Removing surface rust?

[Citizen Rider]

Whats the best way of removing surface rust?

The blazer i bought has some minor surface rust and would like to remove it so i can primer over it and keep it all good.

 

[ryoken]

well, you can hit it with a DA sander with anything from 80 to 180 on it.. if that still leaves rust pits, you can hit those with a little grinder action to go a little deeper... i usually run 24 to 36 grit on my grinder... resand after with the DA...

you can also give it a little spot blasting with a sand blaster after you've sanded it as much as you can... either one of those small handheld ones that hold about a qrt or so of sand right in the gun or a small remote tank one..

be aware tho that sandblasting panels with any serious blaster CAN cause warping on the larger flat surfaces (hood, roof, etc) from heat buildup... obviously body peeks and stuff help control that... but you don't have to worry about that unless your using a pretty serious blaster... small handheld would be fine... DA sand after to 180ish, prime..

if you have to grind or blast pits out, you may need to load up on the primer to fill the pits or throw a little glazing putty on the prime to fill em...

 

[Citizen Rider]

I have a friend that has some chemical that reverses the rust. Its some paint you brush on after sanding it. Im hoping i can find someone local with a DA sander so i dont have to use more money on buying one. I only have 1 bad spot on the truck and the rest is just barely in the paint.

 

[ryoken]

don't buy too much into "reversing rust" type products.. its a lazy way out and not correct, especially on exterior sheetmetal.. you shouldn't even need it.. just sand the sh*t out of it and you should able to get it out easy enough.

he11, a hand sanding block with some 36 will rip ya down into fresh metal pretty quick... see my other post in here to Adam about proper priming, etc....

POR 15 and other such products are nice for unclean metal like undercarriages and stuff.. but clean steel (sandblasted, sanded, etc) properly primed and painted is far superior, contrary to all the POR 15 and the like touting you'll hear around the net.....

it actually bothers me as a longtime body guy to hear how much that kinda stuff gets recommended.. it has its place, heck, we use gallons in the marine business, but its not the the best way to tackle corrosion...

 

[Citizen Rider]

Its nothing like por15 and whatnot. Its an actual brush on paint like stuff that goes on smooth and will strip the paint and reverse the rust. He has used it on an old mustang and it worked very well. I will deffinatly sand it down to get the rough stuff out.

My buddy has a DA sander, what is the normal grit and whatnot for getting old primer off and getting it ready for fresh primer?

 

[ryoken]

sheesh, i totally missed this post....

60 or 80 to rip the chit out of it, then some 180ish to clean up the sandscratchs for primer...

 

[Citizen Rider]

How long should the sand paper last? I will be using my friends DA unless there is something better to use. he is using it currently and has barely used it and has gone through 2-4 peices of paper in a 2 1x2ft places.

Oh, and will it be safe to use on the fiberglass top?

 

[ryoken]

well, thats a whole other topic unto itself...

it depends on the quality of paper you buy... courser papers will also last longer than finer grits usually...

i will only use 3M gold... we do 50' boathulls and such so its worth it to have thee best paper available, not worth jerking around with cheap paper when your holding a sander over your head all day..... 60grit gold is what we use for burly, fast removal on boat bottoms.. nothing cuts as well. end of story.. blows away any 36 grit... for stripping a vehicle, it can't be beat...

all that being said, its expensive. a 75 sheet roll of it in selfstick runs about $70.. prices will vary a little depending on grit... you could strip a factory paint job off a whole blazer with about a dozen sheets or so. depending on how often you replace them...

you can get some bargain brand paper for much cheaper.. i've seen cheapie brand rolls of 80grit as low as $15.. just be aware you'll be going thru way more paper, changing out more often... you might go thru 50 to 100 sheets, but hey, at $15, thats not bad... buy a roll of 80 and 180 for under $50.. check your local bodyshop supply place...

oh, and do NOT buy the plain paper with no glue on it.. the oldschool style that you use a spraycan of adhesive to apply to paper.. its a nuisance, ruins the pad and wont save you any money...

there are also velcro style HookIt systems for DA pads and paper, but just go with the smooth pad and sticky paper...

heres a link to some cheapie paper so you get the idea... most cheaper brands will only go down to 80grit.. http://bodico.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=103

as far as the fiberglass... sure it can be DA'd you just have to be aware that you can ruin it. as a beginner i would only run 180 or above on it and just watch what your doing... if you ride the DA on the edge of the pad too much you can gouge the sh*t out of it... i've had rookies almost destroy boat bottoms doing that... best to keep it mostly flat, work quickly and evenly over the rounded sections and most of all, watch the layer changes as you sand...

 

[nad]

I used a wire brush and some emery cloth on my inner wheel wells then shot a couple coats of rustoleum primer then rustoleum gloss black paint on them. Looks really good so far, not sure if it will start to chip or not though.