Sorry to hear about the rust. The solutions you have been given so far are
more applicable to a farm tractor that has sat out for 20 years and has REAL
rust. Yours sounds like surface rust (no pitting) and is easily resolved.
1. Remove the surface rust and remaining paint with medium grit (150/220)
paper.
2. Go after any remaining rust with a medium wire wheel.
3. Convert any remaining oxidation to a nice safe phosphate with a
commercial product such as Naval Jelly. The product must contain phosphoric
acid as its active ingredient.
4. Neutralize the remaining acid with a mild ammonia solution and
thoroughly rinse the area with water and let dry.
5. Fine sand with 320 paper.
6. Spray with a good self etching primer. You will need to get a
professional product from your body shop supplier that is compatible with
the final paint. They do not put this stuff in do-it-yourself cans. If you
don't have a compressor, the body shop can sell you small spray bottles that
are powered by CO2 cartidges. They work fine on small jobs.
7. Fill prime with grey or red primer. The stuff you buy at auto stores in
a spray can is fine. Fine sand between coats until the surface is smooth
and level.
You can keep this finish until such time as you get it painted at a body
shop or you shoot the final finish yourself. The total material cost for
the prep should be under $80 for a truck roof.
The advice you got about NOT using Rust-Oleum on an auto body is sound.
Never heard of the other product, but I suspect it is a rust converter that
is designed to convert heavy rust that can not be removed. Remember that
rust is a natural metal protector if it is of the surface variety. You can
get a great metal finish by deliberately rusting the suface with an acid,
steel wooling between rustings, and rubbing in linseed oil as a final
finish. It will protect the surface against further rusting and will last a
lifetime - but probably look weird on a truck. :-)
At 00:43 6/26/96 -0400, Elan26@aol.com wrote:
>Shop Talkers:
>
>Last year I moved from So. California to the really, really rainy Pacific
>N.W. During the winter, in some sort of fit of tidiness, I covered my tow
>vehicle with a nice blue tarp to protect it from the rain. By the end of the
>winter my clever idea had managed to bake a bunch of paint off the top of my
>truck. Duh!
>So now, I have a rustier truck with large patches of bare metal some of which
>is rusty, some of which is just bare. The local paint shop estimates the job
>at over $3,000. I'm searching for other solutions.
>
>The following have been suggested so far:
>After sanding all rust areas with a wire wheel I should:
>
>1. Spray Extend or Rustmort on the still-rusty areas to neutralize the
>oxydation
>then
>2. Paint bare/rusted places with Rust-oleum metal primer.
>or
>3. Don't paint with Rust-Oleum metal primer because it has a fish-oil base
>incompatible with auto paint (in case I have a 'real' paint job done later)
>and besides won't protect against moisture.
>instead
>4. Paint with a heavy duty product called Zero-Rust which both stops
>oxydation and provides a primer base. (and costs a bunch).
>
>Does anyone know anything about these products or know what the best way is
>to protect my truck. I'd be very grateful for any and all suggestions.
>
>ginger
>
>
>
Jon N. LeChevet
The power to tax is the power to destroy.
|