I have some minor rust on my z28 id like to catch and stop this summer, and painted. I would like to do it myself though. I wanted to know what you guys thought of my plan, and would like suggestions added in for the pros. I need to know what is the best thing to use to strip any remaining paint from the area, what grit sandpaper to sand, and what grit to smooth out, and if i need a filler, what do you guys recommend? Thanks!

 

The easiest way to remove rust is sandblasting We sandblast every rusty car that comes in the shop. If you have just a small area you can buy a small speedblaster for $40 if you have a compressor already.

 

Awesome i already got a nice compressor. So then, after i sandblast, should i go over it by hand with like 300 grit, then prim it, then paint, then clearcoat?

 

If there are no holes just pits go cover it with evercoats METALGLAZE then block it with 320 then prime.

 

sweet! thanks so much for this advice! I will follow it!

 

Search speedblaster on ebay and there is one for sale $37.00 +
8.00$ shipping.

 

I use a self etchign primer, never heard of metalglaze.

 

Metalglaze by evercoat is good stuff for small dings and stuff. Now if the pits are not big a good coat of primer might work.

 

how big of an area can that thing do? i have 2 rims that i want to sandblast. i don't feel like buying a big expensive sandblaster just for that. on the other hand, i don't want to spend 72 hours just to sandblast 2 rims.

 

If your are going to do your rims you would probably better off just paying someone to do it. I paid $100 to have my old rims beadblasted (for sale by the way) and they turned out great. For what it takes to buy the blaster and supplies, find a place to do this, and take your time to do a good job you would be better off just paying $100 for a prof. job but thats just my opinion.

For rust I think thats a little overkill. I always took a wire wheel and totally cleaned the surrounding area. Cut out all the questionable areas. Stick a piece of something back there and cut a template and then from that cut out a piece of metal to patch. Grab your welder if you have one and just weld that thing in rather from the back or a direct match. If you are going to weld its really easy to use a magnet to hold the piece in while your at it. Fill it if needed and use self-etching primer but I had my paint/body guy do that so Idk really. If you have a need for a beadblaster anyways and want to go that far its perfectly cool and ends up really nice.

 

i'd buy the speedblaster if i already had a compressor

those little things are perfectly capable of doing a couple rims in an hour if you take your time and get really detailed with it, I could knock one off in 15 minutes I bet since I've played with them alot when we did carpenter piecework (metal stair rails and banisters and such)

you'll end up getting away for less than the price of his rimjob (no pun intended) and you'll have it from then on to do whatever you want, they are quite nifty for small jobs, and I bet would be great to have for surface rust jobs on cars.

 

Sandblasting definately removes rust?? Completely?? It won't ever come back?

If so, how's that different from using a regular sander to sand away rust?

 

Ya thats all I was trying to say. Using a wire wheel or sanding will do the same thing and its not messy.

 

Easier just point shoot done no scrubbing by hand and you have clean bare metal.

 

No doubt it will do the same but I think blasting is easier and faster. Just put the car in the yard blast and the sand will be gone pretty quik. I personnally hate the wire wheels.

 

What exactly does a blaster do?

 

It forces abrasive media (sand) under high pressure and will remove rust and oxidation from metal.

 

also a good way to keep rust from spreading add a coat of rust converter. It stops the rust and acts like a primer. Best of all it will only stick to rust, so if you accidently get some on your paint it wont stick just wipe it off. One of my local body shops told me about this product and wal mart carries it.

 

I have heard of that like por-15 or whatever. I just don't trust any of that stuff. I would rather it be gone. Now way I would spray over that stuff.

 

blasting is not exactly like wire wheel. When you blast you can get into all the nooks and crannys to make sure you get every last bit of rust. Using a sander/wire you are bound to miss things in the corners and what not. On a straight body panel, I'd probably use DA.

Por-15 is paintable, but it wasn't designed for general body. I know some people have successfully used that stuff for underbody, wheel wells and such.

On of the best thing you can do after sandblasting is use Picklex 20. It is a rust converter and also metal treatment which leaves a rust resistant coating for the future. Then I would apply epoxy primer. I've been reading a lot about all this stuff for some time now and I don't know why, but a lot of people don't use etching primers. Most apply epoxy followed by 2k. Then you level and sand 2k and apply top coats.

One thing to be careful with sandblasting sheet metal. If you are not careful, you will warp your panels because when you blast, things get heated up. Also you have to make sure to cover everything you don't want to blast. If you have holes in crossmembers or doors and sand get's in there, you may end up blasting away protective coating which was applied at the factory when entire car was dipped because when they get in, sand particles may bounce several times before loosing energy. It will be nearly impossible (if you even notice) to make sure those areas are protected.

Other options is plastic media blasting, walnut shells or even baking soda. Don't know much about these, but I know a lot of body shop places don't even do that work, they have someone else do it for them.

 

I would sand off the rust as good as you can. Then apply a coat of the rust converter, not just put it on over where the rust was. Sorry should have specified that.

 

Just to clearify was Im talking about, I wasnt using a dremel wire wheel or anything like that. It was a large dewalt electronic or an air powered unit with the larger style brushes on them which were sort of a pain because you had to were a mask and the wires were 2 inches long so they could hurt. I dont think its as big of a deal as wwere making it if this is real rust. If it is you shouldnt be doing any of this, you really should cut it out completely but thats just my opinion. Now if you have alot of pitted metal but its still strong enough were you cant shove a pic through it anywhere then blasting, sanding, etc is fine for now.

 

Sounds good to me, I have an area of surface rust to treat and I'll give it a try.
What kind of abrasives can be used and where can you buy those in home-user sizes?

Thanks,
Mike

 

a media blaster is best for removing rust because block sanding and wire wheels only remove surface rust, the rust will still remain in the pits.

 

plastic kote makes a chemical that turns rust into primer so you can just paint over it i used it on a older car i had to just stop the rusting and you can also put filler over it its some nice stuff about 10$ a bottle its at most automotive places

 

Mike, I just spent sandblasting underbody and engine bay of my car. Bought 40# blaster from HF for $80. It is a piece of crap and will waste your time, but it will do the job. I used black beauty. 100 lbs bag costs (I think) about $16. I went through 7 bags and I tried to use the sand (actually it is 100% coal) 3-4 times before throwing it out.

Not sure how much you are trying to blast, but just so you can compare, that blaster goes through 100lbs in about 30 minutes.

And I agree with others. I've tried everything from wire wheels to sand wheels to those special rust removing wheels. Blasting is by far the fastest and easiest way. Plus you can get to places you would be able to get otherwise if holding a drill. Downside is that it is very, very messy.