Trunk Rust

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LJS30

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Here are pictures of the disappointing rust I found in my trunk today. I crawled underneath and found no holes whatsoever. So, I dried it up, closed the trunk and sprayed water on the trunk lid and down the window. It seems like it's my rear window seals and trunk weatherstripping. Is this trunk done? From the attached pics could this merely be sanded, treated, and painted?

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It seems like it to me. It looks very solid and if you say there are no holes then I would say so. Maybe even some POR 15 would do the job for you.
 
I wish my trunk was that good. I have to completely replace mine as I have huge hole rotted right through it that I can fit my head through and whats there is totally rusted lol
 
Climb in there with some 36grit and get to work. That trunk looks way do-able.
 
tfie93 said:
It seems like it to me. It looks very solid and if you say there are no holes then I would say so. Maybe even some POR 15 would do the job for you.
Click to expand...

What do you think? Just use a circular sander to get all the rust off, smooth it out, then place some POR on it?
 
I would wire wheel the trunk with a twisted wire brush on a handheld grinder (been there done that). Wear gloves and eye proctection, maybe even a cup (ask me why). Once you wire wheel the trunk you can determine what size holes you're dealing with. If they are pin holes I would POR-15 the hell out of it first, from top and bottom, and then use some type of heavy duty putty to fill pin holes. Once holes are filled, I would POR-15 over the patch. You can top coat the POR-15 with "shake and rattle" in the color of your choice.
 
Yes! Like everyone said wire brush or sand and POR15. This should be an easy fix for you.
 
what is por-15? and where do you get it?
 
You may have a smaller leak at the rear window . Relace the trunk lid seal.
The oem type is available. The less expensive alternative is to pull a seal from a parts yard donor. The hollow tube on a U shaped channel is a better design anyway. It takes a little more effort to close my trunk but the high pressure wash wont get inside.
The toughest part of the trunk floor is the cleaning. I wish they hadn't filled the stampings with that undercoating crap. Some of the stuff will jump off in chunks and some is very stubborn.
I always remove the body drain plugs under the trunk floor extensions and flush it all out with the high pressure wash. Once its clean and dry I treat it with a rust ender.
 
You SoCal guys are spoiled. Wire wheel it, hit it with some Ospho, then some good paint. Also find where the water came from, hopefully its the trunk seal and not the back window gasket. I would almost jump for joy if I could find sheetmetal like that here in the rust belt.
 
Demon 408 said:
I would wire wheel the trunk with a twisted wire brush on a handheld grinder (been there done that). Wear gloves and eye proctection, maybe even a cup (ask me why). Once you wire wheel the trunk you can determine what size holes you're dealing with. If they are pin holes I would POR-15 the hell out of it first, from top and bottom, and then use some type of heavy duty putty to fill pin holes. Once holes are filled, I would POR-15 over the patch. You can top coat the POR-15 with "shake and rattle" in the color of your choice.
Click to expand...

Why a cup?
 
Ospho is inexpensive... and I have been impressed by it. Ill let you know in 5yrs or so... but the stuff has been around a long time.
 
LJS30 said:
Why a cup?
Click to expand...

Actually the reason for the cup is if you decide to get inside the trunk why you are using the grinder/wire wheel...here's why. I was sitting in the trunk because it was too difficult to lean in and reach all the areas. So there I was...sitting on my *** with my legs apart removing the rust with my 9,000 rpm grinder and wire wheel. All of a sudden I caught an edge and the grinder kicked back and hit me right in the family jewels. So there I sit with the wind knocked out of me, so I drop the grinder. The grinder runs up my arm (long sleeve shirt thankfully). Now if I hadn't been such a cheap bastard I would have bought one with the "dead man" paddle switch, but instead the grinder I bought has a "lock" switch (bad decision). So the grinder takes off across the trunk until it hits the opposite side and bounces off the wheel well and starts back at me, at 9,000 rpm! Dude, I never move so fast in my entire live...I grabbed the electric cord and reeled in the grinder like it was an attacking snake so I could shut it off. That’s why you may need a cup.
 
RedFish said:
You may have a smaller leak at the rear window . Relace the trunk lid seal.
The oem type is available. The less expensive alternative is to pull a seal from a parts yard donor. The hollow tube on a U shaped channel is a better design anyway. It takes a little more effort to close my trunk but the high pressure wash wont get inside.
The toughest part of the trunk floor is the cleaning. I wish they hadn't filled the stampings with that undercoating crap. Some of the stuff will jump off in chunks and some is very stubborn.
I always remove the body drain plugs under the trunk floor extensions and flush it all out with the high pressure wash. Once its clean and dry I treat it with a rust ender.
Click to expand...

I've ordered a new trunk seal from The Paddock about a week ago so hopefully it comes in soon. If I can get done with some lesson planning today I might get into the trunk job.
 
Demon 408 said:
Actually the reason for the cup is if you decide to get inside the trunk why you are using the grinder/wire wheel...here's why. I was sitting in the trunk because it was too difficult to lean in and reach all the areas. So there I was...sitting on my *** with my legs apart removing the rust with my 9,000 rpm grinder and wire wheel. All of a sudden I caught an edge and the grinder kicked back and hit me right in the family jewels. So there I sit with the wind knocked out of me, so I drop the grinder. The grinder runs up my arm (long sleeve shirt thankfully). Now if I hadn't been such a cheap bastard I would have bought one with the "dead man" paddle switch, but instead the grinder I bought has a "lock" switch (bad decision). So the grinder takes off across the trunk until it hits the opposite side and bounces off the wheel well and starts back at me, at 9,000 rpm! Dude, I never move so fast in my entire live...I grabbed the electric cord and reeled in the grinder like it was an attacking snake so I could shut it off. That’s why you may need a cup.
Click to expand...

Wow, now you have me thinking about a shard of metal flying into my balls. :stop: :toothy10:
 
Demon 408 said:
Actually the reason for the cup is if you decide to get inside the trunk why you are using the grinder/wire wheel...here's why. I was sitting in the trunk because it was too difficult to lean in and reach all the areas. So there I was...sitting on my *** with my legs apart removing the rust with my 9,000 rpm grinder and wire wheel. All of a sudden I caught an edge and the grinder kicked back and hit me right in the family jewels. So there I sit with the wind knocked out of me, so I drop the grinder. The grinder runs up my arm (long sleeve shirt thankfully). Now if I hadn't been such a cheap bastard I would have bought one with the "dead man" paddle switch, but instead the grinder I bought has a "lock" switch (bad decision). So the grinder takes off across the trunk until it hits the opposite side and bounces off the wheel well and starts back at me, at 9,000 rpm! Dude, I never move so fast in my entire live...I grabbed the electric cord and reeled in the grinder like it was an attacking snake so I could shut it off. That’s why you may need a cup.
Click to expand...
video??
 
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