Hi everyone! How are you? Good I hope.

My 2006 Alhamb has got rust around the rear wheel arches (the bit at the bottom that's nearest the rear door), on both sides. The metal has started flaking and I never really worried about it too much in the past. However, it looks like the winter has taken its toll and I'm thinking I should get it sorted now.

Now, I'm not experienced at welding so I think I will need the garage to look into this one.

Assuming there are no sharp edges, is rust in this area (bottom of the wheel arch and the lower sill) potentially a safety issue or a MOT fail?

How much does it usually cost to get this sort of thing fixed (I know it's difficult to tell without seeing the vehicle, but just an idea of what welding costs are usually like for this sort of thing would be very helpful)?

Is it even worth bothering with or should I just let the thing rust? I've never really been bothered about the appearance of my motor cars (even though I do look after them very well), it's all about function over form for me. So if it's just an aesthetic issue I don't think I'll bother with it. But if it is more than that, then I think I'll have to get this sorted.

Rust. Everything in this country eventually turns to rust.

 

Well I power washed all the mud and loose bits off, gave it a good hard scrub with a wire brush, jet washed every last loose bit off and there wasn't much solid metal left, but there was enough.

Then I painted it liberally with Hammerite Rustoleum, sanded it down, and gave it another coat.

I also did the tow bar and a few other rusty bits under the car while I was there. Also bits of the bonnet and the tow car and the edge of the doors.

That bugger's never gonna rust there again!

Next up I sanded it down with 800 grit sandpaper and it's nice and smooth. Ready for painting.

Then I ordered pearlescent black paint from Amazons to match the colour code on my motor car. The code is LC9X - deep pearlescent black.

The paint will arrive on Wednesday and then I'll give it a light spraying over with the paint.

And then it's all sorted. I guess it would look better with filler around the edges but I can't be bothered with that, it looks fine as it is really and the main thing is it isn't going to rust any further. Well maybe it might rust in other places, but I've sorted the worst of it and that should keep it on the road a few years longer.

The garage wanted £900 to weld it, my solution cost me 2 hours and £20 in paint. Plus I managed to do the wrought iron garden gate with the leftover Hammerite Rustoleum while I was at it.

  

Hi everyone, just to let you all know that I now have my little can of matching black spray paint and will paint the wheel arches and other spots that used to be rusty (but which I touched up with the Hammerite Rustoleum after sanding them down) this weekend, providing it is warm and fry enough out there. We are forecast 11C with no rain so that should be sufficient. I will try and out the layers on thinly and build them up rather than doing too much in one go as I have done in the past. I will try to avoid getting drips and overspray too. Thank you

Hi, thank you for the explanation of how you are tackling this. I have a much the same problem with my galaxy, both the rear arches are rusting on the front bottom corner where it looks like 3 pieces of metal come together. Looking at it closely under the flaking paint it would appear inevitable that tin work would find its way in there in pretty short fashion. My problem now is that my car is a stunning example with very low mileage that I've a lot of pride in but I've definitely not got the funds to pay to have this put right, I'm more than capable of any mechanical work needed but I've never so much as put paint on a car before so seeing this not only urks me but scares me too. The sensible option is probably just to leave it as the car is now close to 20 years old, or I could have a go then make a hash of it and drive the car looking like a 5 year old try to fix it. Either way it's going stare at me every time go within 50 yards of it 🤬

In my experience a diy repair with rattle cans will always stand out, depending on your level of experience with filler and rattle cans depends on what severity of a dogs dinner it will look like.
Either way if the rust on your otherwise pristine example bothers you a diy repair will also.

Hi both, so a quick update: the rust was exactly where you mentioned (front corner of the rear wheel arch, where 3 pieces of metal come together and then sort of "flake" apart as they rust). I went in really rough with the jet washer, letting it blast off anything that was even slightly loose. Quite a lot came off, but structural integrity was maintained and the arches themselves kept their smooth curved look when viewing the car from the side. My priority with this job was to stop the rust while making it look OK/acceptable. I figured I could always get a "pro" job done at a later date if needed.

Top tip: lots of dried-on mud gathers behind the edge of the wheel arch, so it helps if you can put a hose nozzle on "jet" mode and really spray it all out from behind (sort of put the hose's spray gun inside the wheel arch and jet the arches down as if you were stood under the middle of the car). Also to really go bananas with the power jet washer on the rest of it, it's amazing how much it cleans it all up.

I masked off the plastic trim on the sills using sellotape and was careful to get the surface prepared nicely. When I applied the Rustoleum, I splodged it into every nook and cranny I could see. Big liberal application. Then finely sanded it back to make it smooth, and repeat. Once the surface was ready, I nervously used the spray can thinking it was going to look terrible.

Honestly, you can't even see the repair or spray job unless you look really closely. It might have looked better when viewing close up if I'd used filler, but it was cold outside and I was pressed for time so I didn't do that step. The main thing is the rust has stopped. The new paint looks completely unnoticeable, it blended in absolutely perfectly. I sprayed quite a big area too. I think the secret is to get the paint spraying into the air then sort of 'sweep' it across the area you're painting. Don't just aim and press the button, the first bit that comes out is splattery. Plus lots and lots of very fine, thin layers... be patient and don't over-do it in one go.

Now, the bonnet. This was much trickier. My advice here would be to fill any chips with the Rustoleum and smooth it down with fine sandpaper until you really can't notice the chips at all when running a finger over it. This takes patience, of which I have little. I would be inclined to use a touch-up pen if I had to do those bits again... the spray is a little more noticeable here. However, I'm fairly sure a fine dusting of varnish will sort all of that. But it's OK... enough that I think I'll keep the £10 I would have spent on varnish and put it towards petrol instead (last of the big spenders here).

It didn't take me long to do, my suggestion would be to do it sooner rather than later if you are going to do it, before the rust spreads. Mine wasn't too bad until about 2 years ago then suddenly it spread quite a lot, once it had gotten a foothold and the winter weather took its toll.

It makes me even more pleased I've got an Alhamb. A friend of mine spent £4,000 getting the sunroof fixed on his Audi (what a waste of money, I'd have sealed the ruddy thing up with silicone sealant and kept it shut!) whereas the goood old Alhamb only needs £20 to keep it looking great!

The Alhamb (and the Galaxy): the epitome of fine motoring.

 

It sounds like you've gotten to the worst of the rot and with a finish you are pleased with, it's one of those tasks that does need patience. Mine definitely wants seeing to this year so I'll wait for the weather to improve before I decide how I'm going to tackle it, another year will really make it a job beyond my ability.
This car is just such a great fit for my needs, my wife is a wheelchair user so it's carrying a ramp and her powered wheelchair 90% of the time, there are so few cars that have a flat loading bootspace that I need to load the chair. Also we get that in plus our 2 young grandchildren with their parents and all the gear that they come with, the kids love it as they sit in comfort watching movies on the headrest screens. Given all the luxuries it has including those screens, heated seats and fantastic heating/cooling and that wonderful silky v6 with enough shove that my stepson still gets shocked by its acceleration I just can't think of another car that provides all that for the £1500 I paid for it. Another reason I'd like to keep the bodywork reasonable is that I bought it with only 75k miles, we only cover about 6-8k a year so mechanically it has loads of life left. Underneath and structurely it's absolutely solid, it's just those rear arches that let it down.
I know that with the world going upside down I'd never get this much car for that sort of money now, the mpv was a bit vehicle trend that brought some fantastic design that has now been all but fazed out in place of larger heavier suv's.

S.G - I think that there are a lot of like-minded subscribers on this forum on your 'wavelength', regarding the utility and practicality of these vehicles. I cannot claim to have done cosmetic/paint bodywork repairs for some time now, but the basic approach must be to try to clean out the corrosion mechanically, first, followed by an effective acidic(?) treatment and then the restoration of the primer and outer layers of paint protection. If you can do the work in a warm garage, so much the better, but it is also worth (in my view) going to the lengths of putting a tent or cover over the vehicle and blowing in warm air to get the right temperature. Treating corrosion between a three-panel sandwich is going to be challenging.

It may also be to your advantage to remove the plastic wheel-arch liners and make sure that those areas are clean and protected, especially where the quarter panel returns into the arch and down in that corner nearest to the passenger door where the liner is a really tight fit and likely to chafe the factory finish.     

Yes, to be honest the Alhamb and Galaxy are superb motor cars. So practical, comfy and economical. I just can't see what anyone else would ever want from a motor car. It seems to me that they were the pinnacle of design and practicality. Far better than SUVs. I am hopeful that mine will be good for another 20 years yet if I maintain it well.