Lancer Project: Working on the trunk

I decided to check my Lancer's trunk to see how things are  back there.

And boy I am glad I did - see how dirty it is - there are spots where rust is starting to form.

Fortunately, most of it are just surface rust and mud (from the spare tire). But I have to be sure - to see how much damage I have to deal with - I decided to give it a thorough cleaning using some soap and water.

I decided to unplug the trunk light so that I don't accidentally drain the battery.

Now that all the dirt and grime has been removed - time to deal with the rust. See that bad spot there? Notice that my trunk had it's fair share of rot in the past :(

It is really advisable to check up on your trunk once in a while. We used to  neglect the trunk and this has caused some parts of it to rust - I did a quick DIY job using some epoxy and paint a while back and fortunately it did the trick. The holes I patched up (circled blue) years ago included the trunk's drain plug :(

Here's a close up of the rust I have to work on today :(

With the help of a wire brush - I removed as much rust as I can.

I sanded it down with some coarse sandpaper afterwards.

To prevent further rust damage, I applied several coats of rust converter and allowed it to cure overnight. I find it amusing to watch the converter at work - love the bubbles! :)

The following day - the rust converter has dried up and after a bit of sanding, I'm ready to paint. I inspected the underside to make sure that rust hasn't eaten through the metal and I'm glad that everything is pretty solid aside from the small hole you see in the picture..  I hope that this project has prevented this from spreading.

After several coats of paint - problem solved! (I know that this is just a temporary fix but it is better than doing nothing.. I really need to learn how to weld metal soon)

Now - everything looks neat and tidy! :)

 

The repairs I did years ago are still holding on - yey! (some closeup shots - I didn't bother sanding it down then - i figured no one will see it anyway hehe)

With the spare tire and other tools. TIP: It is advisable to clean your spare tire and tools before storing it. Keep everything dirt and mud free to avoid facing the same issues I had.

 

Since I was already at it - I decided to clean the trunk gutters as well - see how fresh it looks! :)

Still thinking if there are problem areas I might have missed with my Lancer..hmm..