Time to fix some rust

[snakeye]

I finally have my wagon in perfect working order, so it's time to give the body some love. I'm mostly concerned about the rockers, as they are rusting near the front and one already has a hole.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with getting this fixed and has any advice to give. I know it'll be hard finding a good body shop that'll do a good job on a rusted car. What should I be looking for in my search, and what questions should I be asking them?

 

[Zak99b5]

Depends on how good you want the car to look when you’re done.
is your goal to make it look like new, or just slow the rust down as much as possible and make it look presentable?

Even if you get new metal welded in and did all the paint &c. ($$) there probably is rust still hiding on the inside behind the paint in the rockers and elsewhere.
You could use a rust removal wheel on a drill, ospho to treat all the rust you can see (spray it inside the rockers as best you can), then spray fluid film inside any and all places you can reach, and finally paint the treated rust to match the car.

 

[snakeye]

I'm planning on spending a good amount of money on it, and want a job that's well done and that'll last. I'm thinking of going to a dealer, or body shop that the dealer deals with. I'm guessing they have experience with warranty claims and can do the job right.

Oh and to complicate things, the underbody and wheel wells are covered in a tar like rustproofing stuff, which seems extremely hard to remove, so that might complicate things.

 

[Poor King]

I suggest going to an auto body associated with insurance companies. Myself, I opened the rear right passenger door on my MK2 and found a decent sized rust hole looking straight down...

#metoo

 

[Rob Mayercik]

I'd lean more toward an independent - been my experience (at least, in NJ) that body shops that work with insurance companies have no interest in working on anything more than 3 years old.

 

[Poor King]

I'd lean more toward an independent - been my experience (at least, in NJ) that body shops that work with insurance companies have no interest in working on anything more than 3 years old.

Good point.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I've had the left and right sides repaired on my Wagon on two separate occasions, most recently last year. What you need to be prepared for is what looks like some minor rust might look like this once the shop digs into it:

I am fortunate to have a small independent shop near me that does accident repair work for local VW and Audi dealers, so they know the cars. And they're willing to work on rust. It's not cheap, but if you want to keep the car it's worthwhile.

 

[snakeye]

^ That's probably what my rocker looks like. I'm not that lucky; I think the body shop that deals with the dealership nearest to my place is called Auto Bugatti, just to give you an idea of what kind of cars and clientele they deal with. They have a show room with high end sports cars on display.

Perhaps a vw in-house body shop?

IBW how much did that cost to repair, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[BobnOH]

I see no reason for a VW body shop. Just a good independent IMHO. Standard procedure is to cut out rotted areas, weld in new metal, finish. Not cheap. You can also replace the whole unit with parts like these (not a vendor endorsement), but they are not bolt-on, cut and weld required.

 

[ToxicDoc]

Agree with Bob. Rust is rust. You don't need a VW specialist. A lot of body guys just hate doing it or doing extensive work unless doing a disassembled restoration ($$) job. I have found that I can get a guy to do one area (eg "hey can you do this rocker area for me") and come back another time, maybe a couple months later, for another section. This seems to not turn them off to the job.

 

[turbocharged798]

Its one thing to repair the rust and its another thing to have it last. You really need three layers of protection, a zinc based wash primer, epoxy primer, and top coat. Once you weld though it you destroy the surface protection. Best way is to weld then put on the corrosion protection which is almost impossible to do inside the rocker. I just repaired one of my cars by bonding the end cap with panel bond instead of welding for this reason. Then you have to fill the rocker cavity with wax. I use a 3M product.

Its not quick or easy to do it correctly but any other way and it going to rot back out in short order.

 

[snakeye]

Its one thing to repair the rust and its another thing to have it last. You really need three layers of protection, a zinc based wash primer, epoxy primer, and top coat. Once you weld though it you destroy the surface protection. Best way is to weld then put on the corrosion protection which is almost impossible to do inside the rocker. I just repaired one of my cars by bonding the end cap with panel bond instead of welding for this reason. Then you have to fill the rocker cavity with wax. I use a 3M product.

Its not quick or easy to do it correctly but any other way and it going to rot back out in short order.

Good info, thanks! Isn't there also some kind of rocker guard stuff underneath the paint, or is that just the epoxy primer?

 

[snakeye]

Agree with Bob. Rust is rust. You don't need a VW specialist. A lot of body guys just hate doing it or doing extensive work unless doing a disassembled restoration ($$) job. I have found that I can get a guy to do one area (eg "hey can you do this rocker area for me") and come back another time, maybe a couple months later, for another section. This seems to not turn them off to the job.

Yeah that's true, but a shop that exclusively deals with VWs and has been doing the same repairs on the same spots on the same cars for years should have more experience doing the specific job I want done than other shops around. Then again, maybe they'll refuse to repair the rust since it's no longer covered under warranty.

 

[turbocharged798]

Good info, thanks! Isn't there also some kind of rocker guard stuff underneath the paint, or is that just the epoxy primer?

There is but I have yet to figure out what it is. Regular seam sealer over the epoxy primer seems to be similar.