# How fast does the fender rust spread? Anyone successfully fought it?



## emjay8 (Feb 29, 2012)

Spot is about a quarter inch in size and about 2 inches above the wheel.

Older previous owner, so low miles and garage kept or I suspect it would be much worse. But now it'll be left outside and driven in the wintery (road salt) midwest. What will it look like in 5 years? The spot is above what fender trim would hide.

I suppose I could sand it and fill with a little bondo, but I'm pretty skittish about that since I don't know if a can of touch up paint would match the factory color. Anyone successfully kept rust at bay doing this?


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## lilGreenB14 (May 13, 2011)

Well... I would take advantage of the fact that it is small now and go a head and sand, cut out and Bondo the hell out of it while it is small.. do not be like me and wait ..because I had to rebuild my entire rear tire wells... let me tell you rust is like car cancer... get it now or you will kick your own ass later!!!


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## 99sentra_gxe (Mar 29, 2012)

hey Green how did you go about rebuilding them I have the same problem and they are too out of control way past the point where i can bondo them


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## lilGreenB14 (May 13, 2011)

I am assuming that they are the rear wells? Because if so, check in your trunk too... what happens is the water has come up and rusted out the well from the inside out... I pulled back my trunk carpet and about six inches under the seat belt mechanism was a huge rusted area... It literally was over a foot long and four inches wide in spots... I ended up cutting away the areas and using plexi glass as a support, used spray foam ( yes it sounds drastic but I needed something to build on) to build upon that would not fall apart. THEN once it cured, if you dont wait till at least 12 hours if it is thick and place bondo near it it will turn a green ooze like substance.. much like snot.. it is nasty... anyways... I used the plexi to build the well the plexi will not adhere to the bondo so it is a perfect medium to build and reshape the well... .took me about a week to rebuild my trunk... after it was reshaped and water tight I sprayed everything with the truck bed liner... the rubber stuff... just to be sure haha.... I am still working on perfecting other areas of the car.. like the area in between the front and passenger doors...Nissan did a rather stupid thing and placed drain holes that lead up into the area between the doors.. leading to water sitting in those areas and corroding the steel... real smart of them.... any more questions let me know..  by all means i am not a pro... I am just poor and this worked for me.. no one can tell it is spray foam inside the well...


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## lukesSX (Feb 17, 2010)

I have some rust in the mddle of my sideskirts that's been there for a long time. I'm in the midwest as well and it hasn't really gotten much bigger yet. I've been meaning to get it fixed, but I keep putting it off, lol.


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## lilGreenB14 (May 13, 2011)

Lukesx.. that is funny.. I have come to the conclusion that the side skirts are just horrible... mine are all in need of being reconstructed..which I am in the process of... however I need another container of Bondo... once I reconstruct them I am slathering them in rhino lining.. I am not going to be doing that again.. it is a real pain the the ass.. once they are redone I am going to put some nice JDM side skirts on...  
but there is no point in putting on nice aftermarket stuff when the base is shot.


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## emjay8 (Feb 29, 2012)

The reading I'm doing pretty much says that if you sand the rust down and bondo it, even the new paint will bubble since there will still be a hole on the inside of the body.

So I'm thinking (in addition to sand and bondo outer fender) use a wire brush up in the wheel well on the inside of the fender. Get that fairly clean and then apply Por15. Assuming that sticks, there's no backing hole for moisture to get through.

Sound like a plan?


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## lilGreenB14 (May 13, 2011)

Yup, sounds good... I even coated everything that I could manage with my short little arms with that undercoating stuff.. like truck bed liner... then coated it with the primer and the paint that i was using.... you can never be too certain lol


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