Best Rust Treatment When Not Blasting

M

mtnxtreme

I'm installing a used bed on my Ford Superduty, its clean, but the bottom rails have some surface rust and I don't have the luxury of blasting, what can be reccomended, should I wire wheel as best as possible, then treat with some kind of rust treatment, naval jelly, acid, etc. etc. I then plan on epoxy priming the entire bed bottom and installing..
 
I agree with Coronet but would also add cover everything and I mean everything as best as possible it will get into everything even areas that you wouldn't think I would use at least a painters blanket and mabey some scrap cardboard to help deflect as much as possible. I even somehow manage to get it in my mouth, don't ask me how but I will crunch on a few when I do it so keep some water handy (in capped bottles).
 
LOL, crunchies during blasting-I know how it is....I get some in my ears usually too no matter if I'm wearing a hood or muffs. You can mechanically strip away all the rust you can see under that bed but there will be some areas that are impossible to clean like where the support rails attach to the floor and also inside the rails. All you can do is grind, sand, wire wheel, and blast everything that's attack-able and shoot some epoxy. Coat the inside of the rails with cavity wax after the priming is done. I have no faith in rust treatments. If you can block the food that feeds corrosion in the areas that can't be cleaned it will stop the rust growth.
 
What I did with the bottom of my bed was wire wheel all loose rust, clean with acetone, then applied 3 coat of chassis saver. It's 30-40 bucks per quart but it's good stuff. It can be top coated but not epoxied. It's what ODOT uses on their salt vehicles.
 
The only thing Chassis saver is good for is to make their company money. Its adhesion properties suck. Use epoxy, costs more but is ten times the product.
 
Marty Comstock;n82759 said:
The only thing Chassis saver is good for is to make their company money. Its adhesion properties suck. Use epoxy, costs more but is ten times the product.

I agree
 
Adhesion properties??
It's a converter not a paint.
The original poster plans on using epoxy, but if he can't get all the rust off on the inside of the bed rails he'll need to treat it with something.
My son used chassis saver on his rusted out rocker panels and has driven the car through 4 Ohio winters without further rotting.
 
This is from the guy at Magnet Paints:


Ok my stats report told me someone here was talking about me. I'm the manufacturer of Chassis Saver. I'm glad to hear good things being said. If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to help. Just to address the multi step POR-15 process:
Much of the multi-product hype is marketing. POR & Chassis Saver are chemically alike. They are moisture cure urethanes. Urethanes in general DO NOT have very good adhesion to smooth surfaces. The cleaner and metal prep sold by POR are a valid but worthless attempt to solve the deficiency that urethane exhibits on smooth steel. I've tested the method of degreasing and etching smooth steel a few times and never had any success improving adhesion. You can still get a sharp knife to peel the material. When steel is rough as with tight rust or a blast profile, adhesion is completely different. We only promote our product to be used in this manner. If you must coat smooth steel we recommend that you grind or sand with 60 grit paper and create a profile in the metal. Epoxies are the only type of coatings that will adhere to smooth steel with no more prep than degreasing. Self etch primer is not even necessary when using a 2K epoxy primer.

Eric Rosenthal
VP - Magnet Paints
eric@magnetpaints.com
 
I have used Chassis saver (because my boss thought it was a good idea at the time) on fresh HEAVILY blasted steel. Peeled off like a t shirt on a hot summer day.

Moisture cure, if it doesnt "use" all the moisture between it and the steel like a rusty part, does it continue rusting?

Rust converter? Didnt know it had phosphoric (or any other) acid in it.

Nope, aint goona have it in my shop, but if it works well for you, that great. I cant bring myself to trust it anymore.
 
Discussions of methods other than complete rust removal by sanding, grinding and/or blasting and applying epoxy are discouraged here, since as a group their failure rate is very high. This offends some people who have had success with a particular method, but really if you start accepting alternative methods it just opens the door to all kinds of wacky stuff. Sticking to the tried and true SPI approved method of epoxy over clean metal is the least risky strategy and the best possible advice, deviate at your own risk.
 
To the original post:
If you can find a way to strip and prep the area that is contained inside your bed rails to receive epoxy, do that. If not, there are other ideas offered in this thread. Good luck.
 
Every bodyman I know, including some with over 50 years in the business, have told me, if you don't get rid of the rust it will rear its ugly head somewhere down the road. People will do whatever they want tho. I do what's best for the long run.
 
this was the new stuff I tried. http://www.mrochem.com/BlackStar-Rust-Converter_p_16.html The blackstar can be painted or left alone. Its not a covering, you spray or roll it on and it turns black. My sisters Honda Civic she wanted to fix so her daughters can drive had rusted out brake lines and fuel lines.I dipped the separator bracket part in this for a half hour, it turned black, and I just put it back like that
They had another product that turns it to a white, powdered Iron Phosphate coating, http://www.mrochem.com/Bust-da-Rust-Rust-Away_p_89.html . I compared the blackstar to the dupont rust converter you can buy in spray cans, just much more concentrated. After applying both of these to the 36 coupe that was blasted and went thru a hurricane, I can tell you when I ground the white stuff off, I saw black then I saw metal. When I ground the blackstar off, I saw the black turn to dusty rust before hitting metal. I have not tried to topcoat any of this.
My problem, was this chassis was boxed before it was blasted, but all the original holes were not filled, so the entire inside was covered. We just blasted the rest of the frame and epoxied it, but there is really no chance to get back inside without cutting all the box plates. Its just a street rod build so its gonna have to do. But if the choice is do something or do nothing, something usually wins.
 
spray Penetrol on interior boxed areas. There is no practical way to literally replace every piece of metal that has rust on it such as with a daily driver.

I'm currently experimenting with Penetrol inside a known rust area. I'm Epoxying everything else but just testing it's ability to withstand a harsh MN winter.
 
spray Penetrol on interior boxed areas. There is no practical way to literally replace every piece of metal that has rust on it such as with a daily driver.

I'm currently experimenting with Penetrol inside a known rust area. I'm Epoxying everything else but just testing it's ability to withstand a harsh MN winter.

Cavity wax is a proven option. No need to experiment.

Don
 
Back
Top