Ok, I am working on bodywork on my 1972 LeMans (The Beast). I took the vynal top of the car and sanded it down underneath and there is some minor rust that won't come off. I got it to turn into little black spots but I don't want to have this car painted and a month later the rust is back. How do I stop this?

Also, I bought a GTO hood for the car and it has pinholes in it because the whole hood had surface rust on it. (Hey paid $50 for it) and I have that all sanded down and there are holes about the size of a pin where there was a good chunk of surface rust. Is there a way to fix this without it coming back to haunt me?

Thanks alot.

 

sand blast it. That's the only good way to completely insure that you won't get the rust back.

 

Ah my fav subject of restoring cars Surface rust. I have never seen a car complete of rust even after fixing the problem. The hood you can do one of 2 ways. Grind the hood down to bare metal there the rust holes are and then put som body filler in there and make it look real nice right after it dries spray some primer on there so the rust don't come back. I have noticed from older cars with body rust it always comes back could be a couple of years but it will be back. you might also want to cut and repair any parts that are pretty bad. I will talk to my pops who rebuilds old cars and hotrods for a living and see what he suggests. But from what I know those are 2 ways you can go.

 

The ONLY way to fix rust is either weld up the holes, or cut it out and weld in a patch panel. Be ware, when you start welding on the holes, they may get BIGGER. Get some rust coverter for the spots on the top. I've used it before and have had good luck with it. I sprayed it on and used a wire brush on the spots, wipe off the excess and dry. The brand is called rust mort.

 

A guy thats going to paint the car said to have the hood acid dipped? Anyone heard of that before and how expensive? The good side is rust will not come back I guess.

 

The purpose of acid dipping is to find the weakest areas were rust has gone through, gets rid of all the loose rust and maybe surface rust too.As for the prices I don't know what they are.

 

yeah, i would rather have this car done the correct way even if it meant spending more money. I was even thinking about having the car bead blasted. A guy said he can do my car for $700.

 

Well what Sherwin Williams and the best body shops here in South Florida have recommened to me was to use ospho. I am sand blasting the entire car and in the areas where rust was present I spray ospho just in case. Ospho is acid based and does a great job. I have to say some areas that had heavy rust(even some tiny spots went through) got this treatment and has been painted for approx 1 1/2 months now and no sign of any problem. Not to mention that ospho that is on just surface rust is hard to get off even with a blaster. Does a great job

 

So where do you buy this ospho stuff? How much and is it sprayed on? Thanks

 

I purchased OSpho at a Sherwin Williams auto paint center. Besides them try and check with other professional paint shops. Maybe they have a web site??? It is thin like water but green. You spray it on let it sit for a few hours and it will chemically react the rust. I use it in a sray bittle but when I wanted to get the inside of my frame rails I used it in my gun and got it all the way in. Just watch out not to breathe it or get it in your eyes. It burns your eyes and lungs. I did it once and never again. It definetly is some sort or acid. Good luck. I don't have the bottle it came in but when I go back I will look and see if I can finda phone # or web site.

 

I restore muscle cars for a living and OSPHO is DEFINETLY the way to go in your case man! Be VERY liberal with it...rust is a very tricky SOB but we have had good results w/ ospho

 

So you just sand off the rust the best you can, spray that stuff, then primer directly over it? Thanks

 

My suggestion would be if you have access to a compressor, send $50 and get a Craftsman sand blaster. They are definetly not industrial grade but for small areas will do a great job. If not sand it as good as you can and then wire brush it. Use a cleaner on it and then use OSPHO. Sand and use a etch primer. Simple as that and will work great. Just if the OSPHO doesn't turn completely black let it sit and keep repeating until it does but go in light layers

 

ATTN: 91ZMAN a little off topic sorry but where did you get that avatar that is the s*^t!!