Rear hatch rust

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

Post Reply
User avatar
Mulcheese
Getting Hooked!
Location: Maple Grove, Mn
Status: Offline

Rear hatch rust

Post by Mulcheese » Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:54 am

While the van is sitting in the garage waiting for new boots I thought that I would look into repair/painting the rust on hatch.

Image

What I would like to do is push in the window and seal at this corner. I do not want to remove the entire glass. Is this possible? Or is there a better way?
"attending to things in the moment with curiosity and acceptance."
____________________
82 Vanagon Westy - aka: Honey Badger - "cause she just dont give a ...."

User avatar
asiab3
IAC Addict!
Location: San Diego, CA
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Rear hatch rust

Post by asiab3 » Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:20 am

If you can see rear hatch rust, there is probably 75% more that you can't see, under the seal.

This was 100% invisible:

Image


This "perfect paint"……

Image


…was actually completely lifting off due to rust and water incursion…

Image


My recommendation is to acquire a new seal, remove the window, scrape the large chunks of rust out, wire brush the rest, and use a Rust-Catalyzing Primer on the remaining metal. After 24 hours, you can top coat this with a color close to your car. I have one spot on mine that I have to inspect every half a decade or so.

Here was 2012:

Image


And 2016:

Image


After treating with a wire brush, RCP, and a top coat of Rust-Oleum paint:

Image


Here is my favorite catalyzing primer, available from O'Reilly's or Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-RF12 ... B001DKR4BE

You can spray it into the cap and use a watercolor brush to apply it locally. It converts the iron oxide (rust) to iron phosphate (or similar; inert) so you can treat it like a primer once it's dry.

Good luck, and let us know if you have any questions!
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

Post Reply