Things You'll Need:
- Painter's tape
- Tarp or plastic sheeting
- Motorized grinder
- 150-grit sandpaper for grinder
- Metal grinding wheel for grinder
- 120-grit sandpaper
- Phosphoric acid
- Bondo
- Auto body primer
- Auto body paint
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Step 1
Seal off your car's windows and air intakes with painter's tape. This will help prevent dust from paint and rust getting into the vehicle.
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Step 2
Cover any part of the vehicle you don't intend to remove rust from with a tarp or plastic sheeting and secure the tarp or sheeting in place with more painter's tape.
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Step 3
Use a motorized grinder with a 150-grit sanding wheel to remove paint, primer and light rust from the work area. Try to leave a smooth transition surface between the ground and unground areas.
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Step 4
Remove thicker rust with a metal grinding wheel on the motorized grinder. Proceed carefully because careless use of this metal grinding wheel could remove significant chunks of your car.
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Step 5
Apply phosphoric acid, which should be available in most auto parts stores, to the ground-down area to remove any remaining rust particles.
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Step 6
Fill in any pits or major dents with an auto body filler product like Bondo (see Resources).
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Step 7
Hand sand over the ground-down and/or filled-in area with 120-grit sandpaper.
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Step 8
Apply auto body primer to the bare surface.
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Step 9
Spray auto body paint onto the primed surface and allow to dry.
