Advice for first time repairs/spraying.

[elsmandino]

Hi,

Having had a lot of problem-free driving with my Merc C200 (1996), it is suddenly starting to show its age cosmetically.

It has only done 120,000 miles so I was hoping to keep it going for a few more years at least.

Rust has started to form quite badly around the wheel arches and the bonnet has turned from black to strange grey.

I was hoping for some advice on how best to deal with these - advice on the web, with regards to doing up cars, is surprisingly conflicting.

From what I have read, this seems to be the process:

1. Use a wire brush to clean all the flasky rust/paint off the arches.
2. Use sand paper to get back to bare metal.
3. Apply rust inhibitor.
4. Fill in any damage with filler.
5. Sand the filler level.
7. Clean area with pre-paint solution
8. Spray area with primer.
9. Apply three top coats of colour.

Does this seem to be adequate advice for the job?

Also, if my bonnet just needs spraying, am I correct in thinking that I can just go in at point 7?

Sorry if this is really obvious stuff - have very little experience of working on cars, but hope to cut my teeth with this.
6.

[ch427]

I cant help with the paint because ive always left the final finish to a professional but with regards to the rust you need to make sure you have ground it all out. I would suggest a dremel or similar to get back to clean metal as sandpaper may not be aggressive enough, make sure you go a little deeper into the metal as when you think it looks clean it may not be.
Ive never had any success with rust converters so cant recommend any but trying a rust remover may help from someone like bilt hamber.