MR2 MK2 and Rust - What to do

[RZ1]

Had my MR2 for a few years now and when i purchased it the car had a little bit of bubbling next to the rubber for the sunroof.
Now a few years later the bubbling has become rust, so what should i do?

Sell it as i will never win the war against rust - not to keen on this as unlikely to find another 85k original MR2

Get the roof sanded down and re painted - would expect i would have to get the entire roof done even though the rust is only about 6inches long next to the rubber sunroof opening.

Get only the patch where the sunroof is sanded down and repainted

Apply some of the rust prevention stuff and hope that stops it from getting any worse

Leave it and not bother doing anything and just continue to enjoy the car

[TallPaul]

If you're in love with the car & want to keep it, a new roof skin is probably your best bet. (without seeing the car) It sounds like its rusted from the inside out, will definitely want welding, just filling & painting will end in tears very quickly!

[cheesesliceking]

New roof skin is a little ott and a LOT more work than just cutting out and replacing..

Best bet is to cut it out and weld a new piece in. Might be a windscreen out job though.

Worth doing it though, decent mk2's are thin on the ground, I'd also have a reeeealllly good look around the rest of the car for other spots that might be lurking.

[RZ1]

I have tried to take some pictures but due to the rain its not showing up very well:

[swifthobo]

hahaha I thought you said rust!!!

[RZ1]

swifthobo said:

hahaha I thought you said rust!!!

I did say rust, what would you call that if its not rust then?

[swifthobo]

that ol partner is a mere blemish I would get a touch up stick and not worry that much if you are that bothered grind to metal either weld in new or get some stopper and fibreglass filler. That is rust

[RZ1]

swifthobo said:

that ol partner is a mere blemish I would get a touch up stick and not worry that much if you are that bothered grind to metal either weld in new or get some stopper and fibreglass filler. That is rust

The picture is not very clear but there is a fair amount of bubbling too.
Do you think its worth me sanding it down

[swifthobo]

depends how bad it is but if you are treating rust you need to get rid of every single last bit

[Mr2Mike]

Looks like it's already been bodged with filler sometime in the past. If you want to get rid of the rust it needs to be cut out and replaced with good metal. Anything else is a temporary measure.

[P I Staker]

If there's one thing you can be sure with rust is that it will be back.

[samdale]

Take off your door cards,
Shine a torch inside,
Cry.

I'm kind of in the same position though. I have very slight rust on the doors and a tiny bit on the rear of the sills where the paint has chipped. My 2 is in really good nick so keen to know a decent fix before it gets any worse. If I can keep it in tip top condition, I dare say it might be worth a few quid when I come to sell it.