Any suggestions here would be appreciated. My girlfriend slightly bottomed out her new car (bad news), good news is she didn't hit the cat or anything, just scraped the frame siderail.

My dilemma is I want to do something about these scratches before rust starts (steel frame I believe), but it's so damn hard to get under that vehicle to see it's going to be a b*tch to hit with some paint. What type of paint should I use? I know normal touchup paint doesn't necessarily prevent rust that well.

Also (don't laugh), I have heard in the past that wax prevents rust...could I just wax the area regularly?

 

I was watching Trucks on TNN one sunday and they showcased some paint made for painting right over rust. Very expensive stuff though, something like $50 a can for 1 gallon. They said it was available at most auto stores. I can't remember the name of it though, so only half helping you out.

 

Spray it with some undercoating..you can get in a can at any auto parts store

 

I second that. The undercoating works excellent.

 

What brands of undercoating are you guys using? I was kicking around the idea of putting a coat in my fender wells and such.

RP

 

I don't think it really matters ...It's all the same ...I shot my frame and the metal parts of the rear wheel wells ..It's looks really good where the frame is exposed under the cab area........You might want to wear rubber gloves.....

 

I'll third that as well. One thing though. Make sure to tell your girlfriend that there are a million cats out there, so one less really wouldn't matter. Moral of the story: Save the car, not the cat............

 

Problem is that the warranty says the rust warranty is void if I do anything to it, and also to NOT put any additional rust proofing or undercoating near exhaust components like pipes or else a fire could result. Just so happens this scratch on the siderail is right next to a heat shield and an exhaust pipe.

I would just hit it with some touch up paint, but I don't know anything about paint and the heat durability of touch up paint versus what they specially use for frames when the exhaust is right up next to it....

Whole nother world when you have to deal with little cars where everything is crammed together. Most likely will take it to the dealer....grr.....Women are the most expensive thing on the face of the earth. Even when I'm not spending money directly on them, I'm spending money indirectly through time and effort.

 

get some POR-15. not sure where you can get it, you can find it online though. its a super tough "rustoleum" if you will. Paint it right over rust and it stops the rust and turns it into a good base you can paint over if you want to. that or undercoating will work, but the POR15 will hold up better

 

cpadpl:

I wouldn't worry so much about the warranty for rust as far as the frame rail is concerned. I think the big concern for warranty and not "undercoating" is that you want to make sure the surface is clean, not dirty etc. before spraying something on there.

If you think about it painting it is really no different then using a can of undercoating. They are both going to cover the scratch but the undercoat will work better then just a high temp paint would.

If you get some on the exhaust just take some thinner on a rag and wipe it off. If there is a little on it, it will just burn off. When they undercoated my truck before I bought it they got some on the exhaust, and I am sure many others have had that happen.

It just burns off, smells like crap, but after a few times driving its all gone.