When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Another question about interior restoration. Rust.
Thoughts on how to deal with rust in tight places.
Was thinking grind as far in as I can get. Spray rust converter a couple times. Encapsulator then paint?
Think that will keep it at bay for any period of time? Thanks. Just started on this and can’t believe how much help and info I’ve gotten here already.
You could wrap some sticky sandpaper on a paint stick or other flexible material somewhere in the P80-120 range and and rub down there a little further. The correct way in these concourse restos and fab shops would be to cut where the headliner screw to off all the way around, fix the rust, then reweld but let's be real and realize most don't have the time, skill, or maybe tools available so I'd do as much as you can with what you have and then like you said treat the rust a few times and let it cure. Then when you prime it make sure to get plenty of material in there (who's going to see it anyway?) that way it goes all the way into the corners and seams and works it's way down the pillars. Good luck someone else may have a better opinion
I just did this same upper cab area (did mine all the way around the entire perimeter, both sides + front & back) of my entire cab last month (as well as working on the adjacent exterior drip rails on the other side of that area in your photo. If your truck is equipped with a bed cargo light (on the upper rear of the cab) you should remove the whole lamp housing and take a look down inside the hole. There's a good chance you have the same level of rust starting there too! Take a look and see, however you may need to order a new (they're inexpensive) gasket from one of our vendors or from LMC Truck.
My rust was mostly surface rust (I had a few rust spots larger/deeper) but here's what I did . . .
I used one of those 4-inch (6-inch or 8-inch would've been definitely better for longer reach!) black paint stripping wheels on a drill and went around the entire perimeter with it, since the wheel is only about 3/4-inch thick and kind of fits up inside there at least halfway or so. That took off most of the rust where the wheel could reach.
I then used a inexpensive long-handled wirebrush to scuff a lot more of the rust I couldn't reach with the drill stripper wheel. That did a pretty decent job and I followed that with one of those small "toothbrush" style small wire brushes. Blew everything out with compressed air.
Although it was a little ackward for reach, I then sanded as much as I could up inside that recessed area with a folded up section of sandpaper and blew it all out again multiple times.
I took a cotton painter's drop cloth and draped my bench seat with it. I also took some old bath towels and draped the dash & steering wheel etc.
I then sprayed - I mean soaked - the entire thing all the way around with rust converter. I used Rustex by Krud Kutter which is a Rust-Oleum brand product. (I've been using Rustex successfully for all sorts of restorative projects for quite a few years, been through 5 or 6 gallons of it by now). There are other brands you could use and they are mostly the same (acid based) with only small differences in chemistry etc, most use phosphoric acid but there are a couple other alternative acids available also with various brands.
I filled a spray bottle with Rustex and liberally sprayed everything really well so it would soak down into all of the cracks crevices nooks-n-crannies. I let it sit for about an hour then sprayed everything again to really let it soak and seep in there. Then after another hour or two I repeatedly over & over blew out all of the excess with compressed air (this also helps drive the converter a little further into spots the spray bottle might not've gotten to). If you've soaked everthing like I did, it's important to blow it all out really well, to remove any excessive pools/puddles lying of converter still laying in the recesses.
Then I removed the dropcloth & towels and did a little wipe-down of stray drips & droplets etc but it really wasn't that bad.
I placed a small electric spaceheater & a small home window fan inside the truck for 24-hrs to help dry everthing out really well and cure the converter.
In the following days there were a couple spots I re-applied more Rustex to a few larger rust spots that needed a little more treatment but it all came out really good.
During this curing waiting period, I ordered a 6-pack case of Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer black primer. I used the water-based (no fear - they're water based solvents) version of Rust Reformer (there is a oil-based version too, but it's made to be used with traditional oil-based Rust-Oleum paints that many people avoid for automotive use). So - after letting my truck sit about a week during the converter drying/curing process, I then went around and sprayed the entire perimeter with a few coats of this flat black primer. This primer also has a type of rust converter within it along with a nice flat black primer. This all really came out well. I've used well over 100x cans of this over the last few years for all sorts of projects and really like it. It's fast-drying and it's sandable and seems to hold-up pretty well. Late this fall, I primered the entire truck with it and (as expected) - no problems at all.
So this is just where I left off a few weeks ago - this is as far as I got before stopping for the current holidays. So far so good. It's now Winter here and getting pretty cold so am not sure how much more I can do until Spring. But we've had some reasonably warm days lately so I may be doing some more work (I'm also re-sealing the drip rails with 3M seam sealer (I also used Rustex & Rust Reformer there too first, came out nice).
TIP - or should I say "tips" ? As in "spray tips". My very next step is goint to be to use the Rust Reformer primer again, but this time with extended reach tips made for spraypaint cans. I did a lot of research and reading a few weeks ago and even made a few of my own custom spray tips . . .
Most paint/primer spray can manufactuers have a few basic styles of plastic spray tips on top of the can. But they're not really good for getting into confined spaces crevices hard-to-reach areas etc. What I found is that there is a small industry centered around selling replacement spray tips with alternative spray patterns and this includes paint spray tips that accept those red plastic straws for extended reach spraying! This market caters to urban "graffiti" artists enthusiasts etc to achieve various spray effects while they're spraying the side of your truck or storefront window lol. (I was actually into graffiti murals & art back in the 1980s when I was a kid in school, and I did airbrushing too as well as the more traditional arts etc). Anyway I ordered some tips that accept the red straws and I also order a pack of those red straws. So now I'm going to spray all of the deeper recesses with rust-reforming primer to further treat and seal those traditional problem areas.
You can Google search "graffiti spray tips caps" and see the results and what I'm talking about (if it's any interest to you or anyone else reading). You can also make your own caps that accept straws by **carefully** removing the center section of almost any spray tip/cap (there's some tricks to doing this I could post if anyone wants to hear it)
Eventually my cab ceiling will get painted and other things done but I really wanted to help stall stop retard any further rust progression. This all started when I tried to replace my cab marker lights and realized the screws were just spinning in-place and needed to replace all of the "Riv-Nut" style threaded inserts that the lights attach to. So I took the headliner down and removed the sunvisors etc and decided to tackle the whole upper portion of the cab while I was in there, after noticing some areas beginning to rust.
I hope this post might give you and anyone else reading some ideas to work with. I wanted to write since I saw someone was wanting to do something that I was currently working on myself!
I used this about 10-years ago on a Ford Fox Body semi-restoration project I was working on (not a Mustang - a Mercury Capri 5.0) to help rust-proof the front frame rails which are notorious for rusting & rotting out. The product and sprayer both seemed to work really well and I was thoroughly pleased with the results. It might be something I'll try again and use in these upper cab recesses. I'm sure one can will be plenty. If this is something anyone reading may consider doing, just keep in mind the tip on the sprayer has 4x jets - essentially it's made to spray in all directions at once. Back when I first used it, it was only available in green - but they now also carry it in black now too.
I sanded what I could then put some ospho in a spray bottle then let set couple day to work and dry . Ospho also turns to primer ,you can get it at your auto paint store
Thanks everyone. Didn’t think about sandblasting. Truck is gutted so no worries about mess. Friend has a good portable I will borrow. Then follow up with converter and encapsulator. Appreciate the recommendations on products. Happy New Year. Hopefully my truck will be done by the next. Miss it already.
so I'd do as much as you can with what you have and then like you said treat the rust a few times and let it cure. Then when you prime it make sure to get plenty of material in there (who's going to see it anyway?) that way it goes all the way into the corners and seams and works it's way down the pillars. Good luck someone else may have a better opinion
