I discovered something very worrying on my Panda on Friday..

- Rust Bubbles (fully concealed) on the petrol cap corner wheel arch
- Chipped off paint section (exposing clean metal)
- A 'line' where paint ends (or primer maybe)


All these discoveries have been worrying as I say, as they're an early sign of rust and locations that are now exposed to future rust development.

I want to fix it now before it gets worse.

Attached some photos to see for yourself here:

What do I do? I'm a newbie but I have access to most tools, a garage and can raise some money to buy all the supplies and paint I need to fix it.

Would appreciate all you know on the topic as well as tips

Looks like a loss of adhesion of the etch primer causing the primer and top costs to flake off. The car won't rust as it's a galvanised shell but it needs seeing to. Is it still within the 8 year anti perforation warranty?

dozer said:

Looks like a loss of adhesion of the etch primer causing the primer and top costs to flake off. The car won't rust as it's a galvanised shell but it needs seeing to. Is it still within the 8 year anti perforation warranty?

Click to expand...

Hello, it's 10 years old so unfortunately not. I am taking it to Fiat for a major service in the next month or so if they are best suited to fix this I will consider even a nominal cost for it? What do you reckon?

And okay, so the galvanised metal that you can see is exposed is fine? I was thinking of getting rust preventer or sealant (not sure the difference or which I need) for NOW, and in the coming weeks find a suitable primer, lacquer and paint kit to get the paint repaired. This seem like a good series of steps to take?

Thanks for your reply too

The likes of chips away could sort that for a reasonable price. They will know the types of primer etc to use. It won't rust until you can sort it. They did work on a corsa gsi I once owned and the work was faultless.
I stay away from fiat dealers as much as I can especially with a 10 year old car like we both have. My last service was a major service. All oils and filters and brake fluid was around £170 at a reputable local garage. I do my own servicing now and just pop the parts invoices into the service folder.

dozer said:

The likes of chips away could sort that for a reasonable price. They will know the types of primer etc to use. It won't rust until you can sort it. They did work on a corsa gsi I once owned and the work was faultless.
I stay away from fiat dealers as much as I can especially with a 10 year old car like we both have. My last service was a major service. All oils and filters and brake fluid was around £170 at a reputable local garage. I do my own servicing now and just pop the parts invoices into the service folder.

Click to expand...

Much do they tend to charge for the kind of chips you have seen in my attachments? Not sure about those kinds of companies, but as you've recommended them I'll get a quote and consider it

£225 for my local Fiat dealer, but hoping to get a bit of a discount from a local Fiat owners club in NI when I join. Where I live the mechanics are for crap, wouldn't touch them with a ten foot barge pole - especially with an older car to be honest :-( Rather be ripped off by Fiat than them, least there's a head office who can put them right if needed

I was considering trying to repair it myself. If they shell is galvanised wouldn't that have stopped that bubble formation though which is under the paint and assumably on the body? :-/ (I genuinely don't know thats why i ask, not to be rude)

Looks like water has got between the primer and galvanised shell probably from a previous poor repair. As it's an oldish car I'd be tempted to rub it down and touch up with hamerite for galvanised steel not the normal hamerite then rub it flat with a fine wet and dry. You can't use normal primer on galvanised steel as it won't adhere. Good luck!

dozer said:

Looks like water has got between the primer and galvanised shell probably from a previous poor repair. As it's an oldish car I'd be tempted to rub it down and touch up with hamerite for galvanised steel not the normal hamerite then rub it flat with a fine wet and dry. You can't use normal primer on galvanised steel as it won't adhere. Good luck!

Click to expand...

We've had the car from one year old, and I haven't heard of any work done to the paint/body before. But I will investigate.

So is it rust remover, treatment, sealer or converter I need to apply to the exposed metal in the photo I have?

As for the bubbles, yes, going to sand down to bare metal, and then, apply the same primer? All very confusing to me

No rust treatment as there is no rust. It will probably be an etch primer.
I don't know which type so get advice from a paint supplier as you don't want the paints reacting with each other.
If you just want to touch it up with the hamerite for galvanised steel that brushes or sprays straight on to a clean surface.

dozer said:

No rust treatment as there is no rust. It will probably be an etch primer.
I don't know which type so get advice from a paint supplier as you don't want the paints reacting with each other.
If you just want to touch it up with the hamerite for galvanised steel that brushes or sprays straight on to a clean surface.

Click to expand...

My uncle (who's garage I'm using) recommends I get a rust preventer for the time being, as soon as possible, just to protect all the exposed areas. This is what I'm going for so far.

The description says;-

Protects exposed and exterior metal & steel surfaces from rust and corrosion

Suitable for coating and touching up galvanised surfaces

..amongst other things. So I reckon it can't do any harm.

Until I get the proper paint, enamel etc, as you say, the right type will be needed which means a lot of non-rushed research. At least the preventer spray should give some peace of mind for now?

It certainly talks the talk in the description!

I'm afraid on older models 2003-6 this is and will become more common, my 2004 has the same bubbling where the bumper meets the rear quarter panel. Rust is inevitable at some point given our climate. At least the panda doesn't rust half as much as the MK2 punto (all bar the rear axle)