I was just cleaning out the trunk of my Chevelle, and I noticed there are some rust pits in the trunk floor (just onthe drivers-side of the trunk though, the center and other side are really great shape).

I was wondering, since these are pits and not pin-holes, etc, would it be acceptible to grind out the pits and use filler (I seem to recall a POR product?) and then coat with POR 15 or Rust Encapsulator? Or is this a waste, and should I really be cutting the panel out and welding in new metal?


I guess I should be thankful that this is the extent of the rust damage (thank God for California cars!)...

I had the same problem. I just sand blasted the rust off and (yeah,I know) used JB Weld to fill the pits. I use a razor blade to get it smooth and a little sanding and I was ready for primer and paint. I have never noticed any cracks or other problems with this area again. Some machinist use this stuff to repair their machines. I only had trunk problems. It works great. Good luck
Peter

I have the same problem with mine, and some of my pits are tiny holes. If the trunk is strong and structurally sound I would treat with rust encapsolator (my personal choice) and fill the pits. You can even use body filler since you are just smoothing the area, after sanding it should only be left in the pits. Once treated, filled and primed (black primer works best under the splatter paint) and splatter painted you will never know. I pulled my gas tank as to work both sides of my trunk pan since a few pits were all the way through.

When you say treat rust with encapsulator,do you mean spray encapsulator first and then fill with Por- patch or other filler or do you need to patch before you spray? Thanks

I don't like to cut out any metal or any panel unless its beyond repair..I would clean it up best you can,get it down to bare metal,and fill in the pinholes..either with icing or whatever you're comfortable with, then prime and re-spatter/clear the trunk floor after.My 67 Caddy has a lot of surface rust on the trunk floor,but it is solid..I will probably use POR-15 after cleaning it up,then topcoat it (Caddies have body colored trunk floors)

I had some minor pitting in my floorboard, so I used the fibermat material from Por. It's still drying as I type this. Before and after pics:

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Dcp_1792.jpg

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Dcp_1794.jpg