Has anyone used Rust Converters on their floorpans and which product do you like the most? Thanks

 

A buddy gave me a little bottle of Bondo brand "rust converter". I spread some on and nothing happend. Hard to beat good old sandblast, grinding, cleaning and undcoating.

 

I don't want to appear disagreeable with the above reply, but it's been my personal experience that products aimed for the hobbyist and DYI worker are not up to standards of the trade. Altho everybody throws the name "Bondo" around, "Bondo", & similar Auto Body products available in National Discounter chains, aka Wal Mart, AutoZone Advance, O'Riely's etc are not the same as commercial products we who do such work, actually use.

Having said all that, here's the way I do what you're asking about.

Get some Ospho and follow their label instructions. Make sure area is clean & free of grease, oil, moisture, and loose oxidized metal.

Offshore Oil Rigs, Ocean Going Ships, and long time restorers like my self use & have used Ospho for years because it works. Check Osphos Website. Also, quality Auto Body Suppliers, NAPA, ACE Hardware & other jobbers carry this product.

Here are some tips I've learned when working with Barrier type conversion.
I always allow extra time for it to dry thoroughly.
I may use multiple coats if I deem it req'd.
I apply it with a "spray bottle" drench for good saturation and coverage.
When completely, thoroughly dried after all reaction has occured, Clean area with a wire brush or power wire brush well, prep & prime with a good brand of epoxy primer-sealer, as opposed to regular primer-surfacer.

Ospho if applied correctly forms 02 impervious barrier. After that completley happens, Epoxy Primer Sealer, unlike ALL other primers also forms an impervious substrate making the metal doubley shielded from further oxidation and corrosion problems.

While I'm at it, altho Ospho is based on Phosphoric Acid compounds, it is of a nature that it will neutralize itself as it converts Fe 03 into an 02 barrier. The principle is same as Barrium Compound in Barri R-ER Steel used outdoors.

Once you coat it with the Epoxy Primer Sealer, you can do any body work on it that it may req. Fillers, primer surfacers,single stage finishes & the base coats[ of BC/CC and BC/IC/CC] feather fill, etc. all work normally over E/ p-s.

I suggest you avoid asphaltic or ruberized undercoat products as they seal in moisture more than keep it out or away from the metal. They're fine used as sound deadners inside doors and so forth, but as primary protection they simply do not work as well as Epoxy P/S & a finish coat of paint does.

Remember good work takes time, and good work also saves time by lasting longer and working better, so take your time, be temperature/climate aware,
and do the best work you can, and you will be pleased with the outcome.
FBp

 

One of the many things learned in putting my 65 back together is there are a number of pockets thoughout the cab where there are small moisture/water relief channels. Suggest after you have stirred up the rust you go back and make sure these channels are open. Also, be aware of these channel locations when you apply rubberized or simular products.

dave

 

FBP, very good info!! I never knew that about that Epoxy Sealer primer, very good to know.

 

Check out a product called Hammerite. I live next to the beach where salt air is a problem. This stuff is carried by Ace hardware around here and it is a rust cap. In industrial applications it is used to paint steel on bridges, ect., and it is AWESOME. It answered my prayers. It drys in a hammed metal finish and comes in a variety of colors, and they have a web site. Good luck.

 

Caps/ encapsulating compounds merely sweep the organic dynamic of oxygen driven corrosion under a proverbial rug.

Encapsulation DOES NOT STOP, ALTER, or CONVERT DEGENERATION BY CORROSION IN THE ORGANIC REALM (organic being naturally existing occuring elements,compounds or dynamics affecting them [sic rusting] over time.)

The 3rd law of thermo dynamics states; Organization deteriorates into chaos which deteriorates into organization et al. . . . IOW it insures and ensures that corrosion will occur in nature over time.

Good working Rust Conversion products elevate material part of that equation out of the realm of "organics" and into the realm of synthetics (aka man made) and although the naturally occuring processes will win over time, converted materials are able to resist or control normal decay & degeneration processess much more effectively & much longer.

Eoxy primer-sealer then encapsulates a neutralized & converted compound rather than hiding active corrosion/ rust beneath a coating.

Bear in mind that due to it's very make up & molecular structure (lattice crystals) iron is porous and pervious in nature. It may not appear so to the naked senses, but that does not alter the fact that Iron is in fact a porous material in molecular terms. That's one reason it corrodes or oxidates/ oxidizes so quickly & easily, in fact.

There are a lot of products out there claiming to be magic potions or "silver bullets" where rust is concerned, and many people spend millions of dollars using them annually. However some work very well, some work fairly well, some barely work and some don't. work at all. What is written on labels is verbage to make people purchase that product. We all know people, even we ourselves have done it, where we read a label, believe what it says, make it fit into our wishes or needs, buy the product, discovering it's far less than what it claimed on its' label.

Beyond a rusty, corroding world we lay folk inhabit is a discipline known as;
The American Society of corrosion Engineers.

These professionals can explain this far better than I, but my point is, when we understand something to the greatest degree we're capable of, only then can we effectively deal with it. Treating rust is a great example of that.

FBp