Rust Removal

[Ham Sammich]

Just got a 97 off ebay for a VERY good price, and the seller was very honest about the overall condition. I knew there would be some rust to deal with, but upon performing "new to me" inspection and maintenence I discovered some nasty corrosion issues.

It looks like the PO did a great job of cleaning the undercarriage from the front bumper to the front of the rear diff...no issues at all...but from the rear diff back...yikes...some parts (axle housing, backing plate) looks like a rusty apple strudel back there...flaking rust everywhere...

I'm probably making it sound worse than it is, but what have you found to be the best method for rust removal and restoration?...All I can think of is a five gallon bucket of naval jelly, a pneumatic scalar and a wire wheel...I don't have access to a sandblaster, and I would rather not replace the effected parts if I don't have to...

 

[Ham Sammich]

Hmmm...lots of relatively inexpensive sandblaters out there...that might just be the ticket..

 

[rdgt4r]

I like the naval jelly idea, I would just get back there with WD-40 and a wire brush and slowly start scrubbing it clean. Wire wheel and a scalar would work nicely too.

 

[theizzardking]

Hmmm...lots of relatively inexpensive sandblaters out there...that might just be the ticket..

how do you plan on using a sand blaster with out a cabinet, sounds horrible,messy and nasty to me man, better off with the other options about. sometimes doing it right is better then doing it fast.

you know about por-15 and those sort of products?

try just a light wire brush and descaler and then coat with por, or you can take it all the way back to bare metal prime and paint and if you go that far i would get one of those under carriage coatings.

for small sensitive areas use some scotch brite with wd-40 on it.

 

[SkidPalace]

Fluid Film

Look into Fluid Film. I sprayed the underside of my rig with it this fall and it turned all the red rust into dark drown almost black wet looking metal.
I tried naval jelly and had no luck with it. Fluid Film is easy to apply and seems to have halted all of my severe rust issues. All for about $12.
Based on advice from other forums, McMaster Carr is the place to buy it cheap. I bought four aerosol cans and used less than two to do the whole frame and undercarriage.
There is not much info to be had on this forum but Fluid Film is well regarded on other forums, especially on snow plowing and trucking sites.
I couldn't be happier with the product. You don't even need to really clean the truck. Just spray it on everything. It literally spreads itself around and soaks into the metal. Treats more than just metal, too. It's all natural and solvent-free. It can even weatherseal your workboots! It's not bad on toast either. :jk:
I'd take some pics, but without the "before" the "after" is not much help.
Yes it leaves the truck coated in wet oily looking film that will probably collect dust, but if you don't need show quality axles you can eat off of, this is the ticket. This stuff is like magic in a can.

 

[martini]

Look into Fluid Film. I sprayed the underside of my rig with it this fall and it turned all the red rust into dark drown almost black wet looking metal.

If you have a picture I'm interested. I was just going to use a rustoleum rattle can to do mine, I just want to make sure certain parts look black (the hitch in particular).

 

[theizzardking]

If you have a picture I'm interested. I was just going to use a rustoleum rattle can to do mine, I just want to make sure certain parts look black (the hitch in particular).

rustolem is different then a rust converter and sealer, that's what you need just painting it with rustolem with out doing the prep work will just cause a huge mess, it'll start eating the metal away from under the paint and by the time you notice the paint start peeling again it's already eaten through everything, prep then paint.

you have
rust converters
rust inhibitors
rust sealers

they are all different things with different uses, make sure you use the right one for the right application and you can layer them as well just do it in the right order. converter,inhibitor, sealer in that order.

i have been restoring 30-40 year old vw's for a while now and have plenty of experience battling rust, here's a comparison thread at my other forum home
of the rust products

TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rust Prevention Product Testing

 

[Ham Sammich]

Great info guys, just what I was looking for!

I'd never heard of Fluid Film before, gonna look into it.

izzardking...great link, lots to think about..

 

[JeremyH]

Phosphoric Acid for the large stuff (put it into a sprayer)....Naval jelly for the small stuff. Clean it then paint over it.

 

[quicksilvr]

Anybody have experience with Rustoleum's "Rust Reformer"? Supposed to convert rust into a benign paintable surface. I have a can of it sitting in the garage, but I haven't used it on anything yet....

 

[TheDurk]

Anybody have experience with Rustoleum's "Rust Reformer"? Supposed to convert rust into a benign paintable surface. I have a can of it sitting in the garage, but I haven't used it on anything yet....

I tried it on my stock hitch which I had off to swap my bumper. Top coated with Duplicolor Bumper Black. The rusty parts, mainly weld seams, are showing through already (second winter). Rest of hitch looks fine.

 

[Ham Sammich]

Hmmm...I'm going to install 4.88's and some sort of locker anyway...I'm kinda thinking about pulling the whole rear end, sandblast the trouble spots, then treat with an inhibitor and paint...Just gotta be careful where that sand goes..

I'm not looking to build a show truck, but I just can't stand rust..(probably because of my Coast Guard days)

 

[Satter]

Hey, guys. Just want your opinion on the few spots of rust I found underneath my truck. Should I spray something on it to keep it from spreading? Or just leave it as is? I live in Houston, so there's never any salt on the roads down here.

 

[KSWAY]

Get some Rust-Oleum undercoating from your local auto parts store and spray over it to keep it from spreading and it looks sweet too once you're done lol..

 

[ironhippy]

Hey, guys. Just want your opinion on the few spots of rust I found underneath my truck. Should I spray something on it to keep it from spreading? Or just leave it as is? I live in Houston, so there's never any salt on the roads down here.

That is not rust, that is nothing.

I am very, very, very jealous looking at that.

This is rust (stolen from another thread here)

 

[Satter]

Get some Rust-Oleum undercoating from your local auto parts store and spray over it to keep it from spreading and it looks sweet too once you're done lol..

I read that Dupli-color went on better, more flexible, and is a bit thicker? Does it even matter?

 

[Nelsonmd]

I wouldn't worry about any of that. Take a stiff wire brush to it and see what comes off.

If you have some rust left after wire brushing and want to cover it, you can use some rust converter. I recommend the permatex brush on rust converter, it worked well on my buddies motorcycle. I used the rustoleum brush on and it did nothing. I also tried both rustoleum and permatex spray on and they did nothing.

 

[Satter]

Great! Thanks, Big. N.

 

[AF808fighter]

Satter: you do not have a rust issue.

Ham Sammich: Not sure how bad your rust is but if there is significant flaking, scaling etc all the products in the world are a waste of time unless you get to bare metal. I went through this last fall with my 97. After trying naval jelly and wire wheels I decided to shop around and find some one who would sand blast with out taking the body off. It took a while, but I ended up paying a guy around $300 to sand blast my frame, rear axle and all the suspension linkage intact in the truck. WELL WORTH IT! I then applied 2 base coats (gray) and 1 top coat (black) of "Rust Bullet". I did a lot of research on all the so called rust converter products out there and this was the best I could find. I spent many hours applying this stuff by hand; I would suggest having someone spray it on to get in all the nooks and crannies as the surface rust will come back in little areas you missed. Also, the stuff takes about 1 week to come off your skin.

In years prior to this, I used several rattle can products that either flaked off in weeks or trapped in moisture. Just do it right and you'll be happy.

 

[LCPLHumiston]

Hmm i was also thinking about doing this i went out and bought this stuff by 3M called "Rubberized Undercoating" Anyone know anything about it??