My gf has this mazda B series. It apparently was in a wreck and re-painted. They did a crappy job and now there are tons of tiny cracks in the paint. On the roof it cracked, peeled, and, has started rusting. The rust is not too terrible, metal is fine underneath. If you pull back the rubber around the windshield its rusted under there too.

She wants to just spend a minimal amount of money to paint this with a rattle can and hopefully prevent further rust. What would be the best thing to do and primer/paint to use?

There are many primers and stuff that say preps rusty surfaces? I say the rust all needs to go first or it will keep eating the paint?

Not looking for a perfect fix. Just need to get a few more years out of this truck and cover up the bare metal.

Also, there are all the hairline cracks where I think may eventually become more pealing and rust. Would keeping it waxed prevent it from getting worse?

Thanks in advance!

 

I would grind it down take the windshield out do the same and any holes fill jbweld and then sband that down and put window back in that what I did 3 years ago and no rust jet

 

I know that is what needs to be done to fix it right but that is beyond our skill level.

 

if you don't mind it looking a different shade of black then just throw some POR15 on the rust. I wouldn't trust any primer that says its supposed to stick to rust.

 

Personally I would remove the rubber around the windshield, sand all the rust down to bare metal, doesn't look like any of the rust is real bad, just surface rust. So you shouldn't have to fill any holes in hopefully. Then clean the roof with acetone or a similar cleaning agent to get all the oils and dirt off the surface. Then hit the bare metal with rustoleum rust converter and then primer the entire roof with a primer and then a top coat of your choice. Rustoleum top coat paints work pretty decent and seems to hold it's color with little fading. And then you can have a glass company come back in and either remove the windshield and install a new one or they might be able to install new rubber molding without removing the windshield.

 

What it boils down to is "what do you want out of this", isn't it that way for everything ?

If you want a quick fix just sand as best you can, get out any rust, run some bondo over I t to smooth things out, prime with a good primer and paint it the color you want.

If you want a fox that will hold up the you need to do as the guys here are saying, pull or have the windshield pulled. Grind the paint downtown bare metal, don't wire brush it, bonds to smooth it to the level you want, a good automotive primer and then a good quality paint, preferably the same manufacturer as the primer.

If you do a quick fix, within short order the rust will be there and starting to pickup the bondo, so your call.