Protecting surface that has small surface rust already?

-

carcrazyguy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2005
Messages
1,358
Reaction score
16
Location
Amarillo, TX
Okay as some of you know I bought a 70 Duster as a "long term" project. The car has some surface rust. Here is my question. I really don't plan to get fully started on the car for a couple of years(as I already have a 71 Dart in the bodyshop). Anyway I would like to "protect" the Duster against getting any worse. What should I do? Is there a product that I can put on the areas to keep them from getting worse? But keep in mind, whatever I put on the car will have to be stripped of and painted over in the future. :scratch:
 
strip the areas and put a good coating of etching primer on them, if its just surface rust, it should be ok. sand as much off as you can, coat it with ETCHING primer and then maybe some sealer or soemthing. but dont leave it where it will get rained on constantly unless you want to put paint on it first to keep the primer from soaking up some water.
 
If you do not want to do as much as rabius75 suggested (It's certainly the best thing) I would at least sand as much rust off as possible and cover it with rattle can rust preventive paint.

If the car is going to be parked outside go to your local outlet store and pick up a plastic tarp and cover the ground under the car so moisture is not coming up from the ground. You don't want it to big so it acts as a water collector and funnels it under the car. Then cover the car with a cover that breaths. A plastic pail on the hood, roof and trunk to create an air space is a good idea to.
 
Well maybe I should take the car to a bodyshop and have them sand and primer the surface rust areas. :scratch: Then try to find a huge plastic "bag" type product to store the car in? That way no rain, moisture or anything like that can get in.
 
it has to breath... it will have moisture inside it, if it sits in the sun, it will condense inside the 'bag' :)
contact zip-loc, they should be able to help you out :wink:

oh, you can get a spray can of etching primer and some sand paper at like, wal-mart... not really, but its not too hard to find. make sure its etching primer. sand the rust off, put several (3-4) thin coats of primer on it (that way it doesnt load up the scratches or whatever and it covers better), then like cover the whole area of primer with like gloss spray paint, it will help seal it.
 
Warning, slight thread hijack ahead...

I need to do this to my roof. What grit sandpaper should I use? Do I need to remove the old vinyl top glue before I start sanding? And is there any other surface prep I should do before I spray the primer?
 
I used 400 grit paper to do some of my top,i sanded it down to factory primer,if u can do that,then i hit it with the primer forget what kind,ill hav to find it look it up,i sprayed it with the spray gun in a booth at my shop class!As for the glue i jsut used a scraper an spent about an hour or two going over all the glue,use a heat gun to help ya out with the glue!
MIKE
 
When I am preping metal for primer I use 180 grit on a random orbital sander. For heavy duty rust removal I will use 60 grit on an air powered DA sander.

I only use 400 grit for the final wet sanding of primer before the application of the finish coat.
 
hm... depending on how bad the rust is (how deep, did it make pits or is it just like a smooth rusty finish). if its smooth-ish, id use like, 220, it wont scratch the metal quite as much and will make it easier to cover the scratches up. you use ETCHING primer (zombie) to cover it. first coat, kinda thin but wet, wait for it to flash (dry out most of the way), second coat, a little thicker, still wet, flash again, then you put the third coat on nice and wet. several thin coats will get inside the pits//scratches and wont bridge them and shrink exposing them when it really dries. really bad scratches, block sand them, does wonders, but if your e going to leave it at this stage of finishing, put some paint or something over it so the primer doesnt soak up water and let the rust come back.

the ket to primer application is, dont dust it on dry, that will cover so badly and look very crummy and not leave a smooth finish to start from when you sand it. you have to apply it like paint, wet and in coats to get the thickness to fill the scratches and such.
 
I have seen self etching primer for sale in spray cans @ Murrey's auto. Not sure how many of those stores are around tho.
 
yeah, you can get it at just about any paint store im sure. ive never been in anywhere besides autocolor, im not sure if thats a local store to here or not, but thats where my dad likes to get his supplies for work. sherwin williams probably has it too.
 
Cheap and fast.
Spray affected area with clear from a spray bomb. hit it a couple times. All you need to do in effect is seal the area from more oxidation(air and water). used this method for a couple years now on my projects that are outside.

Vinyl top: use a lot of cheap Lacquer thinner. you can buy a 5 gallon can for 30 bucks at discount autobody supply stores. works good for cleaning all sorts of thing on cars.... check small areas at first to see if it will damage the material(many plastics dissolve.) Spead it on in a small area at a time using cotton rags to soak up the goo. Throw everything into a metal can out side your garage, and use ventilation! (it's a cheap but painful headache high....
 
Sand the surface rust off and you can get a product called A Must For Rust (Lowe's/Home Depot) that says it will protect the area for up to a YEAR if left to dry. I've been doing the surface prep then spraying AMFR, then primer. Works so far...

Dave
 
I've personally had great luck with Plastikote's self-etching primer. (stuff that's a greenish hue) My Challenger's been sitting for the past five or six months while I'm here at college and it's held up without thus far. :wink:
 
-
Back
Top