Surface Rust Removal Questions
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 90
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From: Las Vegas Nevada
Surface Rust Removal Questions
I'm looking to get rid of the surface rust on the frame and pretty much anything else I can reach in the car. I bought a small wire brush and a wire wheel that you can attach to drill. The wire wheel is coarse, but they offered a fine one as well. Do I need both, one or the other? Now, A) Is that the right way to go about removing the rust, and B) Since I'll need to coat whatever I remove rust from pretty quickly, what do I coat it with? A Rustoleum product and then a coat of high heat spray paint? I really don't know and would appreciate people's experience with it. Thanks a lot!
Examples Of Rust Locations
Examples Of Rust Locations
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Wire brush, wire wheel, Scotch bright pads, sanding discs...anything like that. It'll cut down very fast and you'll have bare metal that you'll want to paint and coat quickly.
Maybe invest in some Por-15 as that's a way to take metal sealing very seriously.
Maybe invest in some Por-15 as that's a way to take metal sealing very seriously.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
Check out www.rustbullet.com
Very little prep needed. Sticks well to either rusted or bare metal.
Rick B.
Very little prep needed. Sticks well to either rusted or bare metal.
Rick B.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14,112
Likes: 28
From: Florida
Yes I do 
I pressure clean and degrease first with a 3500 psi short wand,
Then use a small weed sprayer with Metal Prep from Homey Depot (same as OSPH but a lot cheaper 13 bucks/gal, Phosphoric acid)
Angle grinder with cup wheel if needed.
Do all the metal underneath and inside the frame too and then just rinse off and paint with Rustoleum primer and semi black.
If it's not going to see winter salt, that is plenty good enough and the finish looks a lot better than Por15.
I pressure clean and degrease first with a 3500 psi short wand,
Then use a small weed sprayer with Metal Prep from Homey Depot (same as OSPH but a lot cheaper 13 bucks/gal, Phosphoric acid)
Angle grinder with cup wheel if needed.
Do all the metal underneath and inside the frame too and then just rinse off and paint with Rustoleum primer and semi black.
If it's not going to see winter salt, that is plenty good enough and the finish looks a lot better than Por15.
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 90
Likes: 2
From: Las Vegas Nevada
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm not sure how I feel about leaving the rust on the metal and then working on it. Obviously that sounds great as it sounds like a lot less work. IF I'd like to take off all of the rust first, is there a better way to do it? If I use the wire wheel, how do I use it without leaving wire lines on the metal? Do I have to sand it down or use a fine brillow pad to get any lines out of the metal? After I get the rust off with a wire wheel/brillow pad, do I still coat it with Por-15 or Rustbullet? Do I need to "paint" over the POR-15 or rustbullet after I use it or will the finish be good enough? Noonie, is that just the Ospho that's on your frame? Did you paint everything with it? It looks pretty dang good to me. Thanks again for all of the help, I just want to make sure I do this right as I don't want to do it again unless I do a Frame-Off (yeah right).
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14,112
Likes: 28
From: Florida
Use a good quality wire cup from a welding supply. They don't leave marks and your not prepping a Ferrari hood.
A 3500psi pressure cleaner or higher will cut right thru the fiberglass, so it will knock off most of the rust pieces.
The phosphoric acid will clean the rust to bare metal if washed off while wet.
If left to dry it will convert to stop the rust from getting worse.
The picture of the unpainted caliper and rotor is after the ospho had been washed of before it was dry. They were previously pretty rusty.
The black paint is just Rustoleum paint over primer and ospho prepped metal.
A 3500psi pressure cleaner or higher will cut right thru the fiberglass, so it will knock off most of the rust pieces.
The phosphoric acid will clean the rust to bare metal if washed off while wet.
If left to dry it will convert to stop the rust from getting worse.
The picture of the unpainted caliper and rotor is after the ospho had been washed of before it was dry. They were previously pretty rusty.
The black paint is just Rustoleum paint over primer and ospho prepped metal.
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Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm not sure how I feel about leaving the rust on the metal and then working on it. Obviously that sounds great as it sounds like a lot less work. IF I'd like to take off all of the rust first, is there a better way to do it? If I use the wire wheel, how do I use it without leaving wire lines on the metal? Do I have to sand it down or use a fine brillow pad to get any lines out of the metal? After I get the rust off with a wire wheel/brillow pad, do I still coat it with Por-15 or Rustbullet? Do I need to "paint" over the POR-15 or rustbullet after I use it or will the finish be good enough? Noonie, is that just the Ospho that's on your frame? Did you paint everything with it? It looks pretty dang good to me. Thanks again for all of the help, I just want to make sure I do this right as I don't want to do it again unless I do a Frame-Off (yeah right).
Rick B.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 3,248
Likes: 48
From: westland mi
i wirewheeled my frame and sanded where i had to then did the por-15 thing and topcoated. you can pickup the phosphoric acid at home depot, it's called "a must for rust". pics here http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...cs-inside.html
more pics here http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v323/rosslato/
more pics here http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v323/rosslato/
Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 90
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From: Las Vegas Nevada
Rosslato, wow...Incredible job. The car looks amazing! Words don't even describe it's glory 
So you wire wheeled the frame (coarse or fine, or both in succession?) then did the por-15 thing (you used "a must for rust" from Home Depot?) and then put on a top coat? Okay, that makes sense. The "a must for rust" goes on AFTER using the wire wheel, right? It coats the bare metal to be rust "proof" so to speak, right? Thanks for the info Rosslato, that helps alot.
Quick opinion question: My 'Vette is silver and I want to keep it looking stock as much as possible. Original parts aren't going to always be possible, so new or rebuilt will work, i just want it to LOOK stock. With that said, what color do I paint the frame? What did they look like new? Silver, Black? Thanks for the help!
So you wire wheeled the frame (coarse or fine, or both in succession?) then did the por-15 thing (you used "a must for rust" from Home Depot?) and then put on a top coat? Okay, that makes sense. The "a must for rust" goes on AFTER using the wire wheel, right? It coats the bare metal to be rust "proof" so to speak, right? Thanks for the info Rosslato, that helps alot.Quick opinion question: My 'Vette is silver and I want to keep it looking stock as much as possible. Original parts aren't going to always be possible, so new or rebuilt will work, i just want it to LOOK stock. With that said, what color do I paint the frame? What did they look like new? Silver, Black? Thanks for the help!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 5,236
Likes: 898
From: Myrtle Beach SC
I'm looking to get rid of the surface rust on the frame and pretty much anything else I can reach in the car. I bought a small wire brush and a wire wheel that you can attach to drill. The wire wheel is coarse, but they offered a fine one as well. Do I need both, one or the other? Now, A) Is that the right way to go about removing the rust, and B) Since I'll need to coat whatever I remove rust from pretty quickly, what do I coat it with? A Rustoleum product and then a coat of high heat spray paint? I really don't know and would appreciate people's experience with it. Thanks a lot!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 198
From: Meriden CT
Yes I do
I pressure clean and degrease first with a 3500 psi short wand,
Then use a small weed sprayer with Metal Prep from Homey Depot (same as OSPH but a lot cheaper 13 bucks/gal, Phosphoric acid)
Angle grinder with cup wheel if needed.
Do all the metal underneath and inside the frame too and then just rinse off and paint with Rustoleum primer and semi black.
If it's not going to see winter salt, that is plenty good enough and the finish looks a lot better than Por15.
I pressure clean and degrease first with a 3500 psi short wand,
Then use a small weed sprayer with Metal Prep from Homey Depot (same as OSPH but a lot cheaper 13 bucks/gal, Phosphoric acid)
Angle grinder with cup wheel if needed.
Do all the metal underneath and inside the frame too and then just rinse off and paint with Rustoleum primer and semi black.
If it's not going to see winter salt, that is plenty good enough and the finish looks a lot better than Por15.
My car will never see winter salt either, but sand or road debris will be kicked up onto it, so I did use POR15 for it's chip resistance. It's really not any different to apply, but it is much more expensive than Rustoleum.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,407
Likes: 2
From: Carmichael CA
I don't use the "coarse" wire wheel...it's too stiff to get the bristles where they need to be. Use the Fine wire wheels...get like 3 each of the small and large, brush and wheel styles. Also, the individual wires will fall out, so make sure you clean up good or else you will track the wires through the house and will be getting stuck with them...just one of them sticking into your heel will have you limping for a week...very painful.
I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer followed by Black Night Metallic...looks great, but chips easily. I've got an air compressor on order, and when it gets in I'll be getting a spray gun and painting it with Stratoclear ...that will take care of the chipping. I tried the rustoleum clear coat and it sucks...even tried verathane polyurethane and another brand of urethane without much success. It seems the only way to get a nice hard finish is with an epoxy style clear coat.
I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer followed by Black Night Metallic...looks great, but chips easily. I've got an air compressor on order, and when it gets in I'll be getting a spray gun and painting it with Stratoclear ...that will take care of the chipping. I tried the rustoleum clear coat and it sucks...even tried verathane polyurethane and another brand of urethane without much success. It seems the only way to get a nice hard finish is with an epoxy style clear coat.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 90
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From: Las Vegas Nevada
Many thanks to the excellent comments and ideas. I can't wait to get rid of the rust, but engine tune and maintenance will have to come first. None the less, I'm getting ready to order the goods so I'll have it when I want it. Happy Thanksgiving!
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 12,146
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From: Easton, PA
St. Jude Donor '10
Make sure you take pictures and share them back. Happy Thanksgiving. 
David
77Sleeper
