Hatch Rust Repair

[chris91]

Okay, need to find someone to let me know if this can be repaired or should I just go with a new hatch that doesnt have any rust to begin with. Any of the paint guys wanna fill me in? Looking for prices too, if youd rather pm me thats fine. Want to get this rust taken care of and possibly my front and rear bumpers repainted as the tops have the usual fade.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d31/blown94ls/DSC00175.jpg

[CNTLOSE]

I am not a body man, but based on my prior history of trying to fix these I would find a new one. How is the inside along the seam? If any of that area is rotted I would not even try to save it.

[plated]

i sent you a pm back lmk what you wanna do,that hatch is shot by the way

[chris91]

Yeah I was thinkin that it was but wasnt sure since the inside isnt rusted at all. Mr. Plated I will be in touch! Thanks guys!

[chris91]

Damn, tried to edit and add more but it was over 15 mins.

What causes them to rust like this? This has to be the most common place for them to start. Is there anything to do to assure it wont happen again or are we just SOL there? Sucks cause this is a low mileage car and the rest of the car is rust free and in good shape.

[plated]

Damn, tried to edit and add more but it was over 15 mins.

What causes them to rust like this? This has to be the most common place for them to start. Is there anything to do to assure it wont happen again or are we just SOL there? Sucks cause this is a low mileage car and the rest of the car is rust free and in good shape.

the wing when they put holes in the hatch for the wing it allowed water to run down and lay the,causing rust,if you see any 1979-86 with no wing from the factory there rustfree,but most likely the winged hatches are ussually rusted out,i always got 79-86 wingless hatch to replace the 87-93 cars

[Pitbull1052]

I didnt think it looked to bad Chris

[chris91]

Yeah I didnt think it was too bad either. But Id imagine it starts from the inside so its a lot worse than we can see. Hey Plated is there anything that can be done so it doesnt happen again?

[plated]

Yeah I didnt think it was too bad either. But Id imagine it starts from the inside so its a lot worse than we can see. Hey Plated is there anything that can be done so it doesnt happen again?

it could be fixed but most likely it's gonna come back,it just holds water there,it get's between the outer and inner structure and just eats it away,you could use some euopean undercoating on a new hatch or good used i mean,to try to keep it from starting to rust maybe add some drain holes for any water that may lay there? or just keep it out of water

[chris91]

Yeah keeping it outta water isnt gonna happen. lol Wonder how much room I have to get inside of there to spray it with some undercoating. Ill have to pull the interior panel off to check it out. Guess Ill be on the hunt for a good used hatch hoping it hasnt already started on the inside. UGH, such fun.... Ill be in touch plated. Thanks again!

[Stangman]

Not much room to get in there. Its not all open when you pull that cover off... just a buncha little holes, and undercoating will not stop the rust, you need to get some rust encapsulator in there.... like chassis saver/rust seal brand.

[bronzeLX]

Stangman is right about the rust encapsulator or chassis saver sold by eastwood, good products but i wouldnt mess with that hatch. You would be money and time ahead just to buy another hatch and seal it with one of the eastwood products. I have seen very nice hatches 50-100 dollars, A repair job on that hatch just isnt going to last.

[chris91]

Yeah but finding a used hatch without the rust forming already on the inside is going to be a rough task. Wish they were easier to see on the inside to make sure they are really rust free. Shit, Brad's(pitbull1052) car is a garage queen and has it forming on his too. Guess Ill have to keep my eyes peeled for a hatch that hasnt had a spoiler on it like Plated said. Will be the only part on the car to not have the matching VIN sticker. This should be a fun search...

[Stangman]

A buddy of mine had a calypso/priimered hatch sitting in a barn at one time that had no rust. I will see if he still has it

You need to sandblast the bubbles on the outside, and kill them. Take the hatch off, stand it up with the end of it sitting on the ground, pull the wiring out, and the wing off, and the lock/mechanism out, and just pour rust seal in there and lean the hatch left and right and let it flow from side to side real good (you can get Rust Seal from KOI) It might slow it down for a while, but wont be a permanent solution, just a bandaid.

Then, fill the holes, get it smooth, zinc primer it (since it was sandblasted), sealer primer it, filler primer, sealer again, then paint and clear.

[chris91]

I dont plan on doing any of this myself. I planned on having a pro mess with it and the pro said go with another hatch so thats now the plan. If your buddy has that hatch for a reasonable price lemme know.