How to Cut Out Rust from a Car with a Cutting Wheel

If you are working on a car that has rust and rot in sections of the body and want to completely remove the rust and install new metal as a patch this how to article is for you.Rust forms in different shapes and sizes and some small worm hole sections can simply be ground out to bare metal ,but when you are dealing with a larger section of rust you must cut it out completely.This article will show you how to use a circular cutting wheel to cut out that cancerous rust.

Instructions

1




Determine the general area where the rust is and uncover the entire area by poking with a pick hammer and using scrapers to begin to clear out the area and unveil the rust. Also, using either 60 grit sandpaper, a circular wire brush powered by a drill or a grinder will work . The goal here is to uncover the area so you can get an idea of where you need to make your cuts and getting bare metal available around the rusted area..

2




Once the area is uncovered and cleaned out mark a cutting line surrounding the area that you can follow for cutting, being sure that you will be cutting on good metal. The cutting area should be a minimum of one inch from the rusted portions.

3




Survey how deep you can allow your cutting tool to be sure that you will not be cutting into any sections of the frame or into your door panel parts or into brake or fuel lines for instance, which may be just below your metal. In some cases you will have no room for error and must not allow the cutting blade to get any deeper than just the metal you are removing. Just be thoughtful here.

4

Check around your cutting area for any fuel lines and determine how close you will be to your gas tank. While you are cutting, sparks will fly and you want to be sure that those sparks have no chance of igniting fuel. You may decide to place a large piece of metal along the gas tank if you feel there may be a risk.

5




Set up your cutting tool and put on your safety glasses and heavy gloves and run the cutter getting a good feel for the way the machine will run. If this is the first time using the cutter I suggest you experiment on scrap metal first to get a good feel of the machine.

6

Go through a dry run without the cutter motor on tracing the angles you will be cutting. Make sure that the work area is clean. Never be putting yourself in a compromising position. If you lose control of the cutter it only takes a moment to cut fingers or score a limb. Please take this job "very" seriously.

7




Proceed to cut the metal following the lines you marked earlier. You may not be able to make turns with your cutter. It is fine to turn the motor off and reposition the cutting blade for turns or corners. Make sure that no one else is nearby you and you will not be distracted. Extreme focus is required.

8




Once the cut is made, remove the old rusted metal. Never handle the metal with bare hands. You can use metal snips to cut off rough edges or corners that were not cut all the way out.

9




Grind down rough edges with your grinder. You want your edges and the surrounding area to be as smooth as possible. The shape of the cut should be easy to trace. You will be making a template to install new metal as a patch later on.

10




Spray or apply naval jelly or metal rust treatment protection spray so that the bare metal does not have an opportunity to get surface rust. You may also use a self-etching primer to cover the bare metal. Always spray both sides of the metal if possible.