I have some rust on the rocker panels of my truck. It is the on the lip of the rockerpanel that is underneath my truck.

I spoke with a bodyshop who will be doing some additonal work for me and they told me that I could knock off the rust using a die grinder and some 3-M buffing disks, apply 3 coats of rust-mort and etch prime, prime, gravel guard, prime (my choice), then paint with a spray bomb.

Firstly, does anyone see any errors in how I plan to handle this?

I plan to use:

SEM #39683 Gray self-etching primer after applying the Rust Mort
Pro-Form # PF637 High Build Primer/Filler over the etching primer
Pro-Form #PF532 Ruberized Gravelguard
Pro-Form # PF637 High Build Primer/Filler over the gravel guard (Just makes me feel better)
Then Paint with a spray bomb custom mixed by my body shop supply place.

All of the above are in rattle cans


Second, who has used rust-mort? How do you use it. I've read the instructions and it says to apply 4 coats, let dry and wipe of with WATER???

If any one has used this stuff and is familiar with how it works, I'd realy appreciate hearing from you. If I could further impose and ask if you could get really detailed I'd really appreciate it.

After going through the posts, it looks like a lot of guys like rust bullet or POR15. Rust-Mort is what's commonly available here, (or so it appears), so I'd really appreciate if we could focus on this particular product.

Thanks in advance for everybody's input

 

It sounds like Rust-Mort is the same as POR's Metal Ready or Ospho (rust converters). Works same way, apply & rinse off.

I'd personally go with the Rust-Mort, Etching Primer and then an Epoxy Primer as the Epoxy primer will seal the work you've already done and give added protection from water getting in. High Build primers are usually porous. After the epoxy you can do the High-build to get the finish you want then paint.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

 

Hi:


Thanks for the advice. Is there such a thing as an epoxy printer in a rattle can?


And for real, you apply the rust-mort, let it sit and then wash it off? With water?

Maybe one other question as well. I know you're not supposed to let primer sit exposed. How long can you leave it exposed? Would a week be too long? What if it rained? I have access to a garage, but I can get 1 F150 in it or two cars, and I hate to leave the cars outside.

 

Yes, You can get epoxy primer in a can, make sure the epoxy is compatible with what you use underneath it, me, personally, I would remove the rust with a spot sand blaster or wire brush on a wheel, then use a self etch epoxy primer Then put what you want on top. Most epoxies now days are somewhat waterproof, I sprayed a truck with SPI black epoxy about 3 years ago, still looks good today but a little chalky.

 

The only waterproof primer is epoxy primer. If you sand through it, you're screwed, and have to reapply. The regular primer is not waterproof. You'd be better off spraying the primer, then shooting it with a clearcoat.

 

Some great advice.... thanks folks!

Ok, so I made a date with and air compressor and my die-grinder. I hit the affected areas which is the entire lip of the cab underneath the truck. I ground off almost all of the rust, but left the pitting and applied rust-mort. In fact, four coats of rust-mort.

The rust has turned from brown to black, but I'm going to let it sit overnight and into tomorrow morning before i rinse it off.

I will not apply etching primer:

http://cms.kwasny.de/fileadmin/downl...ller-beige.pdf

I'll apply the epoxy primer which I indeed found in a rattle can! The product I bought is called Spray-Max 2K Epoxy Rust Cure Primer. Wow... is this stuff expensive.... $19.00 a can, and that's with a courtesy discount from my body shop supply place. I also discovered that this can has a four day shelf life from the time it's activivated!

I wanted to apply etching primer first, but the data that comes with this primer specificaly forbids using it over etching primer, this Spray-Max product I will have to use alone.

Flash time for this product is about 5 minutes, so I'll put about four coats of this stuff on, and then let it dry overnight.

I plan to apply rockerguard over this, and just to make me feel good, I want to prime over the rockerguard.

I'm planning to use the epoxy primer over the rockerguard. It's expensive and I may as well use it up. Now..... does anyone think this is a bad idea? Should I just use a highbuild primer on the rockerguard?

So that's where I'm at.

I'll update tomorrow after the Epoxy primer.

 

Well, here's how it all went down.... apparently I have no life if I can spend a long weekend doing this....

I wiped down the entire area that I sanded to metal with water to remove the Rust-Mort.

I blew dry with an airhose, and then wiped down the area with laquer thinner (I forgot to buy surface prep cleaner) and blew dry again.

Applied four coats of epoxy primer and let dry overnight

Sanded the primer and applied rock guard and let dry ( I was VERY careful not to sand through this....thanks for the tip big rig fixer)

Primed the rock guard with two coats of high-build primer and let dry

Lightly sanded the high-build primer (nicked it a little, but hey, it's under the truck).

Painted with three coats of enamel from a custom mixed color I got from the body shop supply place.

It doesen't look too bad!! (So far), and I'm having a well deserved (I think) beer.

 

Post us a picture so we can see your handywork.

 

I have photos available now, but no clue how to show them