How do you deal with your sufface rust?

Now I know some of you think rust is cool and that is fine. But I dont like rust "must be the 19 years in the navy". Anyways I now have a project that is 90% rust and I am just wondering what is the best way to deal with your surface rust. Now normaly I would sand and seal. But now that I am dealing with so much I am wondering if it is ok to media blast body parts or if this is unwise. Also what do you guys prefer to do after its sanded, Sealer or primer or rust remover.
Asking so I will know how the old heads do it!

Keep on Rodding!

 

Great product for neutralizing rust:

http://www.oconeeoffroad.com/servlet/the-5867/POR-dsh-15-"Metal-Ready"-Surface/Detail

You don't have to follow it up with POR-15 to use this stuff. I've used it as the first layer of smack down on rusty metal, then follow with blasting/sanding to get a better surface.

 

call me new age old fashioned, but I myself just remove it.

 

Personally I prefer to hand sand rust. This is especially true if you have any body work or patching to do. Blasting hardens the metal and will make bodywork more difficult. Another choice would be 3M stripper wheels they work good and will not damage the metal. Good luck with your project.

 

I but how? Is it ok to sandblast bodyparts? I.E. fenders and doors and such.

 

Of course it's ok to blast, but it really depends on the media you're using. "Sand" isn't really the best media, and can be dangerous for the user (silica+lungs=bad day). Opinions vary, but there is lots of different media (I've had great results with Starblast), and some is better than others with big, flat areas that might otherwise be prone to warpage.

I personally would try that Metal Ready stuff first, just to see what you're working with, and exactly how "surface" it is. No good blasting it if you're just making holes.

 

I tend to geta wire wheel and use it on my angle grinder. If the wire wheel is soft enough it will get rid of the rust and won't damage or heat the metal. Then once the major rust is off I just use what ever rust killer I have available. The primer it right up after a good cleaning with some laquer thinner.

 

What they said... with breathing protection.

- Joe

 

Have it dipped. Its not the cheapest way to go (although it looks like you would just be doing a tub), but it will remove all rust everywhere, behind body braces, in little nooks and crannies. Then just hose the hell out of those spots with the etch primer.

 

I started a similar thread, there's some good options here...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233375

 

i hand sand everything... or wire brush on a angle grinder... i do things the hard way a majority of the time... i buy alot of sandpaper....

 

I've had good luck with sanding the rust down the best you can and then applying Rust-Mort, an SEM product, and letting it set up for a day or so and then another light sanding followed up by applying primer.

 

If you must blast, baking soda blasting - used to be a place in SJC called DES but I think it's gone now. Anacapa in Ventura or Camarillo or Oxnard or somewhere. Try you local Yellow Pages or Google No heat issues and no metal hardening. You can even blast plastic light lenses with it and they come up all shiny and new - that's how gentle it is. Plus you can strip paint off selectively and layer by layer too if you want. It gets rid of the rust and unlike chemical stripping it does not weep and screw up your paint job.

I personally use 3M purple strip it discs - 7" size, no bigger as they get out of balance and eat up bearings. Use them with a Makita - GV5000 - get one at Home Depot. Best tool I ever had, but a word of caution: DO NOT blow the dust away from the snout with compressed air - dries out the bearings. With the Strip It disc there are no heat/warpage issues, a weekend to strip a whole car of multiple layers of paint, bondo, rust etc. and the satisfaction of doing it yourself. It also metal finishes and conditions the metal. Use Blue Lightning Metal Prep or similar afterwards. Just done the Willys hood in little over an hour last weekend and it had 3/8"+ of bondo all over. Actually discovered it had a welded up cowl vent when I got into it. Isn't archeology fun!

 

soda does not do a thing to rust.

 

Beat me to it.

Seriously, look into the Starblast.

 

So how come it worked fine on my '59 Elk done over a dozen years ago. Car was rusted through on the roof and heavy rust on top of fenders, hood, fins, rockers, floorpans. Not a sign of rust or bubbles or anything since. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

You must've used that miracle soda that was immune to the effects of physics. That stuff had a short shelf life, what with it being made of ground up unicorn horns and all. Of course the damn EPA had to step in and ruin it for everybody.

 

I use a wire brush on a drill to remove the loose stuff then apply rust converter any where from 2 to a dozen coats depending on the amount of pitting. Old Wolf

 

What did you treat it with after blasting?

 

I'm sort of in this boat right now too. I use a product called "the Must For Rust" along with a bunch of scotch brite puple pads. The body is pretty much stripped on the outside, but the real issue is THE INSIDE! There are so many nooks and crannies that I just can't get into with a wire brush and/or a scrotch brite pad to strub. I'm considering taking it into a blaster just to have the outside done and just be done with it.

 

Oh... and after blasting/stripping, if you aren't planning on painting for a bit order some GIBBS. It RULES!!!

 

I use wire wheels, sanding disks, 3m stripping disks, and hand sanding. I even resort to using cartrige rolls that they use for porting, in tight spots, then I spot blast the areas that simply are too pitted or too hard to get at, with one of those gravity feed guns. Of course not that rust is considered golden, I should abandon my efforts and put red wheels under it.

 

You made my day! funny shit!

Seriously, sandblast it but use a guy that knows what he is doing. Even then, I instruct them to "lightly dust" it, then go into it with the Black 3M disks mentioned.

 

i use an orbital sander, unless its real bad, then i use an angle grinder with a flexable 80 grit pad

 

Are talking about the outer panels being rusted, or are you talking about inside/outside and everywhere? If you are talking about everywhere, then either blast or dip. If you are talking about outside panels, then sand/treat with rust solution and seal.

 

soda blast it!!! we did my dad woody and the metal looked like the day it was assembled, with the discoloration of the spotwelds still there. but i kinda like rust myself!!

 

Here's a thread related to this:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...=233375&page=3

And my advice:

Re: The Best way to remove rust from a 80 year old body?

Since most old bodies still have a mixture of paint and rust, I like to do it like this:

I used 3M black paint/rust stripper 4 1/2" pads on a Makita style grinder or the 7" pads with velco backing for the 7" body grinder(Eastwood sells them all) to strip all the rust/paint off the flat panels that are susceptable to warping from blasting. You can work pretty fast and what's nice about it, is you can do a little bit at a time inside your shop without having to set things up and then clean things up every time. When I get all the flat panels done, then I move it outside and sandblast the reveals, corners, pitted areas, nooks and crannies that you couldn't do with the stripper pad. It is the safest way to avoid warpage of the flat panels, especially if you are not experienced. I used a Tractor Supply 20 gal. $129 sandblaster with Black Diamond media, It seems to work much better than silica sand. The pattern with it is wider and it cuts faster (with less heat/warpage). It does leave a coarser finish but you can knock it down with a sanding pad or your filler primer will cover it, since it will have to be blocked out anyway.

I was just at Home Depot tonight and saw they have the Norton brand 4 1/2" purple stripper disc's which work on your Makita style grinder. They cost $8.97 each.

 

no offense to the so cal guys replying to this thread,,,but unless you bought something from the midwest or east coast... i don't think your "rust" is the same "rust"
we have out here,,,,

sanding it or wire wheeling it won't get rid of the stuff we deal with out here.....

 

I gotta say, I agree with Ian and Sam F, it's best to cut it right out.

If that's not your bag, then there's some "magical" stuff called Rust Bullet, which they claim is even better than POR15.

Check it out....

http://www.rustbullet.com/EngineeringData/engData.htm

 

Do what I did and build a large wooden crate , line it with heavy plastic and do the ............MOLASSES TANGO
Dip your own body from a couple of days to a couple of weeks ....depending how bad the "surface rust " is
or do what another guy did rent a backhoe , dig a large hole , line it with plastic and drive the car in , then molasses