Removed Paint but too cold to Epoxy

[j b]

I'm so close to having most of the paint off my cab. I have sanded most of the paint off and am left with some small areas to sandblast.

However, it has turned cold again and I'm not sure I can get enough warmth to spray the epoxy.

Is there some type of rust inhibitor I can use on my bare metal if I need to wait a couple weeks to epoxy?

 

[Barry]

Just leave it, and the worst case is you get some flash rust and very easy to handle in 30 mins or less.
If that should happen post a picture and we can advise.

 

[Sparky]

I'm in the same boat JB. It was 73f last Sunday here, and today it is 3f (Massachusetts). Working on getting a big heater installed in my shop this weekend, so I can shoot epoxy in the winter.

I have noticed that with the humidity so low in the winter the panels I stripped to bare metal don't flash rust. They only rust when one of my friends stops by and has to rub their hands all over the bare panels. Now if I see that I give a friendly reprimand, and wipe it down with acetone. Spring time may be another story. As I have learned here on this forum, flash rust is nothing to worry about, and can be cleaned up quickly. I'm a novice, but I can tell these guys know what they're are talking about. Type flash rust in the search box and you can see what I mean.

 

[j b]

Thanks for the responses. I was pretty sure it would be ok left bare. It's not very humid inside.

Here's another question...I was looking at how to tackle these rust spots that I can't get to the bottom of. I feel pretty confident that I can ospho and neutralize them since they are in a pretty confined area. Or should I just leave them alone?

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Media blasting is the way to go. Even a small spot blaster will get those pits clean.
I'm not a big fan of rust treatments as they tend to leave a film and if not properly neutralized and cleaned will cause problems. Found this out the hard way when I had to strip and respray the roof on the car in my Avatar.

 

[jcclark]

I'm so close to having most of the paint off my cab. I have sanded most of the paint off and am left with some small areas to sandblast.

However, it has turned cold again and I'm not sure I can get enough warmth to spray the epoxy.

Is there some type of rust inhibitor I can use on my bare metal if I need to wait a couple weeks to epoxy?

A few of those cheap halogen work lights can warm a big surface, even if the room is cold.
(something to consider)

 

[j b]

68 Coronet I feel like I could limit where I put the ospho. I also feel like I could neutralizer it the way the tech guide says. I'll probably try to blast it since I'm already blasting stuff anyway. I had planned on having someone else blast and prime the whole cab, but they went from $800 to $1000 and I figured I had plenty of time to sand off most of the paint and blast the areas I couldn't get and save the money. I'm having second thoughts.

JCClark that is a great idea! I have an electric 10kw heater that would probably heat up the area I'm working in but It will cost me a fortune to leave it running all night. I have also contemplated trying to tent the cab and run smaller electric heaters in the tent for heat.

I originally thought I would sand and blast sections of the cab and prime as I go. If I wait long enough I may just have the whole thing ready to spray at once.

 

[MikeS]

It depends on your environment but cold air holds very little moisture. I have left metal exposed in an unheated shed for months during the winter and had no rust develop.

Mike

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

If you got more time than money a wire brush will clean those pits good enough to epoxy. If you need to wait till warmer weather try a dehumidifier in your garage. You could also soak a rag with WD-40 (away from your work area) and wipe the bare metal. Do that a couple of times over the winter and that would keep the flash rust from forming. Or you could use a lanolin based product. Just be sure to completely remove either product with SPI 700 Cleaner before applying your epoxy.

 

[jcclark]

WD-40 is a painters worst nightmare.
Don't allow it within 100 yds of your paint area.

 

[serjik911]

WD-40 is a painters worst nightmare.
Don't allow it within 100 yds of your paint area.

let me introduce the worst nightmare of painting

 

[jlcustomz]

Last year I went over 6 months with customized widebody quarter panel & other parts in raw metal & went to weekend car shows, etc with it exposed (Rain also)before epoxy last fall. Cleaned by sanding, rotary wire brushing some parts, wiping & more sanding as a final not to have any smeared metal from brushing..

Handprints are the worst & going to a church sponsored car show where an unreal number of people not only touched, but were just rubbing all over the freshly cleaned raw metal was my inspiration to find time to get back to bodywork. Something about custom shaped raw metal draws people to feel it, even my wife did after my countless fussing about others doing it.
To date I don't know of an in between protectant. I'm in a usually horribly damp southern environment, yours would be minimal cleaning. Never tried it, but another thought would be some of that self clinging plastic food wrap. Would help keep the oxygen & especially handprints off.
Overhead infared heat can be the best type when having to run fans as it heats objects rather than air & will warm the concrete which will radiate heat back.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

WD-40 is a painters worst nightmare.
Don't allow it within 100 yds of your paint area.

I have used the WD like I said in my previous post and it's never been an issue. You don't aerosol it in the shop, best way is to get the non aerosol, soak a rag and wipe the metal. Did recently on a truck bed I had to store outside for a few weeks in bare metal. Brought it in wiped it down, sanded, re-wiped, then epoxied. Zero issues. BTW WD-40 does not contain any silicone. If it had silicone I would not use it for that nor would I recommend it on here for other people to do.

https://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf/wd_40tec16952473.pdf

Lanolin is good to use with that method as well.

A painters worst nightmare is silicone btw.

 

[texasking]

I knew an old painter once that wiped his stainless steel mix table down with it. Told me it kept his table clean and wouldn't affect the paint. I remember thinking he was crazy, but I don't remember him having any more issues than anyone else. Most painters back then kept a squirt bottle of Smoothie fisheye preventer (causer?) on their bench, anyway, which was pure silicone.

 

[j b]

Ok I tried blasting with some fine media that I was using and this is the result.

Then I switched to some more coarse media and it still wasn't getting to the bottom of things.

Do I really need to get to the bottom of those spots?

 

[texasking]

Try a cup brush and see if it helps. Actually, almost every old car I strip has similar spots with no evidence on the top side that they are there. I would bet if you epoxied what you have after blasting, 20 years from now there would be no evidence those spots are there. Clean, white metal is always best, but I have to admit sometimes after sanding, wire wheeling, and blasting, I just trust the epoxy.

 

[jlcustomz]

I'd rotary wirebrush bad spots from a few directions & then 80 grit sand again before priming.

 

[shine]

i use to hate wd40 until i found out it was fish oil and had no silicone in it .