Rust Treatment

[Wilfred]

Hello

I noticed today on my LS that there is a spot and i mean a spot (its that small) of rust on the edge of the door and boot. The door happened because of a shopping trolley i think. Anyways its really small like a speck but i just want to know more about it since i do intend to drive it for another 15 yo's at least.

1/ What damage does rust do

2/ How should i treat it

3/ Is it worth treating even if its like a speck of less than 1mm diametre

I never thought these things rust <_< i must have been the only unlucky one!

[daffy]

Hi Wilfred,

You basically have only two choices to fix the rust spot. That is, get it repainted or if not too noticable, you can buy a can of rust check and apply it to the area and do that every year. Rust check will stop the rust from spreading. These cars are galvanized and that in itself will slow the rusting. I have two rust spots on mine and being a 14 year old car with over 400,000 kilometers, it's not really worth it to repaint it now. My engine is still very strong and I think it will go another 200,000 easy. Good luck with yours, Daffy

[silvermate]

yeah thats great advice by Daffy

what you need to do, is sand the rust spot down to a smooth and level situation.

then buy a can of rust sealant.........and apply it to the area.......what that will do, essentially is stop the rust from spreading, and actaully seal the small rust spot in.

after the rust sealer dries go over it with some matching Lexus touch up paint, build it up in layers (at least 3) letting it dry in between applicatons, then take some fine grit sand paper start with 1500 then end with 2K grit paper to level off and blend the touchup paint, in VERY light and even lateral strokes.

after that clean the debris away, then use a good hand applicable scratch remover to remove the light sanding marks, follow with a sealant, and kiss the problem goodbye

[ArmyofOne]

yeah thats great advice by Daffy

what you need to do, is sand the rust spot down to a smooth and level situation.

then buy a can of rust sealant.........and apply it to the area.......what that will do, essentially is stop the rust from spreading, and actaully seal the small rust spot in.

after the rust sealer dries go over it with some matching Lexus touch up paint, build it up in layers (at least 3) letting it dry in between applicatons, then take some fine grit sand paper start with 1500 then end with 2K grit paper to level off and blend the touchup paint, in VERY light and even lateral strokes.

after that clean the debris away, then use a good hand applicable scratch remover to remove the light sanding marks, follow with a sealant, and kiss the problem goodbye

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easier way. i did this on my contour:

Sand spot to metal with dremel rotary tool. BE CAREFUL. do not exceed much beyond 1mm past the blemish, then, dab with rubbing achohol on a q-tip and apply touch up paint in layers as described above. problem will never recur, the rust isint just sealed up, its gone completely.

on my contour, the rust was on the bottom corners of the rear doors.

[Wilfred]

Someone suggested to me to just put fish oil over the top of the spots because its so small.

To get it repainted would probably cost more to get a new bonnet or boot. Im in the same situation as daffy while its a nice car, i don't know if its worth repainting. The speck is like a dot its so small that it would take a couple of years to get worse someone said last night especially if its already been galvanised.

But any experience with fish oil?

[ArmyofOne]

who said you had to repaint? do what i suggested, it will take you 20 mins...max.

[silvermate]

easier way. i did this on my contour:

Sand spot to metal with dremel rotary tool. BE CAREFUL. do not exceed much beyond 1mm past the blemish, then, dab with rubbing achohol on a q-tip and apply touch up paint in layers as described above. problem will never recur, the rust isint just sealed up, its gone completely.

thats way too aggressive for me..........i use the dremmel on a lot of things, and i love it.......but i keep it far away from the paint on my car (especailly outside paint,, it can be just way to aggressive and way too easy to mess up with it...... one slip with that thing and can you can burn right throught the pain, no matter what speed you have it on.

dremmels are awesome for alot of things, i use it all the time on various difffernt applications, but man i just woudn't touch my paint with it personally.

but yeah i'm sure it works great if you can be carefull with it (souns like it works great for you army)....but i would just rather take the time to do it by hand, to insure you get it worked out perfectly. especially if you are a novice

the ole dremmel works great to buff out old yellow headlights and exhaust tips as well......

[ArmyofOne]

easier way. i did this on my contour:

Sand spot to metal with dremel rotary tool. BE CAREFUL. do not exceed much beyond 1mm past the blemish, then, dab with rubbing achohol on a q-tip and apply touch up paint in layers as described above. problem will never recur, the rust isint just sealed up, its gone completely.

thats way too aggressive for me..........i use the dremmel on a lot of things, and i love it.......but i keep it far away from the paint on my car (especailly outside paint,, it can be just way to aggressive and way too easy to mess up with it...... one slip with that thing and can you can burn right throught the pain, no matter what speed you have it on.

dremmels are awesome for alot of things, i use it all the time on various difffernt applications, but man i just woudn't touch my paint with it personally.

but yeah i'm sure it works great if you can be carefull with it (souns like it works great for you army)....but i would just rather take the time to do it by hand, to insure you get it worked out perfectly. especially if you are a novice

the ole dremmel works great to buff out old yellow headlights and exhaust tips as well......

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yeah, i gues i forget sometimes that not alot of people have the patience that i do when it comes to cars...

keep in mind wilfred, that IF you do the dremel thing, BE VERY CARFUL. it takes a steady hand (do not do it udner the influence of alchohol or cafffiene LOL) and a LOT of patience. i knwo a good body guy erein FT worth, you could probably have your carpainted for under $1,000 with lexus materials, unfortunately you are about 15m000 miles away, otherwise i woudl gladly help.

BTW, you will have to excuse my typing, i have been drinking a lil, (car is put away for the night no worries there) and may notbe typing the best.

[bartkat]

He says it's a 1mm spot, guys. That's less than .04". Just put some extend or other treatment to stop the rust, and then use the usual touch up paint.

[silvermate]

He says it's a 1mm spot, guys. That's less than .04". Just put some extend or other treatment to stop the rust, and then use the usual touch up paint.

oh gosh, my bad

for sure.......just use a dab of touchup, like bart said

for some reason i was thinking it was a bigger spot

[90LS400Lexus]

I agree- rust was definitely not an issue on these cars. I live in the southeast USA, where rust is not a much of a problem at all- even on older cars, but I guess just the humidity / salt air can cause bare metals (chipped paint) to start rust. I have even seen cars from Florida rust- but as mentioned- I guess from the salt air, or from the northern cars that made their way southward.

I have only seen one LS400 with rust and that was on E-Bay and was located in northern New York- where rust can be a serious issue on cars- as is the case with most cars in the northern USA/Canada. <_<

Like most everyone else recommended- I would simply use touch-up paints.

I hate it when those shopping baskets hit my car. My LS400 was full of dings from where it was struck by these at the supermarket. They have "bumpers" on them, but they still cause dents if they hit with enough force. <_<

One day last summer, I was exiting the market and saw a basket racing down the parking lot. It was headed straight for the side of a BRAND NEW Mercedes S500! Luckily, someone was able to stop it before it struck. The owner was relieved to say the least. :)

Good luck!

Hello

I noticed today on my LS that there is a spot and i mean a spot (its that small) of rust on the edge of the door and boot. The door happened because of a shopping trolley i think. Anyways its really small like a speck but i just want to know more about it since i do intend to drive it for another 15 yo's at least.

1/ What damage does rust do

2/ How should i treat it

3/ Is it worth treating even if its like a speck of less than 1mm diametre

I never thought these things rust  <_< i must have been the only unlucky one!

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[Wilfred]

Yeah trolley sucks and ive now been told what i thought was rust was just a stone chip and not rust from the inside coming out. So probably doesn't need attention thanks guys

[90LS400Lexus]

I agree. It should be well.

I had a paint chip like this on my engine hood panel on my old LS400 and it never amounted to anything at all.

Yeah trolley sucks and ive now been told what i thought was rust was just a stone chip and not rust from the inside coming out. So probably doesn't need attention thanks guys

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