in soapy water for about ten minutes and grab a sponge and wrap the sponge in the sandpaperWhat the sponge is gonna? Do is when you're apply pressureIt's going to even out the pressure and it's also going to conform with the curves of the carSo let's start the wet sanding the first thingI want to do is spray down the entire areaWith soapy water get it as wet as you can and also make sure your sandpaper is wet you want to stand back and forthNot in circular motions, and one other thing is our new clear coat is in this area down hereBut we are going to want to come up into the factory clear coat so that we could have a nice smooth transition from factoryClear coat to brand new clear coat and while you send you don't want to focus in one spot likeThat you want to use long strokes and move along the entire body of the carOnce you're done sanding spray the area down with soapy water and then clean the area with a microfiber towel so with our1500 grit wet sand completely done nowWe're gonna go and move to the 2,000 grit so spray the area down with soapy waterSand the entire panel smooth and clean it off with a towel now after our 2000 gritWe have a nice uniform hazeYou could kind of see the new paint in the old paint right thereBut I mean once we buff that it's going to come right out. It's gonna look so goodI cannot wait to finish this so let's go and wet sand with the3000 grit sandpaper following the exact same process as we've been doing then dry it with your towel and finish up with the5000 grit using the same exact process and finally clean the area off and let it dry completely so after our 5000 gritLet's remove that tape and we're onto the last stepAnd that is to use a Polish to bring back the shine in this paint and you can do this by handBut I highly recommend using an electric buffer like this because this is going to make your job so much easierAnd you're really going to get a great shine out of the paintworkso all you have to do is put a little polish on the wool pad andHand buff it into the paint work until it's spread out then use the buffer on a low setting keeping it under1,200 rpms keep that buffer moving, so you don't burn into the clear coatAnd you don't have to press hard let the buffer do all the work for youAfter you're done buffing wipe down the panel to remove the polish and check out this shine this came out awesome nowI'm by no means a professional painter or a professional bodywork guyBut the whole point of this video is to show you what you could do at homeSo this gives you a good idea of the results you could expect if you were to take this on here's what we started withWith all the rust damage, and here's what we ended up with a million times better, and not only does this look pretty goodBut most importantly we stopped the rust so the owner could drive this vehicle for years to come and that is how you repair rust?Damage, so I hope the video was helpful if it was remember to give it a thumbs upAnd if you're not a subscriberconsider subscribing and finally every tool and productI used in this video is linked in the description so you could easily find it that way you could do this yourself\n"