Rocker rust dilemma

[Scratcher]

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These are pics of the passenger side rocker on my 2004 BEW. As you can see its pretty bad. I was about to pull the trigger on new springs and shocks on the rear and a timing job, as well as a couple of electrical issues. I really do want to keep the car. But I'm wondering if I am making a wise decision.
I was thinking of using a rust convertor, pumping in a load of expanding foam, covering it with Bondo fiberglass and slathering rubberized underseal over the underside.
Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?

 

[burpod]

just leave it. pumping foam and doing all that **** won't do anything. will make it worse. IMO, just leave it be, if nobody bothers you about it, who cares? wifes's car has some bad rocker area and other rust. i gave up caring. as long as my kids don't throw rocks at the car i'm good

 

[Scratcher]

just leave it. pumping foam and doing all that **** won't do anything. will make it worse. IMO, just leave it be, if nobody bothers you about it, who cares? wifes's car has some bad rocker area and other rust. i gave up caring. as long as my kids don't throw rocks at the car i'm good

Would you still go ahead with maintenance and repairs under these circumstances?

 

[burpod]

Would you still go ahead with maintenance and repairs under these circumstances?

i do. i don't care . wifes car has 278k on it (with original auto trans 09a)... 230k on the vnt17 and with my tune lately nets 48mpg in daily driving (which includes a good amount of short trips and when i drive it 75-84mph on the highway) . i'm not worried. its got some pretty bad rot at the rockers, so what. structurally, its the same

 

[tgray]

The only thing I find for this kind of condition is to spray something like fluid film on everywhere you can find. It will stop it from spreading or slow it down if you keep it covered. It creeps into the rust and cracks. Rust converter sounds good but it will never reach through the thick scale and into the seams. Never fill with foam or use undercoating. As stated above it will make it even worse. Mud flaps can help keep water and snow from hitting it so hard.

 

[Vince Waldon]

It's not structural, all MK4s will rust there eventually, cosmetic repairs are expensive and have a very short half-life before the rust re-appears.

I just leave it and drive on.... many timing belts later.

 

[P2B]

The rockers on my son's wagon have been AWOL for a while now, but it looks a lot better since he hit it with rust converter and Tremclad rust paint. Their silver doesn't quite match Reflex Silver, but it's a lot cheaper

 

[Mpaw]

Wow. Here the vehicle would be classified as unroadworthy and the police would stop you. One could face serious fines and also the insurance is invalid. Any rust spot more than 1/4 - 1/2" is recorded in the roadworthy test. This is part of the state policy to get people to buy new German cars. Even if one adds a spacer on the wheels that has not been officially approved (and one can prove it when the police do a control) a car is classified as "unroadworthy". All the EGR deletes etc. people write about lead to mega-stress here...
Anyway, I would treat the rust with a rust stopper in the hope of stopping it spreading. And then either leave it, or use it as a practice welding project when it's convenient.
As people wrote, foam is *really bad* because after a time it shrinks and water just sits in between the foam and metal/rust, making it worse.

 

[Scratcher]

Yes

Wow. Here the vehicle would be classified as unroadworthy and the police would stop you. One could face serious fines and also the insurance is invalid. Any rust spot more than 1/4 - 1/2" is recorded in the roadworthy test. This is part of the state policy to get people to buy new German cars. Even if one adds a spacer on the wheels that has not been officially approved (and one can prove it when the police do a control) a car is classified as "unroadworthy". All the EGR deletes etc. people write about lead to mega-stress here...
Anyway, I would treat the rust with a rust stopper in the hope of stopping it spreading. And then either leave it, or use it as a practice welding project when it's convenient.
As people wrote, foam is *really bad* because after a time it shrinks and water just sits in between the foam and metal/rust, making it worse.

Yes, I know. I'm originally from Scotland. With the annual MOT inspection, it would not have gotten this far without cost prohibitive welding at an earlier stage. Now I live in the land of the free where moth and rust are free to roam wherever they will!

 

[csstevej]

Lol the only inspections here in NJ are for the gas cap and to make sure your CEL works and hasn’t been disabled…..the rest of the car could be falling off , but as long as the CEL works……your good to go..

 

[Scratcher]

Thanks for all the replies.
I'm thinking of spraying in a couple of cans of Rust oleum rust reformer at every conceivable angle followed by a few coats of oil based Rust oleum. (The $100 Christmas gift card from a few years ago was finally put to good use at Lowes)

As we all do, I searched YouTube and found various techniques from expanding foam (Which I am now convinced is a big no no) to using thin sheet metal or fiberglass to cover over the already treated area. Leaving it open might actually be the preferred choice as it can more easily be monitored and reapplied as necessary.

The good thing is that none of this is actually visible when the car is on its wheels. Previous owner was a tree farmer so its spent 19 years on forest tracks and was parked on grass

Any further input is most welcome!

 

[Prairieview]

THAT'S not structural?
Really?
If not, then how much farther up in there IS structural?
I'm in the process of throwing away a car with far less rot.

 

[Scratcher]

THAT'S not structural?
Really?
If not, then how much farther up in there IS structural?
I'm in the process of throwing away a car with far less rot.

I think the box sections are considered as the stress bearing parts of the chassis. It was so much easier in the days of framed chassis to make the distinction between bodywork and chassis. Only pickups and trucks have retained that configuration. Considering that the vehicle was able to support its weight on my friends lift I don't think we are at critical mass yet. I could be wrong though!

 

[Zak99b5]

There are replacement rocker panels you can buy and weld in after cutting off the old ones.

I'd soak any/all rust that remains with fluid film before welding the new rockers up, then annually spray more fluid film inside. Sure will slow down the rust.

 

[Scratcher]

There are replacement rocker panels you can buy and weld in after cutting off the old ones.

I'd soak any/all rust that remains with fluid film before welding the new rockers up, then annually spray more fluid film inside. Sure will slow down the rust.

I'm not a welder and welding is expensive!!

 

[jmodge]

Fluid film, and stay off Market Street in front of the City’s Public Works, the road is impregnated with salt

 

[snakeye]

Cut the rust out, clean it up to bare metal, coat with something like epoxy primer or POR15, cover the hole with sheet metal painted on both sides using rivets and panel adhesive. THEEEN do what you said you're going to do.

 

[Scratcher]

Fluid film, and stay off Market Street in front of the City’s Public Works, the road is impregnated with salt

Lol

 

[J_dude]

The rockers on my son's wagon have been AWOL for a while now, but it looks a lot better since he hit it with rust converter and Tremclad rust paint. Their silver doesn't quite match Reflex Silver, but it's a lot cheaper

It’s actually pretty close, I redid a spot on my rocker that was just surface rust and it’s hard to tell the difference

Also POR15 was mentioned above, that stuff is a bad idea, it will just rust even more underneath after that stuff is applied since it traps the moisture in.

 

[dieseldonato]

It’s actually pretty close, I redid a spot on my rocker that was just surface rust and it’s hard to tell the difference

Also POR15 was mentioned above, that stuff is a bad idea, it will just rust even more underneath after that stuff is applied since it traps the moisture in.

Been using por15 for year on restorations and never once had any issues like that, nor have I heard of anyone having issues like that. It's biggest downside is it has basically no uv resistance and needs topcoated or it will get chalky.

 

[J_dude]

Been using por15 for year on restorations and never once had any issues like that, nor have I heard of anyone having issues like that. It's biggest downside is it has basically no uv resistance and needs topcoated or it will get chalky.

Well from my reading on the subject a few years back it seems there are VERY mixed reviews on the stuff. A quick google search brings up a ton of recent reports of failure as well. Not sure how you’ve not heard of this.
Maybe it is just super picky about prep, but I wouldn’t waste my time on it from the horror stories I’ve heard. Especially not as advertised “Paint Over Rust.”
When it goes wrong, whether that be a result of incorrect prep or not (I’ve heard it both ways) it fails big time.

 

[Scratcher]

I'm using rust-oleum because I know it works

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I left an extensive suggestion/instruction in the comments of your photos. Takes time and it’s not the prettiest result. But light years better than what it is now.

POR 15 can have excellent results with good prep. But the material starts to solidify once you open the can. Wasted $.

Rusty rocker

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[KrashDH]

I'm using rust-oleum because I know it works

Rust-Oleum? For serious rot?
That isn't gonna do anything.
There are dedicated rust inhibitor and sealers out there that are professional grade and used by body shops that we can use at home. Rust-Oleum won't do anything. Sorry, seen out way too many times where that was used and failed miserably

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Rust Oleum is a scam.

 

[Scratcher]

There are dedicated rust inhibitor and sealers out there that are professional grade and used by body shops

Can you name some please?

 

[Scratcher]

At the end of the day, I found a Lowes gift card I had forgotten about with a hundred bucks on it. My local Lowes store stocks Rust oleum rust convertor and paint so that's what I went with because thats all I can afford. I used it to repaint my 1983 F250 and its done a pretty decent job on a 40 year old truck. Ive already emptied one can of the convetor into this thing and plan to empty another one in there after 24 hours.

The next stage will be to thin down the gallon of oil based rustoleum. Load it into my sprayer and empty that onto the entire underside of the vehicle paying special attention to the bad areas. After that I might use either fiberglass or sheet metal, cover the bad area and slather it with another few coats of paint. I think that will buy me a year or two.

 

[jmodge]

Fluid film has worked on oceon going ships since the 1940’s, if you weren’t aware. Do a little research on it. Discounting it as a serious option is a mistake in my opinion, and experience. Nothing can come between it and the metal. There’s also a product called permafilm that can be applied over it, that I never tried. Fluid film, better than paint. All I can say, up to you to accept or reject it.

 

[Nuje]

Yeah - i've found Rustoleum rust inhibitor, anti-rust paint, etc. to be all but useless, even on just surface corrosion. I used a can-plus of the on a rear axle....a year later, I just had giant strips of black-coloured rust peeling off.
Went with FluidFilm after that....and THAT stuff just plain works. Sticks, doesn't wash off, no peeling a year later.

 

[KrashDH]

Can you name some please?

I'll try and dig up what we used for our Tacoma frame.
But also Google Fu my man... It's the way we find all this stuff...