Hi All,

I am about to put new mud flaps on my 2005 2.0 Ford Focus Titanium. On the front wheel arch there is rust, at the back of the arch. See the photo attached.

The new mud flap will cover about half the rust but I do not want it to get any worse. I just want to stop the rust from spreading as it is in a place which is not too noticeable.

The first quote to have this resprayed was £400 for both sides, which is madness so I am considering a patch up myself if possible but I dont know where to start.

Anyone dealt with this issue before or anything similar?

Cheers in advance

Hi All,

I am about to put new mud flaps on my 2005 2.0 Ford Focus Titanium. On the front wheel arch there is rust, at the back of the arch. See the photo attached.

The new mud flap will cover about half the rust but I do not want it to get any worse. I just want to stop the rust from spreading as it is in a place which is not too noticeable.

The first quote to have this resprayed was £400 for both sides, which is madness so I am considering a patch up myself if possible but I dont know where to start.

Anyone dealt with this issue before or anything similar?

Cheers in advance

I've already done a very informative "How to" thread on the very subject complete with photos. Plus there is input on the subject by others. After the first couple of builds of the Mk2 Focus, Fords realised there was a problem and did a fix for it. You can buy the Ford fix parts [which they, Ford added to all subsequent 06 builds onwards] Wither you opt for retro fitting the fix or not [ I didn't] the damage in your case has been do, so needs sorting.

Although my car had been subject to the Ford build flaw for four years being a 2005 model, on buying it at exactly four years old and knowing about the flaw [via a Honest John review] I set about fixing it. Like I say you have options, but your example shows that left without remedial work, you can end up with a job costing hundreds to put right.My car had only covered less than 33K miles at purchase, so the damage was repairable at no great cost.

Considering the importance to early Mk2 owners of this early build flaw, I had suggested the thread was made into a "Sticky" but alas my recommendation up to date has gone unheeded. I can only add so much to my signature

Known rust problems on mk2 Focus front wheel arches

I've already done a very informative "How to" thread on the very subject complete with photos. Plus there is input on the subject by others. After the first couple of builds of the Mk2 Focus, Fords realised there was a problem and did a fix for it. You can buy the Ford fix parts [which they, Ford added to all subsequent 06 builds onwards] Wither you opt for retro fitting the fix or not [ I didn't] the damage in your case has been do, so needs sorting.

Although my car had been subject to the Ford build flaw for four years being a 2005 model, on buying it at exactly four years old and knowing about the flaw [via a Honest John review] I set about fixing it. Like I say you have options, but your example shows that left without remedial work, you can end up with a job costing hundreds to put right.My car had only covered less than 33K miles at purchase, so the damage was repairable at no great cost.

Considering the importance to early Mk2 owners of this early build flaw, I had suggested the thread was made into a "Sticky" but alas my recommendation up to date has gone unheeded. I can only add so much to my signature

Known rust problems on mk2 Focus front wheel arches

Cheers For that Catch, are there photos in this description as I cant see them?

Cheers For that Catch, are there photos in this description as I cant see them?

yes I added ten, and there is another poster who had damage similar to yours, they posted two before and one after photos. You must be looking at a low vision version of that thread. What I'd do in your case is this, save some money by cutting back all loose paint work yourself. Then treat bare metal and rusted areas, after wired brushing the later to remove loose bits of rust, with a rust curing agent. I used Hammerite "KURUST" [killing the rust is the most important part of the job, so take as long as it takes to do the job properly. Because if that part of the fix is done shoddily, all that follows after it ie: the new shiny paint work, will eventually fail] then I would take it to a bodyshop and have them sort it out for a professional finish. But tell them you want a couple of coats of "Stonechip" applying prior to them finishing it off with top coats.

I'm still running on three coats of underseal on mine just short of a year into my fix, and its doing fine. But unlike Stonechip, underseal it is not as tough as Stonechip, which whilst it's pliable, it can be overpainted. Underseal is a cheap fix, but will need revisiting on occasion.

I decided against the Ford retro fix because they are fixed to the car by drill fixings. Straight away I though, last thing I want to do is introduce holes and hence bare metal to an area subject to water. I mean once affixed I would had no way of knowing if I had introduced a rust prone solution.

Maybe they can be retro fixed with a heavy duty adhesive, like that which is used to fix sill protectors. Jeez I got a stainless steel sill protector just slightly off where I wanted it to be and even though I had not pressed it down with any weight [just sat it on the surface]it was a bugger to prize off and position correctly.

I was just looking for that thread to post it Catch :D. I forgot it was posted on this site. It's a good write up. Link

H3lly I noticed on that thread coll247 said he had purchased a gun to apply Shultz but he never came back with an update as to how he went on .....I hate it when that happens :D

Ah, don't we all. :)

yes I added ten, and there is another poster who had damage similar to yours, they posted two before and one after photos. You must be looking at a low vision version of that thread. What I'd do in your case is this, save some money by cutting back all loose paint work yourself. Then treat bare metal and rusted areas, after wired brushing the later to remove loose bits of rust, with a rust curing agent. I used Hammerite "KURUST" [killing the rust is the most important part of the job, so take as long as it takes to do the job properly. Because if that part of the fix is done shoddily, all that follows after it ie: the new shiny paint work, will eventually fail] then I would take it to a bodyshop and have them sort it out for a professional finish. But tell them you want a couple of coats of "Stonechip" applying prior to them finishing it off with top coats.

I'm still running on three coats of underseal on mine just short of a year into my fix, and its doing fine. But unlike Stonechip, underseal does not harden that's the down side, but its a cheap fix. I decided against the Ford retro fix because they are fixed to the car by drill fixings. Straight away I though, last thing I want to do is introduce holes and hence bare metal to an area subject to water. I mean once affixed I would had no way of knowing if I had introduced a rust prone solution.

Maybe they can be retro fixed with a heavy duty adhesive, like that which is used to fix sill protectors. Jeez I got a stainless steel sill protector just slightly off where I wanted it to be and even though I had not pressed it down with any weight [just sat it on the surface]it was a bugger to prize off and position correctly.

Cheers Again Catch, you say you used KURUST to remove the rust. Did you then get it sprayed or did you just apply underseal? What underseal did you use? I will get prices for a spray hopefully it is reasonable as its not even that visable with the new ford mudflps on.