Dealing With Rust, MacGyver style

I'd appreciate some ideas on some very basic things I could try for dealing with the rust on my car. The wheel well areas are shot on two sides, not so great on the rear section either.

Of course there are also smaller patches of rust along the base of the doors and little spots on the trunk etc.

Here's my question. Besides doing nothing and just living with the rust, what options would I have that wouldn't cost a lot of money or require any power tools?

If I sand the rust off, with simple sandpaper (is that possible?) then what product should I put on there, if any? It really is a "beater" car but if I can make it last a bit longer, then of course I'd like to learn what I can do.

I don't have tools for rivets and sheet metal etc.. and, that's a bit out of my league. My son would prefer that I feed him, with the money we do have. Those darn priorities again, eh? lol

Thanks

I am by no means an expert on this subject but here is what I would do. I would wire brush the rust as much as I can. Then I would spray with this. If you want to fill the holes in the body you can (and don't care too much how bad it may or may not look) you can always get some sheet metal from Lowes or the Depot. Cut it with snips, paint it and use the O'l JB weld to attach it to your car. You can also get a fiber glass or body filler kit at any auto parts store.

You asked for MacGyver...I may have given you MacGhetto

I am by no means an expert on this subject but here is what I would do. I would wire brush the rust as much as I can. Then I would spray with this. If you want to fill the holes in the body you can (and don't care too much how bad it may or may not look) you can always get some sheet metal from Lowes or the Depot. Cut it with snips, paint it and use the O'l JB weld to attach it to your car. You can also get a fiber glass or body filler kit at any auto parts store.

 

You asked for MacGyver...I may have given you MacGhetto

Man, do those rust converters work? After you stop the rust paint over it so it wont happen again.

MacGhetto indeed, but it sounds like a solid enough plan. If you used the JB weld sheet metal idea and filled it with bondo you could smooth it out enough to look somewhat normal and throw some cheesy paint on there to prevent future rusting.

Man, at first I wrote "cheesy pain" and it was a hard decision on whether to fix it or not.

Thanks a lot for the replies. I can certainly research some more, now that I have your ideas (and products) to start with - I've never heard of JB Weld but maybe it's an auto version of Speed-Sew

LW, it might not be "worth" it but I'm trying to learn all kinds of things while I have this car. Can't think of a better vehicle to work on. Just about anything I do to it would be an improvement.. lol

I already put some duct tape on the very sharp edges by the wheel wells, just so I wouldn't get stabbed every time I walked by or checked the tire pressure.

It's always good to learn new things JB weld is like a putty that when you mix it and knead it together it pretty much becomes a metal. I know a 400lb truck driver that JB welded his sidestep back on and it's held up for over a year now. He's just cheap haha

Yeah, you can always wire brush them though. And just paint them with a black rust stopping paint or something. Make it look like fender flares lol

It sucked. Installed the WRX calipers and rotors and didnt feel any gains. It actually feels like it has less braking power than before. I dont know if the calipers werent any good or if I didnt bleed it fully or what, but something doesnt feel right.

How was yours?

How was mine, what? Weekend, or rotors? Weekend was fine. Mostly worked on eBay and the marketing stuff (and fed my son who never stops eating).

My rotors are much better. They were in really poor condition before I had the rear set replaced. No more oil and mud caking along the spring part and the car doesn't have that feeling/sound of "slamming" the trunk when I go over a bump. Nowhere near feeling "new" and it's still a bumpy ride. but oh well.. lol.. 'Tis an old car and that's what were dealing with. I just get used to a lot.