Vermont Winter Coming: Help my 2012 Tahoe Body!

Hi Everyone,
A few leaves turning color, and BodyWork weather will last for a while. Walkaround of our Tahoe thats very good mechanically shows Trouble.

I need you advice on 2024 tech that can deal with this. It will be me not a real bodyshop. I have done some bodywork / painting. I have built boats and know epoxy work well. But what materials and sequence of application is best for this kind of TouchUp PLUS kind of work?? I would really appreciate learning from your experience.

Here's a walkaround. Online Sympathy Cards welcome

CENTER of the Hood inside:



Hood corners Inside (Both sides).


DriversSide Doorsill (and all passenger side) Look OK.



BUT This is rear Driverside sill. Why?? WhatToDo??



And the driverside Rear Wheelwell. I know I have to remove the inner liner to work on it.



And.. A Few Easy Scratches (Out of Photo space. ) (Sounds like a bad Movie!)...

I can't bear the thought of doing Nothing thru another Winter Of Salt.

Comments, Suggestions, Pointers to online suppliers, online How-To , DO's DON'Ts WELCOME

Regards, Terry King
...In The Woods In Vermont
The one who dies with the most Parts LOSES! WHAT DO YOU NEED??

Not sure if you've seen this thread...

mikez71 said:

Not sure if you've seen this thread...

Paint touch ups and rust repair

I have a 2010 Yukon XL has some rust spots so doing some fixes. Rattle can paint paint and clear. So far I’ve sanded out the easy surface rust spots, prime then paint. Seams to look ok. Not perfect but I’m ok with that.

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

Click to expand...

MikeZ. Thanks.. Looking over all that... T

I'm just a bit to the east of you, and have had to have bodywork done every year. The rear fenders are well-known GM rust magnets. My hood latch looks like yours, too. I just keep spraying Fluid Film on everything.

Charlie207 said:

I'm just a bit to the east of you, and have had to have bodywork done every year. The rear fenders are well-known GM rust magnets. My hood latch looks like yours, too. I just keep spraying Fluid Film on everything.

Click to expand...

Hi Charlie, Today Mary Alice power sanded some flat rust areas, while I sandblasted the front hood inside rim. I took left rear inner fender plastic liner off, and power wirebrushed the edge and some inner sections. Need to epoxy one small section rusted out. Then need to sandblast and POR-15. She POR-15'd the flat areas she did.. Another couple coats in the morning. Will wet sand the POR and then prime / paint the exterior parts.

Fluid film the chassis before winter. But I am testing a section with POR-15 to see how it survives a winter.

TerryKing said:

Hi Charlie, Today Mary Alice power sanded some flat rust areas, while I sandblasted the front hood inside rim. I took left rear inner fender plastic liner off, and power wirebrushed the edge and some inner sections. Need to epoxy one small section rusted out. Then need to sandblast and POR-15. She POR-15'd the flat areas she did.. Another couple coats in the morning. Will wet sand the POR and then prime / paint the exterior parts.

Fluid film the chassis before winter. But I am testing a section with POR-15 to see how it survives a winter.

Click to expand...

My last vehicle had the entire frame POR-15'd and holds up for a few salty winters. The key, and near-impossible task, is eliminating all the existing rust before encapsulating the metal.

The main problem that I ran into was how they covered all the suspension to frame nuts and bolts, which buries them under a hard layer, and meant I had to cut them off.

Yikes.......not much will help you there. Good bathing in fluid film will help slow the decay down, but not much will fix it beyond lots of time and money. And, at that point, it'll only last a few years.

I'd throw the money at a new-2-u replacement from rust free area. Even the same year so you can have donor parts if needed.

Unfortunately, its over man. Just drive it until you find something newer, and rust free. Its not worth fixing.

It will mostly be a losing battle but dont let that stop you. One of the biggest problems is they sandwich foam between layers of sheetmetal. The foam is hygroscopic and draws moisture in between these layers and they rust from the inside out. LMC sells some of the most-rusted panel replacements like for the rear wheel arches—https://www.lmctruck.com/body-components/body-panels/ce-2007-13-front-steel-body-parts_tahoesuburban

Sand and prime what you can, fluid film areas you cant get to, get some sort of undercarriage washing regimen set up for the winter salty mess (I use a gutter cleaning wand to wash the undercarriage after every salting event, you can use a siphon pump to apply salt away) and hang on best you can.

My $.02...if you can, park it in a garage. Heated or at least attached. This eliminates the daily condensation cycle and allows it to dry out quicker when it does get wet.

My 2008 has spent its entire life in Michigan and Indiana, is driven during winters, and only has minor surface rust on the frame and zero body rust. I've never done anything to try to mitigate rust other than taking it an automatic car wash with undercarriage blast. But it has been garaged religiously (attached) since I bought it in 2013.