Having recently had the new edition to our family, our lovely red copen vivid we had to address the issue of rust bubbling on the tops of the rear wheel arches and the sill close to the front wheel. It cost £400 to address but with quotes up to a mind blowing £2k I was happy with that.They also sorted a rusting chip on the front of the bonnet. She is now just about perfect. Looking forward to the summer, maybe even a trip to the show in Sutton Coldfield in September. Anyone else in the area (Wiltshire) thinking of going?
I don't want to sound like a merchant of doom but you might find that the rust will come back and fairly quickly. The only way to get rid of rust is to cut back to good sound metal and then weld a patch in before finishing off with filler. Sanding the rust back and then filling doesnt work, even if you treat the rust with inhibitor first. I would guess the high quotes were to replace sections or whole panels while the lower quotes were to grind, fill and paint. I looked at a Copen last year which had had the front and rear arches repaired. It was overpriced so I didn't buy it, but six weeks later it was still for sale now at a much lower price. I had another look and I could see bubbles where it had been previously repaired. It's a shame the Copen had this problem, you just don't associate rust with modern cars. Rust was a problem in cars when I first started driving, it should now be a thing of the past
I also own a morris minor so I am a very familiar with rust ravage and the continuous battle against it. The repair included cutting back to good metal, there was evidence of previous bodge repair but that was dealt with too. We are hopefully ahead of the rust ........ for now.
My car is a 2008 and it has bubbles on the bonnet edges. The bonnet is made from aluminium which doesn't rust in the normal sense but there is obviously corrosion under the bubbles. Pretty bad for a car that age, you just don't expect it on a car these days. Unless its Italian of course.
is Adam's rusting? he's had it as long as anyone and clearly looked after. be interesting to know if he has arch rusting etc
yes I know, but thats not necessarily 100% the bonnet is aluminium? are you sure? its a bit thin for alu? and aluminium doesn't bubble like steel? are you sure you've not got bubble bath under your paint work!
Despite being repaired 2.5 years ago & filling the wings, arches & sills with Dinatrol. I have rust bubbles too.
Yes the bonnets are Alu. It doesn't rust like steel but it does corrode and goes white and powdery. If that happens under paint the paint will bubble and blister before eventually falling off. Getting a good primer coat on like etching primer is the key to painting aluminium. Obviously Daihatsu didn't bother doing that.
Be aware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just to let you all know, we had a repair done to the rear arches (down to the metal/fill/paint).Rust was back within 6-8 MONTHS!!!!!!!!:-((. We are now going down the route of replacing the front and rear wings and having the car fully resprayed. We have found a excellent bodyshop and are taking the car in very soon. Will keep everyone posted on progress
the base aluminium stays fine even with corrosion as it doesn't penetrate like rust does with steel. So could just rub it all back, polish, lacquer and got a super shiny sports bonnet! I'm going to lick my bonnet an see which it tastes of!
Kepping the car it's original colour of PEARL WHITE... We are also thinking of re-doing the interior leather (putting some proper leather on the seats).Also had 4 new tyres fitted today £250 inc vat.
Replacement is always the best option. Anything else is ok for a cover up to sell the car or if you are running a cheap banger, but has no real use on a car that could be a future classic. Possibly.
