My panel truck is covered in surface rust. It would take like five days to sand all of it off. Does anyone know of a better idea. I want to put it in some primer but need to take care of the rust first. Any ideas.
what's five days when you are building a car? Do what it takes. there has been a lot of advice about rust lately, search the archives. I settled on Zerorust myself.
Use a DA sander on it, putting it on "grind" mode on rusty spots. That usually will clean off surface rust.
Only five days? Get to sandin! Define surface rust. Or better yet, post a picture. If you can get it off, take it off. Then metal cleaner, and metal conditioner.
My bodyshop buddy turned me onto "milkstone remover". It's a mild acid available at Tractor Supply's for about 6 or 7 bucks a gallon. Dilute with water and soak rags in it. Lay them on the rusty surface and keep 'em wet with the solution. Takes a day or 3 but it's a helluva lot easier than all that d.a.'ing. Use rubber gloves and eye protection and do it in a ventilated area. Cleans right down to the bottom of the rust pits. Rinse with clear water when finished and variprime.
Rocky, have you tried soaking parts in it? Is it better than molassis? I've been thinking about soaking my 33 in molassis, but I don't have room inside anywhere.
Put the right spin on it, and you can make some groovy cash... Tout the truck as a "barn fresh rat rod" and sell it to the eager scenester with the fattest wallet...and before you know it, it'll be featured in a color magazine spread surface rust and all!!! Don't "ruin" a potential new feature rod like that by taking the rust OFF of it! (Ha Ha...just funnin' ya...take the advice given by others above and you'll be smooth and ready for paint before you know it. "once begun, it's half done", ya know!)
Doesn't look that bad in the pic Mac. It looks like you still have to finish striping some of it anyway. I'd sand it. DA with 120, or 80. Go slow, don't get it hot. 3M rice cakes work good. Try Rockys idea on the deep stuff.
another good tool to use to remove rust after you treat it is a high speed grinder with a knotted wire brush attachment.Those things will even remove paint without making deep scratches in the metal surface. the finer bristle cheaper brush type that isn't knotted even works better in close areas. Be sure to wear eye and face protection. Those brush bristles are like flying daggers.
Tinbender is right. Get some of the 3M stripper discs and remove the rust and paint down to clean metal. Cover it with a good catalized coating like DP90 and build a good foundation for any primer and paint you will be applying later on.It doesn't pay to cut corners on the surface prep.On larger jobs I just break it up into smaller portions that I can do one day at a time, before long you have clean,shiny metal to work with.The 3M discs will remove the rust and paint but will not remove any metal leaving your surface much smoother than if you used a grinder or sanding discs. They are quicker but cause more problems than they solve.
Hey Fat Hack I like that "barn fresh" alright. But paint who needs paint. Primer is finer. All I need is a good coat of DP90 and some kind of interior and I'm done. DA sander sounds good I'll have to go buy one soon. Thanks
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