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Problems/Service/RepairsIf you have a problem with your HHR, want a tip on repairing or performing a particular service to you HHR here is the place to post!
I have a 2007. There's a decent amount of rust around the wheel well on the rear QPs and on the rear doors. Just took it up to Maaco to get an estimate and they're saying about 3k. There has to be a less expensive was to remedy the rust. Any suggestions?
Welcome to the site, if you’re handy and the rust hasn’t turned the QP’s into Swiss cheese, you can remove the paint bubbles, then sand down to bare metal, mask off the area and spray Eastwood’s rust encapsulator, then primer , sand and then apply paint the same colour as your HHR. You can also smooth out the area with body filler, more sanding and prep work.
3K is not bad, once you factor in the cost of paint and preparation products , labour, and then there’s the paint booth they have and you don’t , all those body tools and expensive training, it adds up quick.
Rust paint bubble removed, sanded primer Ed and painted Hard to see, small paint bubble from rust just above the right rear tire.
Hotrodding is not the lobuck hobby I started out with back in 1962, $50.00 was a months salry washing cars and cutting lawns, shoveling snow. A ‘28 Model A was a $15.00 investment and a rattle can sprayed a lot more area back then, we used to panel paint to cover up chips a full paint job was way out of the ball park!
Larry Watson had the knack to hide paint mismatch and stone chips , door dents Even the worn area on the window sill, stone chips in the hood and headlight eyebrows, the guy was a genius!
Hate to say but if you have that much rust, it's probably terminal and not cost effective to fix. I had minor rust on the corner of the tailgate of one of my vehicles and I had it professionally repaired for $500 and there was no guarantee that it would not come back. Sure enough a couple of years later it started to bubble. If it's just minor surface rust, like mentioned above, you can do your own work and then take it to MAACO and get one other their "specials" and it will be okay for awhile. I took an Acura I owned that had clearcoat damage and the bumpers were "bumped" and MAACO painted the entire car and fixed the bumpers for $900.
Hate to say it but might be time to look for a newer HHR from a southern state or at least a well maintained, rust free example locally if you really like these vehicles.
California HHR’s are usually rust free as are Arizona and New Mexico, I’m sure there are other salt free states, and as for rust, you can cut out the corrosion and weld in new patch panels, nobody makes them, so you have to fabricate your own! For hood, door or lift gate rust a complete replacement part is the way to go! A road trip is cheaper then shipping! I once drove to New Mexico for rust free parts for a 1957 Ford Skyliner I was restoring, and picked up a rust free 1969 Roadrunner in Arizona by in 1997, just $4,500.00 sitting since 1974. It sat for 20 years in my storage barn, I finally sold it in 2017.
HHR’s are fairly cheap so some gas money and a hotel stay a few nights might be worth it. You have to decide
I had a chance in 1983 to buy a car for an asking price of $14,000. The car was a mint-condition 1967 Corvette Stingray convertible, Tripower 427, 435hp. What that car is worth today!!
I fixed up and painted a car back in the late 80's. Never again. I realized just how much work it was.
I restored a Skyliner, for the Craven Foundation, they used to have cars of museum quality, some where a full ground up , body off , restoration, some where dent fix, interior repair. I did the wiring for the 1957 Ford. I restored a 1922 Jewett , a monster of a car! That was a five year project, the foundation shut down, and I ended up with the car, I finished it in 1977, and sold it at quite a loss, nobody knew what it was, auctions like Barrett-Jackson or Mecum weren’t known yet. Neither was the internet to research, some guy from BC bought it after I posted it in the Old Autos paper. Hemmings wasn’t much help , just no information on the Jewett . I started off with a 1920 and a 1922, both large 4 door coaches, in-line 6 cylinder engines 3 speed manual transmissions, leather strap rear brakes , mechanical activated.
there were many local guys who liked the idea of hot rodding the 1920, but it got restored too.
I have no idea where they are now!
Consider it a very good “winter car.” Trying to fix the rust probably makes no economic sense. To slow its progression, flush it thoroughly underneath with clear water (some drive thru car washes do this) to get rid of residual salt and maybe have it undercoated. Quick DIY rattle can repairs on rusty spots do make sense. Try it strictly confine the work to the actual damage. The idea is to make it less noticeable, not more.
01-11-2022, 10:35 AM
