The Beginning of Surface Rust on Doors

[Onion]

I had a racing stripe sticker on my car along the bottom of the front fender which went across the door all the way to the rear fender (wasn't installed by me, was done by PO). I decided to peel it off two days ago, and found out that the PO had the paint job done on the cheap. A one inch long piece of paint ripped off my door when I peeled the sticker, exposing bare metal. At first glance, it doesn't look like there were many coats of primer or actual paint. My question is, what can I do? I know I'm supposed to sand the area down and prime it, but that's incredibly ugly. If I take it to a shop, can they just repaint that spot, or does it have to be my entire door? What temporary alternatives are there that won't look hideous? I'd respray the entire car, but I really don't have the money for that at the moment. The car has been sitting outside for the past two days (I DD it), and that spot has already started to rust because of the rain. Its in great condition with no rust anywhere else, so I'd really like to take care of this correctly before it becomes a problem. I don't have a photo of the damage as my old phone with the photo on it died yesterday. Car is a 1973 240Z. 

 

I kept on doing research and remembered something. My paint is from a Mercedes SLK, and I know the paint code for it. If I were to find a spray can of that paint, or something really similar, could I just sand the area down to the metal, prime it, and then paint and have it match almost perfectly? It'd look a lot better than just bare primer, which was what I was considering until I got a respray. 

Edited June 8, 2013 by Onion

[BluDestiny]

They can paint match local spots, but depending on how old your paint is, it will never look right and will always be noticeable to you. Even painting the door would make it stand out (potentially) from the rest of the car. 

 

You could find touch up paint, and it will be the cheapest route and look about the same if you prep the area well (as in sand it, smooth it, and put on a layer of primer, then paint). The rust you are seeing is flash rusting, it will probably come off with a very light sanding, so no worries there.

 

Brave man letting your Z brave Andrea (don't know how bad you got it in orlando). My ZX had a lake in the driver side when it stopped raining.

[bigbreak_2000]

threat the spot with boeshield t-9 until you have it repainted. They sell it at Sears. Colorless application, does not harm your paint. I have a quarter size bare metal spot on my passenger door where the paint for some reason peeled off, and applied the boeshield product and it has not rusted for over 2 years now. And it is humid where I live.

[Onion]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm gonna go for the paint matching route, the bare metal spot is a real eye sore and bugs the hell out of me. I just got back from the store, and picked up an angle grinder (needed one anyways, now I had a good excuse to buy one). What kind of primer is generally recommended for these cars? I've heard good things about rustoleum primer, but I'd rather double check before making a mistake. 

 

And for Andrea, its not so bad. I'm currently in Miami, although I live in Jacksonville most of the year. All we got here was a lot of rain, and since I just redid most of the weatherstripping on the car, I didn't worry about it too much. Not a single drop now that the rain has finally stopped. It used to leak pretty bad in the trunk, so I'm glad that's taken care of. 

[bigbreak_2000]

I've used POR-15 with tie-coat primer and it worked very well.

[Onion]

I've used POR-15 with tie-coat primer and it worked very well.

 

Only comes in a pint/quart, apparently. I don't have the skills or tools to brush on paint, I've always done rattle can work and gotten decent at it over time. That's a good idea, though, when I get the car repainted, I'll do the POR 15 tie-coat primer.