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Stopping a car's rust patch from spreading

Once corrosion has begun is there a good way of slowing it down or stopping it? For example on a car, if a patch of corrosion has sprouted up, is there anything you could recommend?

Zsolt Katzirz
- Brantford, ON, Canada
2003

You can slow rust down, but you will have a real problem completely stopping it. The reason people call it cancer is because it just keeps coming back. The best rust guarantee you can expect from an honest body shop is "we guarantee it will be back..." That doesn't mean that you will see it rearing its ugly head in a week or two, you might get a good long period of time before seeing any problems. We did a 1973 Mach 1 about seven years ago and it still looks great. The guy doesn't drive it in bad weather and he garages the thing. There are many products designed to 'stop' rust out there. Most autobody paint suppliers will have them. If you really want an effective fix though, have someone who does body and paint for a living do it for you. They have the experience to get the best results for the money. It will then be your job to keep your car out of the situations that cause rust in the first place. Do that and you can go years without problems at all. Good luck!

Kim Burris
- farmington utah usa
2003