Oops, I washed metal W/ water!?

[jonnyboy1617]

I have a 73 duster, and the bodywork on the car was terrible and thick in bondo. So I have been taking it down to bare metal and coating it with epoxy primer. But here's the problem, to get the dust off of the metal before painting, I would damp a rag with water and wipe down the panel completely, then immediately dry, then clean with lacquer thinner, then wax and degrease, and spray. But now from some light reading, I have heard numerous people saying you should not wash metal unless you are going to treat it with a solution. Did I mess up? Will it eventually rust? Thanks for any input.

 

[dusted72]

If there was no flash rust on the metal prior to spraying I would think that it would be ok. But I would use wax and grease remover as your cleaning solution instead of water in the future just to be on the safe side.

 

[2 Darts]

I have a 73 duster, and the bodywork on the car was terrible and thick in bondo. So I have been taking it down to bare metal and coating it with epoxy primer. But here's the problem, to get the dust off of the metal before painting, I would damp a rag with water and wipe down the panel completely, then immediately dry, then clean with lacquer thinner, then wax and degrease, and spray. But now from some light reading, I have heard numerous people saying you should not wash metal unless you are going to treat it with a solution. Did I mess up? Will it eventually rust? Thanks for any input.

I use compressed air and a "tack cloth". Home Depot, Lowe's, et al have these back in the paint department. To keep hands from getting sticky, recommend wearing gloves when using tack cloth, and, of course, a dust mask & safety glasses when using the air gun.

I've tried using a shop vac with a short brush head instead of compressed air. It's a lot cleaner but does not have the power to lift dust out of small or hard to reach spaces like the compressor does.

 

[1967DartGT]

Rust can only live where there is oxygen. I would think as long as the water dried and you are sealing with epoxy primer you should not have to worry about rust. This is the concept behind POR15, Rust Encapsulator, etc. where you don't care about minor surface rust and just seal it in ... it can't spread any more if it can't get O2.

 

[375inStroke]

I say if water touched it, there's rust. I'd use a treatment like this:

PPG DX Metal Treatments

 

[homecloned]

Go get some OSPHO(phosphoric acid) from you paint supplier and brush or wipe on any bare metal surface. No more rust issues as this neutralizes it. Be carefull this is acid.