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> Any suggestions on how to best battle rust that has already started > bubbling-up under the paint. > How big an area is affected, and where is it? Rust can come through from the back of a panel, or from damaged paint on the front which has rusted and been painted over. When repairing rusty metal you need to remove all the rust - either by cutting out or by grit blasting or sanding it off - to about 1/2" further out than the visible rust goes. Since it quickly produces microscopic paths of corrosion into the steel it's not always easy to know if you've removed it all. A phosphating layer will give you a second line of defence (rust treatment) but they are not generally as effective as the manufacturers would have you believe. VW uses rust-free metal and phosphate coating, primer and topcoat and even that fails eventually! For small spots, a spot blaster is very useful - it collects the grit for re-use, and has various rubber masks so you don't hit too much else, but you need a compressor. If it's a bigger area, you just do more of the same, but may also need to reinforce the area if a lot of it is thin. Don't write off glass-fibre repairs as temporary; some of the fine cloth will conform to any curve and lasts well if put on clean metal - it's a good method for doing the bottom of the rear fenders, but you need some access to the rear of the panel to make a decent job. Avoid using it on structurally important parts. A zinc-rich primer also helps, but make sure it is compatible with the other paint coats you plan to put on. Dave. UK VW Type 3 & 4 Club http://www.hallvw.clara.co.uk/ ------ ------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <type3-off@vwtype3.org> For more help, see http://vwtype3.org/list/