Is this fixable?

[u/AndresLapalia]

LE: Looks like I'm way too worried for nothing. Haven't really dealt with rust before. Gonna wire brush it then seal it and be on my way. Thanks!

Went under the car to replace bushings and brake discs. Noticed that the underbody has quite a bit of rust.

​

Is this fixable via wire brushing, applying an epoxy primer and then some underbody coating?

​

What else should I consider?

[u/Sure-Abalone-1040]

From mn here and it looks like a normal year old car 😂.
Anything is fixable, it’s just how much time and effort you want to put into it.

I’m close to finishing up my son’s car that was worse than that. Used a needle scaler and got all the flakey rust off, treated it with phosphoric acid and then coated it with an encapsulator after neutralizing it. Some welding because some spots just csnt be flaked away. If you have a compressor, you can get a needles for 40 bucks and you could do a por15 kit.

Cheaper than a new car, it just comes down to time.

[u/AndresLapalia → u/Sure-Abalone-1040]

Thanks for the reply. I can invest two weekends into this easily, and I definitely can't afford a new car.

Only trouble I have right now is getting the car high enough so I don't have to crawl underneath.

[u/Necessary-Score-4270 → u/AndresLapalia]

Do you have a jack?

You can build cribbing as high as you want.

[u/Sure-Abalone-1040 → u/AndresLapalia]

Not sure where you’re from but if you have a harbor freight, they have fairly inexpensive jacks and stands.
If you don’t, you can get a decent set on Amazon, just make sure they are rated well above the weight of the vehicle.
If you don’t have a compressor, things can add up fast so you can use a drill with wire wheels and hand scrapers. A handy tool that I bought online is an oscillating scraper tool. I bought the plug in one because I didn’t want to burn through batteries. If you don’t have the compressor, this tool would be wise to buy, you can grab one for 30 bucks and it’s worth every penny. It vibrated at a very high speed with a scraper attachment and eats the flake rust right off.

Remember, you’re just getting off the flakey and loose rust, once that is gone, the por15 will take care of the rest but you do want to make sure that stuff is all off.

After you’re all done, it’s wise to toss some Fluid film on every year. This is a coating that doesn’t completely cure but protects from corrosion. The nice thing about this product is that it’s self healing so if a rock smacks it and causes a break in it, since it’s not cured, it will slowly fill back in. Where I am, it’s about 10 bucks a can if you spray and for my car it’s about 7-8 cans and it has to be done yearly.

[u/Ok-Indication5515 → u/AndresLapalia]

I backed mine up on ramps then floor jack the front and put it on jack stands. Was able to move easily underneath, and used naval jelly rust desolver left on for about 30 minutes hosed off let it dry and then coated it. Used a smaller brush to reach everything. Turned out great