Thankfully not on my car... but my friend's car is in pretty rough shape. It's an '94 Del Sol, and he's been away from it for about 10 months. This is what it looks like right now:

 

We don't really care what the finish looks like, it's more a matter of removing the rust at this point. The next time he comes home he will take it to a paint shop. Some of the rust is surface rust, and other areas are rusted through.

Is this a job that can be done without any expensive tools? It doesn't need to look perfect, he just really wants to do something to stop the rust until he can get new parts or get it to a more legitimate shop.

What is a good plan of action?

 

You can use a wire wheel on a drill to remove the surface rust with ease.
The stuff thats rusted thru will require cutting the metal and removing it, welding in a new piece and bondo- paint etc.
After grinding to bare metal- use Rustoleum rust-stop primer, mask off sqaure work area edges before paint so it looks like a work in progress, not an abandoned car with grafitti all over~
The other exposed parts- just sand them first so spray primer will adhere- there is special paints for plastic parts as hardware store.

WD40 on everything in the engine compartment and other moving parts that you dont want to rust up too

 

I could go on forever with this but I'll cut to the chase. Been there done that. It's not worth it. Not worth your time or effort. Save your money. Tell your friend best advice is to just relax and drive this thing as is. Instead he should focus his attentions on what the replacement car will be.

 

Im with ya on this one..........Letter go, save up for something newer.
On a sidenote, this is a great illustration as to what happens when proper/regular maintenace is not performed. These items couldashoulda been addressed at the earliest of stages....

 

Well, while those patches of rust are pretty much a lost cause, you can get the rust off the main panels with a decon system like Valuguard's ABC and then a good claying followed by a polishing with a compound.

 

Thanks guys, all good advice. I'll pass it along to him and see what he wants to do.

The trouble is, he's overseas for another few years so it's not worthwhile to get a new car yet. He just wants to make sure that this car is still drivable the month or so he's here every year.

 

Its not worth keeping a cheap car for a month use per year.
If it just sits- the rest of it will rot away including the tires, hoses and belts, so it wont be a turn key and drive car on return. $$$ each year to get it safe
You dont want to just start it and idle for a while and think thats good for the engine either- you must drive 20 minutes to get all the moisture out of the engine oil.
The brake fluid will absorb moisture while parked- thats bad too

Best thing is to recycle this one, and use the rent-a-wreck place for the 1 month a year. In the long run its cheaper than trying to sustain/maintain an old beater car