Thank you all for the replies!
It seems like quite an undertaking...
perhaps i will ask my neighbor if he knows anyone that could help me.. or if he knows a shop that will give me a fair deal...

They just moved in and i never did properly introduce myself.. but i did notice he has ALOT of cars, and seems to be working on them constantly..

The civic is my commuter car, so i cant have it off the road for longer than 3-4 days...
atleast untill the weather breaks...

[hyp]

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 04:48 pm:

You can buy some products. I have parts sitting in a bucket of acid in my backyard. (It's like CLR cleaner.) I'll try to show some pics soon. My parts look beautiful! But you have to paint them immediately after you take them out of the acid. It's not good for nuts and bolts though because it'll take off the Zinc coating.

You can also try this (It's not acidic)...
http://www.myclassiccar.com/NewProducts/evaporust/index.shtml

By Vccivic (24.85.232.159) on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 01:18 pm:

A shop will charge most likely to much....A dremel could work...If the rust is just on the quarter panel...
1. Remove the quarter panel - this will give access to the rear of panel.
2. a.Sand down with your dremel all the rust untill every sign off rust is gone - b.do both sides, a hole may develope, but with out welding that is what needs to be done. Sand back about 1/2 to 1" of good metal.
3. Use fiber glass on the inside of the panel over the hole (if there is one) overlap the fiber glass from the hole at least an inch. Spread the resin from the glass over a large area. It really helps preserve the metal.
4. I would recommend on the inside of the panel to spray a light layer of primer to the area being worked on. Lightly sand entire inside of panel before and after primer.
5. Spray "Rocker gaurd" over entire inside of panel to help protect it in the future.
6. Flip panel over and work on the asthetic side. Make sure all the rust is ground off with the dremel...even the "pitted" bits. Treat with..believe it or not...CLR.
7. Lightly sand entire area to be sprayed. If you have a hole that you just fiber glassed use some "BONDO" on it. - Use directions supplied with bondo.
8. Use a hand sander to smooth it out the way you want it to look, as paint does not hide anything.
9. Prime area to be resprayed. And lightly sand (800 grit)
10. Apply "Rocker Gaurd" to lower portion of fender (tape off for a nice clean line)
11. Spray final color! to make it match the rest of the panel "dither" it to the regular paint...Dither means slowly bring spray bomb away from the fender and blend into the regular paint.

You will always see this area unless you repaint the car. But to just make it look better, it does the trick.

If thats to much for to do just do steps 2a, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. If you have a hole add in step 3 but follow directions and change to outside of panel. You should hammer around the hole so when you bondo it will be flat with the body.

I may have missed something, I'm sure people will have there own way. But without welding you can't stop it, rust will eat metal. And if you only fix the front side, the back will eat away. Fiberglass resin really helps slow down rust, as well rocker gaurd helps prevent future chips, but is textured so not visually beautifull. for feature ares's. But if you just sand it till it's gone and spray some primer and matching paint it helps slow it down.....

Nathan

By Hyper_Dermic (Hyper_Dermic) (69.142.178.34) on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 09:29 pm:

Hmmm electric sander...
my dremel doesnt count does it??

how much does an auto body shop usually charge for something like that?

[charles]

By DaRk (66.50.182.224) on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 08:42 pm:

Well...You could do like I did...I saved a bit of $ then sanded all the rust off with an electric sander. Then I spayed some anti-corrosive over it. after that...sanded it again but lightly so the primer could "glue" onto it. . But I had the tools so... But I really hope that helps...

By Hyper_Dermic (Hyper_Dermic) (69.142.178.34) on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 08:16 pm:

Perhaps someone could give me a quick "how-to"
on elminating rust.

I have a bit on the front left quaterpanel, the rear wheel-wells, and rear bumper area...

Its not major yet, and i would like to stop it in its tracks....

im really strapped for cash at the moment, so i would like to do it myself...
Is it a difficult task? or relativly easy?
(im afraid i dont know much about cars at all.. but im quite willing to learn)

thanks

[charles]