Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Jeeps are fun to abuse and to repair. In my case, I bought a 2000 Jeep TJ. Its body is in pretty good shape except for some rust spots here and there. I thought it was about time that I learned how to do this properly so I went out and bought an Air Compressor, a Spray Gun, and some professional chemical paints/primers/thinners to have my first adventure in quality autobody restoration. This thread is devoted to my attempt. I welcome any advice or "constructive" criticism that you have.

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Okay, so my first target is an area that is not easily visible. This is a strategic move as I have never done any body work before nor used an air brush.

You can see in this image the issue that I am repairing. Water tends to accumulate from boots and such in the door frame area. It has caused bubbling, and chipping of the paint. Brown rust is also clearly visible on the exposed metalic surface.

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Paint removal and rust grinding:

I first tried using a 100 grit sanding sponge to remove the paint in the two trouble areas. This was a slow process, especially since there was residue from some clear tape that was laid over that area to prevent rust from forming. I got annoyed and switched to a grinding disk that attaches to my drill. This works incredibly well ! Less than 2 minutes later, I managed to grind away ALL the rust, even in the pitted little holes. It turns out that there was rust forming all along the floor so I grinded the whole thing down. So far so good... no holes right through the metal, just tiny dimples in two areas.

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Rust Inhibitor:

Okay so I went to the Jeep dealership to get some paint. He sent me to a professional autobody paint supplier warehouse where they could mix some special paint for me to match the color (Solar Yellow). The guy at the warehouse tells me that they stopped using Rust Inhibitor 15 years ago. Apparently now they use this grey Etch Primer. Sound like rust inhibitor to me, lol, fill me in if you know what this stuff is.

I sprayed it on using the spray paint can it came in. Two light coats 5 minutes apart. It looks amazing! This etch primer comes out fully atomized to give a very nice finish. I'm impressed. Spray paint usually looks like crap.

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Bondo:

Okay, so the guy at the paint shop told me to sandwich Bondo Automotive Body Filler between the two primer paints (etch primer, and real primer). In my case, there are no holes to fill. However, there are some low spots here and there where I grinded away all the paint. I have decided to use Bondo (since I bought some) over a few areas so that the entire frame is at the same elevation. This turns out to be a huge mistake as you will see in my next post...

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Bondo Error:

Okay so the next step was to sand the Bondo. I started with a 320 grit sanding sponge. The Bondo is so tough that it felt like I would never get through it all. I then switched to my 100 grit sanding sponge and could see slow progress.

While sanding (which was a huge pain in the arse) I managed to sand off much of the Etch Primer that I had previously applied. This means that there would be exposed metal with only regular primer to cover it. I was not sure what to do here... the guy said to sandwich the bondo between the two primers. wtf? I decided to spray a thin layer of Etch Primer over the areas that were bare metal. I hope that the real primer sticks to the Etch Primer because the bondo is no longer exposed.

Anyone have any insight here? (it's dark now, so that's it for day 1 of this repair).

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Primer:

Okay, so I woke up this morning and was fired up to complete the job! I quickly sanded the edges of the Etch Primed area to a bevel finish, taped the edges about half a cm further out than the etches area, and applied two medium coats of primer/sealer. I attached a photo of the chemical used for your information. I have to let it sit for a bit now until it is dry. This will give me the time I need to plug my air gun in for the very first time! woohoo!!

Also, I did some reading on the yellow paint that I will be applying. It says right in the instructions that it will bond to Etch Primer and/or Primer / Sealer. So my previous question is no longer relevant. Game time.

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

Painting (Air Brushing for the first time):

This turned out beautifully before I ruined it !!

I connected my air brush, ran the compressor, played with spraying water a few times and then mixed some paint (1 part thinner, 1 part paint as advertised).

I sprayed on 3 light coats. It did a splendid job. Much better than a spray paint can.

I let it sit for what seemed like forever (maybe 30 minutes) and then noticed that it was dry to touch.

The edges need to be blended into the old paint, so I grabbed the 300 grit sanding sponge... worked like a charm !

Then I ran my finger down the seam to make sure that there was no dimples....... the seam is STILL WET !! I left finger marks all down the seam. The paint ripped off onto my finger, right down to the primer in some spots. NIGHTMARE !!

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

I have decided to try to salvage the paint job (since its only inside the door anyways. I have dabbed additional paint (full power paint, not thinned) onto the areas that I tore off foolishly with my finger. I will let it set for an hour and try to sand it down after that.

*fingers crossed that I do not need to strip it down and restart...

Re: Adventures in DIY Rust Repair 2000 TJ
 

let it dry for a lot more than an hour- maybe till tomorrow- and then 'wet sand' with 800 grit or higher.
patience is key with any DIY auto body work.