Touching up the rust bucket

[chefchao]

Hi looking to get this rust bucket cleaned up a bit, although recently I've had to shell out replacing the turbo ect which was nearly the value of the car so as you can imagine I'm looking to do this on the cheaper side of things. Originally I was going to get pre-painted wings ect but unfortunately this is out of the equation now, as is a proper full respray as that would also be more than the value of the car.

So my question is what is the cheapest way I can touch this up? Obviously I'm not looking for perfection and I realise eventually it will come back through as rust never sleeps but it's an absolute eye sore. Planning on selling it and it's the first thing you notice. Will make the new buyer fully aware of this just want to tart it up a bit as it's a major turn off.

Thanks in advance

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Alan, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂

the rust on.the wings is a common issue on vag cars from this era. Replacing the wings is the best long term solution as the wings rust from the inside out. This is because vag thought it was a good idea to fit foam inserts on the inside of the wings to help with the fitment of the wheel arch liners. Obviously the foam absorbs moisture and thus causes the rust. 

you could sandblast it and fill the gaps with filler then paint over it as a temporary fix but as I say long term you'll need new wings. 

cheers

Steve

[cliffcoggin]

If the rust is coming through from the inside as Steve suggests, your chances of treating it effectively from the outside are slim. You might be better off driving it into the ground then scrapping it.

[gokiwi64]

Replace the wings  - I have exactly the same issue , as has been said its a common thing.

Both doors are shot as well  - only option is to replace them.

As an indicator to replace both front wings and colour match approx £500, Buy the doors only after viewing them but allow around £80 for a (good) door.