Trunk leak, rust and more problems! All help/ advice appreciated!
04-05-2016, 11:48 PM
#1
Trunk leak, rust and more problems! All help/ advice appreciated!
Hey everyone, the weather here recently has been very rainy. My TL usually sits outside on a inclined driveway. A few weeks ago I noticed a whole lot of water collecting in my plastic trunk pan. Upon removal I noticed that the carpet was damp in a few areas. Naturally I found this irritating and wanted to get to the bottom of this before it got worse. Little did I know things were already pretty bad.
(DISCLAIMER: The car was in an accident a few years before I bought it. It was hit in the rear on the passenger side. It runs and drives perfectly, from the looks of it the damage fixed by a bunch of pricks who did not know what they were doing
. The previous owners were a middle aged couple who took decent care of the car, they bought the car off an auction after it was repaired. A few years down the road, I bought the car from them. Have owned it for over 2 years now. It treated me very nicely up until this point).
Apologies for the ramble, moving onto the actual problem. Upon removal of the trunk carpet and liners, I noticed the corner of the trunk was sealed off with a black rubber, which ran from the trunk seal all the way to the metal of the rear seats. (The first picture only shows a little piece of the rubber that I saved). Let me know if you guys need a better angle or an entirely different picture (for any of the pictures).
I took all the black rubber out, removed my old trunk seal and followed the rust to the front side of my rear windshield (under the the rear deck panel). The pass. side speaker mount has rust in it as well (Pictures #s13-15). The sub and the driver side speaker mounts are luckily rust free. In picture #2 you can see a yellow body filler that the smart people that patched up the damage stuffed in between the space. I was curious to see what was behind the filler, so I removed some of it (still a good amount left in that I plan on removing). Cleaning out the corner of the trunk from the top I found that the rust has eaten through the metal and made a hole (I plan to sand this out, prep it, etch it and reconstruct the was with POR 15 Epoxy Putty, good stuff I hear).
My biggest concern (along with the entirety of this problem) is the underside of the trunk deck, below the windshield. As you can see there was quite a bit of welding done to the car. In image #10 you can see a hole near the trunk hinge that reveals more rust, I cannot find a way to access this area, and I really want to follow the rust to make sure I don't want any unturned leaves here. Going around to the rear seats/ rear deck area (pictures 11-16) shows the rust there and inside the pass. side speaker mount as well. My question here is, is the a way to remove the sheet of metal on the surface (the one with the speaker/ sub openings) to get to all of the rust? I understand that there may need to be some welding involved to put it back together.
Another question is in image 12 there is a foil like sound deadener on the right (driver) side of the subwoofer hole/ opening. Does that piece of soundproofing come stock? Or should remove it and see if they tried to patch something up here as well
. When all set and done I would love to line this entire surface sheet of metal with some of my own DD Audio sound deadener (picture #18).
I already started to sand the rust on the outside, haven't done much with the inside rust besides scuffing the surface with a Carborundum sponge. As I stated above, if possible I would like to apply the POR 15 Rust Coating on all affected areas, patch any holes with POR 15 Epoxy Putty, sand and seal the seams with a sealer, mount a new trunk seal, primer it all and paint it
.
I do not want to scrap my baby! !
Please share any insight, suggestions, solutions and advice that you have for me, it is greatly appreciated
!!! Again apologies for the very long post, and sorry I could not figure out how to embed the pictures directly into the message to make it easier for you guys.
Thank you all for the read/ help!
(DISCLAIMER: The car was in an accident a few years before I bought it. It was hit in the rear on the passenger side. It runs and drives perfectly, from the looks of it the damage fixed by a bunch of pricks who did not know what they were doing
. The previous owners were a middle aged couple who took decent care of the car, they bought the car off an auction after it was repaired. A few years down the road, I bought the car from them. Have owned it for over 2 years now. It treated me very nicely up until this point).Apologies for the ramble, moving onto the actual problem. Upon removal of the trunk carpet and liners, I noticed the corner of the trunk was sealed off with a black rubber, which ran from the trunk seal all the way to the metal of the rear seats. (The first picture only shows a little piece of the rubber that I saved). Let me know if you guys need a better angle or an entirely different picture (for any of the pictures).
I took all the black rubber out, removed my old trunk seal and followed the rust to the front side of my rear windshield (under the the rear deck panel). The pass. side speaker mount has rust in it as well (Pictures #s13-15). The sub and the driver side speaker mounts are luckily rust free. In picture #2 you can see a yellow body filler that the smart people that patched up the damage stuffed in between the space. I was curious to see what was behind the filler, so I removed some of it (still a good amount left in that I plan on removing). Cleaning out the corner of the trunk from the top I found that the rust has eaten through the metal and made a hole (I plan to sand this out, prep it, etch it and reconstruct the was with POR 15 Epoxy Putty, good stuff I hear).
My biggest concern (along with the entirety of this problem) is the underside of the trunk deck, below the windshield. As you can see there was quite a bit of welding done to the car. In image #10 you can see a hole near the trunk hinge that reveals more rust, I cannot find a way to access this area, and I really want to follow the rust to make sure I don't want any unturned leaves here. Going around to the rear seats/ rear deck area (pictures 11-16) shows the rust there and inside the pass. side speaker mount as well. My question here is, is the a way to remove the sheet of metal on the surface (the one with the speaker/ sub openings) to get to all of the rust? I understand that there may need to be some welding involved to put it back together.
Another question is in image 12 there is a foil like sound deadener on the right (driver) side of the subwoofer hole/ opening. Does that piece of soundproofing come stock? Or should remove it and see if they tried to patch something up here as well
. When all set and done I would love to line this entire surface sheet of metal with some of my own DD Audio sound deadener (picture #18).I already started to sand the rust on the outside, haven't done much with the inside rust besides scuffing the surface with a Carborundum sponge. As I stated above, if possible I would like to apply the POR 15 Rust Coating on all affected areas, patch any holes with POR 15 Epoxy Putty, sand and seal the seams with a sealer, mount a new trunk seal, primer it all and paint it
.I do not want to scrap my baby! !
Please share any insight, suggestions, solutions and advice that you have for me, it is greatly appreciated
!!! Again apologies for the very long post, and sorry I could not figure out how to embed the pictures directly into the message to make it easier for you guys.Thank you all for the read/ help!
04-06-2016, 09:12 AM
#2
Drifting
You should remove the back glass. Looks like water is going underneath the back glass and there could be rust at the pinch weld. Also, it will let you get a full assessment of the situation and better access to the package shelf.
Your order of business should be...
1. Find the leak or leaks.
2. Remove as much rust as possible.
3. Convert the remainder of the rust to a paintable primer. I'm not familiar with your products but I know Rust Mort will do the job... it chemically converts rust to primer. Scuff the area with a red Scotch Brite scuff pad. Spray all bare metal with sealer or primer.
4. Seam seal any joints that needs it, Inside and outside (under the car). Do not seam seal on top of bare metal.
5. Spray sealer on all bare metal. Primer is porous so be sure to apply sealer.
6. Paint with top coat.
BTW, you need to check the under body/wheel weld too, to see if any water is enter from there too.
Your order of business should be...
1. Find the leak or leaks.
2. Remove as much rust as possible.
3. Convert the remainder of the rust to a paintable primer. I'm not familiar with your products but I know Rust Mort will do the job... it chemically converts rust to primer. Scuff the area with a red Scotch Brite scuff pad. Spray all bare metal with sealer or primer.
4. Seam seal any joints that needs it, Inside and outside (under the car). Do not seam seal on top of bare metal.
5. Spray sealer on all bare metal. Primer is porous so be sure to apply sealer.
6. Paint with top coat.
BTW, you need to check the under body/wheel weld too, to see if any water is enter from there too.
Last edited by 01acls; 04-06-2016 at 09:18 AM.
The following users liked this post:
true.alex93 (04-06-2016)
04-06-2016, 09:18 PM
#3
You should remove the back glass. Looks like water is going underneath the back glass and there could be rust at the pinch weld. Also, it will let you get a full assessment of the situation and better access to the package shelf.
Your order of business should be...
1. Find the leak or leaks.
2. Remove as much rust as possible.
3. Convert the remainder of the rust to a paintable primer. I'm not familiar with your products but I know Rust Mort will do the job... it chemically converts rust to primer. Scuff the area with a red Scotch Brite scuff pad. Spray all bare metal with sealer or primer.
4. Seam seal any joints that needs it, Inside and outside (under the car). Do not seam seal on top of bare metal.
5. Spray sealer on all bare metal. Primer is porous so be sure to apply sealer.
6. Paint with top coat.
BTW, you need to check the under body/wheel weld too, to see if any water is enter from there too.
Your order of business should be...
1. Find the leak or leaks.
2. Remove as much rust as possible.
3. Convert the remainder of the rust to a paintable primer. I'm not familiar with your products but I know Rust Mort will do the job... it chemically converts rust to primer. Scuff the area with a red Scotch Brite scuff pad. Spray all bare metal with sealer or primer.
4. Seam seal any joints that needs it, Inside and outside (under the car). Do not seam seal on top of bare metal.
5. Spray sealer on all bare metal. Primer is porous so be sure to apply sealer.
6. Paint with top coat.
BTW, you need to check the under body/wheel weld too, to see if any water is enter from there too.
Thanks man I appreciate the advice!
POR 15 does the exact same thing turning rust into a primer like surface but stronger than actual primer.
Just to clear things up, in steps 4 and 5. Should I spray seal and prime all joints and areas where two sheets of metal contact, first and then seam seal them? And another clarification prime and then spray seal? Can I do both or only one is recommended? If both which one should I apply first prime or spray sealer?
Speaking of a spray sealer, any good brands you recommend?
Again thank you very much!
04-06-2016, 10:10 PM
#4
Drifting
Spray sealer means to use a spray gun or aerosol can to spray the sealer. Not as in spraying a caulking sealer.
Anytime primer is use it shall be sealed some how. Whether it's with sealer or paint. If not and moisture is present then the metal underneath will rust.
Primer is a type of filler and porous so, it will rust if not sealed.
Sealer is for forming a barrier to prevent solvents (top coat) to attact the substrate so, it's design to protect whats underneath. In this case it will prevent moisture from penetrating from above or outside.
Sealer does not need to be top coated as explained above.
You only need to caulk real seams. Seams that are made up of two different panels and are expose to the outside elements.
Brand does not matter when it comes to spray sealer. Just make sure primer is sealed. However, it's a good idea to stick with the same brand when using multiple products bc they've be tested together already and should not have an unexpected chemical reaction. As oppose to mixing brands and hope it doesn't react negatively.
Anytime primer is use it shall be sealed some how. Whether it's with sealer or paint. If not and moisture is present then the metal underneath will rust.
Primer is a type of filler and porous so, it will rust if not sealed.
Sealer is for forming a barrier to prevent solvents (top coat) to attact the substrate so, it's design to protect whats underneath. In this case it will prevent moisture from penetrating from above or outside.
Sealer does not need to be top coated as explained above.
You only need to caulk real seams. Seams that are made up of two different panels and are expose to the outside elements.
Brand does not matter when it comes to spray sealer. Just make sure primer is sealed. However, it's a good idea to stick with the same brand when using multiple products bc they've be tested together already and should not have an unexpected chemical reaction. As oppose to mixing brands and hope it doesn't react negatively.
The following users liked this post:
true.alex93 (04-06-2016)
04-23-2016, 04:16 PM
#6
So all the rust is out and POR 15 applied everywhere that had it. I also Sound deadened the majority of the trunk and parcel shelf. Removed the rear right side fender well, surely enough there was an opening in the metal to the inside of the car. Sealed everything up now just to put it all back together. Will post finished product!
