Caught a few minutes of 'Two Guys Garage' the other day where they chopped a sedan. The car was already in bare metal when this was done but near the end of the show one of the guys dumped tranny fluid on a rag and wiped down the body. He said it would keep the bare metal shiney and stop rust. Did I hear all this correctly? I've seen any number of methods to prevent rust on bare metal here on the HAMB but not sure I've ever heard of this one.
it should prevent rust, but i know of many better ways to accomplish that. oil works on my guns and shovels but that is it.
what happens when you miss some while cleaning it off and it causes the paint to lift later. sounds like a lame idea to me, but it must be OK cuz it was seen on TV
If you don't plan on painting a car thats probably ok but if you plan on paint, you should use a sealer epoxy on it as soon as the parts are stripped so you know its right.
Anything that you put on bare metal will have to be cleaned off when you go to the next step in body work or go to paint it but their theory may be that trans fluid is easier to clean off and contains less things that might contaminate the metal than WD-40 or some other stuff. I don't get the fascination with running bare metal as a finish. I can see pulling the rig out of the shop when the body work is done to perfection and taking it to one show or run in bare metal to show the world your workmanship before heading back to the shop with it and doing the prep work for paint. That's cool, what I don't see as cool is showing up two years later with the same bare metal and your case of WD40 and Scotch Brite pads with a car you haven't hit a lick on for the past two years.
Put a small amount of trans fluid on your bench and leave it undisturbed overnight... You might be amazed at how far it has crept by the next morning. It will creep around till it finds every seem, crevice, or any other spot there is. it will creep in between panels and along the underside of the sheet metal. If your not planning on painting your car...ever, then this may be the way to go. Otherwise, it's a step backwards.
My metal finisher uses anti freeze! He claims it is full of anti-oxidents and corrosion inhibitors. and it easily washes off.
An epoxy primer is best for the fresh bare metal. Just a light coat is sufficent and down the road when you are ready for body work just a fast freshen up and you can do bondo right over top. kgdb
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