Thread: Surface rust on pinch welds

So my car is pretty much in brand new condition. I have been using the pinch welds to lift the car for oil changes and such. Apparently that was a mistake because the paint chipped and has started to rust. I tossed some cheap black "rust stop" spray paint over it, but it didn't last very long before it chipped off. I have this issue on both sides of the car. I know how these rocker panels will rust out if not taken care of.

I was thinking Eastwood Rust Converter covered by their Rust Encapsulator or Rubberized Rust Encapsulator Coating. At some point I may decide to do one of those rust inhibitor treatments to the entire car. Also frequent car washes.

I know it's impossible to stop rust, but any better ideas on slowing this down? I'd like to get several years out of this car before it starts going to crap.

truly, thats not rust lol but i see your concern. you can por it or any other host of rust preventer, eliminators and sealers out there to pick from.

You just need to prepare the metal better and spray paint will stick, and that will be fine. Sand until bright. Some 180-ish grit sandpaper then cleaning with alcohol or something. If you'd like to go an extra step for added peace of mind, use a rattle can etching primer before the paint. That will bite just a little better but yep lets face it... you'll want to squirt a little touch up there just about every time you jack it up. It sucks that jack points were not on the list of things to include when designing the car.

FWIW, the legendary northern rocker rust starts on the inside, in an area not accessible with the rocker moldings in place (and those are easily damaged during R & I). The answer for prevention of that rust would be whats called internal panel coating or cavity wax, applied with a long wand. It fogs the inside of the structure with a wax / oil mixture that clings everywhere. Maybe a shop in your area could do that, perhaps without removing anything.

Thats the right idea, I'm thinking. Although I don't live in the rust belt and don't know just how rip-off prone those places that rustproof stuff are. It would take a fairly long wand, like the three footer used with 3M Rust Fighter. Perhaps you can search up some rocker rust pics folks have posted here. I can think of a couple users who have some in their car's threads. Anyway, that would give you some insight as to where the rust actually begins, inside the structure.

Using a one step rust converter on that jack point before sanding it could help. The back of the flange will need to be tended to as well.