I have some small rust patches in the area of my hatch seal, so I removed the hatch seal itself. I think I have a serious rust problem. Anyone deal with this issue before? If so how did you take care of it. The rest of the car has very little rust on it.

Here are some pictures
https://picasaweb.google.com/1179628...eat=directlink

So how screwed am I?

 

This thread has come at the perfect time. I have also just noticed some rust in the same area of my 7, albeit not quite as much as pictured.

Very interested in some feed back..it hurt to discover these blemishes on my otherwise rust-free S model! :|

 

I had a similar issue. Mine was caused from a clogged drain. I just attacked it like any other rust spot.

 

Hiya - don't think that's "small " I rebuilt my channel curves n all with folded over 1mm metal -treated -onto existing - spot welded it at points and reinforced underside where needed .Check the seams at far left /right also for corrosion,as it's already seeping under the paintwork look for bubbling ,but definitely a sand down weld repaint jobbie .Don't use any silicone typr stuff as the repaint will not take -Upol- paint manfs have a nasty sealant called Tiger Seal which seals and can be painted over -awful mastic stuff to work with but I coated the gutter with it .

 

Not unfixable, but definately not gonna save the paint ing that area. What you need to do first is get a wire brush mounted on either a drill or right angle grinder and grind all the paint/rust/dirt/etc out of the areas in and around where you can see rust. Once you get back to bare metal, you will have to repair the areas that are perforated (rust holes) with new metal, welded in (watch the heat build up, dont want to start warping anything). Trim to fit new sheetmetal repair panels, weld em in, then grind everything w/ the wire brush again. Once you have all the perforations repaired, you can relax a little bit, hard parts over. Get either some POR15 or Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and brush it over everything that had rust on it, both inside and out, as well as the bare metal you have opened up around the rust areas...these products will literally "seal" the rust pits and keep the rust from coming back because no oxygen or water can get to the metal anymore. Once you have gotten to this point, you can hit it with an epoxy primer, then a urethane primer and continue with regular bodywork (pits will have to be filled so they dont show. You also need to go tot a true auto paint store and get a tube of paintable seam sealer and reseal all the factory seams in the metal that you can see. Do this on the outside. Then repaint the area to match as best you can, or do a new paintjob....its fixable, you arent screwed too bad....good luck

 

+1 on the POR15!!! Properly applied AND assuming you keep the drains UNplugged, it will be bullet-proof. Looks like you have most of the metal still. Now, have you checked down in the BOTTOMs of the rear quarter panels. Big rust area too, esp if water was getting in there from these rails. Might as well pull you taillights and get a light in there and see what's up before putting Blood and Treasure into the rails only to discover quarter panels are shot!

One more are you better check too: if you have a sunroof, LIFT UP THE RUBBER GASKET on it to to make sure you aren't having the same prob!

Its at a make-or-break point now to check ALL these spots before the repair, in case you get underwater with the other "unknowns". Hate to bear bad news (potentially) but better to know where you stand with the whole car. Usually if you find one area THAT severe, its no the only one Chris

'luck
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska