Removing light rust, and preventing rust?

Question

What to use and/or how to...

Answer 1

Hi,

I'll assume you mean beyond elbow work and sandpaper...lol. I put a light grit sandpaper on my cordless and use that sometimes. A wire wheel brush attachment is good too, just watch that "good" paint. A dremel would give you more control but it takes a while for big areas.

I worked with Rustolem products and was very UNHAPPY with them, but I was working on my wife's car (rusty Chevy) and I used Naval Jelly and a product called STOP RUST.

Naval Jelly is available at most hardware stores and autostores. I guess people use it for boats. Spray on, wait, then rinse off.....very caustic stuff...be careful.

STOP Rust is a product I bought from Murray's. You brush it on the cleaned surface (or as clean as you can get it) and you "paint" it over the rusted areas. It bonds with the rust and changes it's chemical composition... and then it dries to a black primer color. You have to use almost the whole jar at once, because when you stick the brush into the jar (if you don't pour it onto a pallette) it will react with the leftovers in the jar and turn black. It's the size of a tylenol bottle and white but it's the only thing that's worked on my wife's rust bucket. I'm tellin' ya, I had to paint this same section every year on her car and now it's finally looking good. I'm sure they have it at Pep Boys and Autozone too....

A good clearcoat would help to seal it after you have it lookin' good.

STOP rust is about 5 bucks a bottle. I think the Naval Jelly spray bottle was about 8 bucks.

Good luck,
B

Answer 2

To remove light rust I tend to use a wire brush attachment for a normal drill.

This will scratch the metal and remove the surface rust. After completing this, I tend to wipe the area with an alcohol based spirit to remove any grease.

Now depending on the area there are two different things you can do to prevent more rust. One thing is to use a good primer, spray paint and a nice thick coat of laquer. And try and heat the area with a hairdryer or heater to get the paint to bake.

The other thing is to use automotive sealer, which is like a thick black glue. But this should make the area pretty much hard to rust.

There's no real easy way of defeating rust, as it will always occur, but the steaps above will help to keep it at bay for a reasonable time.

Answer 3

Sand down the area to bare metal and prep with an acid-etching primer---can be found at most bodyshop supply stores. Then lightly sand the primer---should have a couple coats---and paint.
POR-15 is an excellent product to use for heavily rusted areas---can be found online or at some hardware stores. Rusted metal has to be thoroughly sealed or painted so no air can get to it and keep the rust process going.

Answer 4

Put axle grease on it and it will stop it from rusting long enough for you to trade it off for something better.