99 Malibu - horrible rust near gas cap/door??

I have read before that it seems to be a common problem with the Malibu - rust near the gas....cap. Or whatever the little door is called. Mine is bad, and there is actually a small spot where it rusted all the way through and there's a small hole. I definitely don't have the budget to get it fixed right now - is there a short-term "fix" at all?? Someone actually recommended just spraying it with Rustoleum to keep it from spreading/getting worse - would that actually do anything?? Any suggestions would be great, thanks!

I have read before that it seems to be a common problem with the Malibu - rust near the gas....cap. Or whatever the little door is called. Mine is bad, and there is actually a small spot where it rusted all the way through and there's a small hole. I definitely don't have the budget to get it fixed right now - is there a short-term "fix" at all?? Someone actually recommended just spraying it with Rustoleum to keep it from spreading/getting worse - would that actually do anything?? Any suggestions would be great, thanks!

My 98 has the same rust spot.
Food grade spray works good.If you have a small hole just use epoxy or some such.
In any case spray it every time you change the oil.

Cheers
stripe

i went to school for auto body and i can walk you throw how u can fix it. and all mats will cost maybe 30$ Email me with the subject at hand and i will let u no Greggore023@aol.com

lol yup me too. I saw another one driving aroun with the EXACT rust spot i have it was pretty shocking. Actually now that i think of it that entire panel is bad for rusting. Ive got a spot about 2 inches from the door, all inside the door (but not the door itself) and then right underneath where the panel meets the bumper.

ha ha, I have 2 malibus and they rusted in the exact spot. I ground away the rust (careful, there's gas in there !!), I sanded down the area, I body filled it (didn't take much), I primed the body fill, and I painted the area with paint from napa. There is a paint code on the underside of your spare tire cover, napa matched the paint perfectly and its about 20 bucks for a large spray can. Body fill and sandpaper cost me 10 bucks and it looks great.

The reason this happens is there is a piece of foam directly below the gas cap housing and there is a small gap perfect for collecting salt/sand and never being flushed out because it's somewhat hidden I had the same issue, realized the rust came from the back to the front, and spread once the first speck of paint came off the exterior.. So I just ripped that piece of foam out, and am currently cleaning up the area to prep for bondo. Just figured I'd put in my 2 cents. What a shit design, GM should give all of us a free quarter panel and call it even. And the paint that matches you can just get Dupli-Color BGM0501 which is the one for galaxy silver metallic which is what my car is, I am going to grab some tomorrow after I bondo it tonight, probably sand/prep tomorrow and call it good. I just don't want it to rust more over the winter and be a cut/weld sheet metal job next spring. Bondo is so much easier near fuel.

Good info but 2 1/2 years after the last post, check the dates before posting, thanks.

I could not find an foam in the gas cap door area on my 2002 Malibu I have repired it once but the spot came back I woul realy like to know whats causing this befor I repair it again

hotpipes

You will need to remove as much of the rust as possible and then use a chemical to neutralize the rust. I would recommend the chemical called 'POR-15'. It will kill the rust. I don't know how it works but it DOES stop the rust.

You will need to remove as much of the rust as possible and then use a chemical to neutralize the rust. I would recommend the chemical called 'POR-15'. It will kill the rust. I don't know how it works but it DOES stop the rust.

Tony I found the rubber padding between the inner and outer skin by grinding more outer body skin off. I can not take all of the rubber out because it is sandwiched between the inner and out skin of the entire wheel well but I got out as much as i could reach and the back side of the outer skin is coated with rust there is an area around the gas fill pipe that is without the inner skin and I can see the rubber sticking out
Do you think it would help to cut off the rubber sticking out and silicone over that seam or just under coat it? I will use the neutralizer before I close it up. Which brings me to another question. The hole is 3" by 6" would you use fiberglass cloth or pop rivet a peace of metal over the hole. The inner skin can and will support the mud if that is the way to go with this repair.
hotpipes

I would apply the 'POR-15' first and then pop rivet some sheet metal over the POR-15 and then use body filler to make the repair unnoticeable.

Tony I sanded a larger area and then cut out all the bad metal and removed as much foam as I could reach I used the the neutralizer on any rust I saw. After removing all the foam I could reach It left an opening on the inner skin to the wheel well because the inner skin dose not surround the gas fill tube tightly so I filled the opening with body filler working from in the wheel well and undercoated all around the inner skin wear the foam is sticking out.
I then patched the outer skin with metal and body filler and painted

Two mistakes were. I did not start the filler far enough away from the patch to get a smooth transition. and the other was that I did not paint the whole quarter panel even though I had a good Sherman Williams automotive paint there is a slit difference in the color and it would not show as much if I had Painted the whole panel.
hotpipes