Weatherstripping channel rust

[Lawrence71]

So I have a trunk leak that I isolated to ancient weatherstripping. Got the parts, pulled it out, and there is some varied rust/bare metal in the channel. Not bad to the point of being rusted through, just seems to be a little surface rust but not sure what next best steps are. Can I just use a brush to scrape out any loose bits? Should it be painted before I get the adhesive in there, etc? Wasn’t planning on any sort of major paint work on the car at this point so was hoping to just be able to slap some black touch up paint in the channel, let it dry, then get the new strip in.  Does that make sense?

David

 

[1970mcss]

I'm no body man but i would think at least clean the metal, and at least prime it.

[Lawrence71]

Here are some pictures of the rust area and the bare metal (as examples).  This is before vacuuming any crap up, so probably looks worse than reality.

[Mike Brichta]

If it was me, I would do the following:

- remove all old weatherstripping from the channel with narrow putty knife 

- use a small wire brush to remove any old rubber pieces, loose paint and rust from the channel

- tape off the areas around the channel

- apply POR-15 to the channel with a good quality paint brush

- glue new weatherstripping into channel after paint dries (at least 24 hours)

Good luck!

[Lawrence71]

Hi Mike. That does sounds sensible; looks like something like this would do the job: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/por-15-stop-rust-kit-gloss-black-40909/11839912-p

Thanks for the tips

[Mike Brichta]

Just be sure not to get the paint on anything but the channel and wear gloves. That paint is hard to remove later on from any unwanted areas. Also, some goggles. If any gets in your eyes you will be in the emergency room within hours. But that's a story for another day. Lol.

[Rob Peters]

I agree with Mike, remove any of the old weather stripping.  I would use a small plastic scraper rathe than a metal one so you don't gouge the existing good paint any more than you need to.  Wire brush it and sand it and use the POR15.  If I am not mistaken you don't need to prime before you use the POR15.

rob

 

[Lawrence71]

11 minutes ago, Rob Peters said:

I agree with Mike, remove any of the old weather stripping.  I would use a small plastic scraper rathe than a metal one so you don't gouge the existing good paint any more than you need to.  Wire brush it and sand it and use the POR15.  If I am not mistaken you don't need to prime before you use the POR15.

rob

 

Yup, used a plastic trim tool to remove most of it. Going to hit it with some goo gone and brush out the channel. (Maybe start with nylon so no more scratches than necessary but going to avoid anything not in the channel, will just see what is effective there.) Got the above mentioned kit which includes a couple things to pretreat, but the POR15 looks like it goes on the bare metal afterward.