noob question about wire wheel derusting

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

L

Lulu

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Threads
35
Messages
235
Location
Dallas, TX
When you guys/gals say "use a wire wheel to get rust off of frame, do you mean use a hand grinder with a wire wheel attachment or is there another tool that is a powered wire brush. I do have a small compressor for nail guns but don't think is has the capacity for a pneumatic attachment. I also have a paint grinder but not sure if the grinding mechanism would be tough enough for this job. I want to do some cleaning before I decide to completely disassemble and look into sandblasting. From 75 to 91 this 74FJ lived in socal, then moved to Dallas, tx. So I am hoping rust is just surface deep.

thanks.
Rear under carriage rust-2.webp
 
Hand grinder with wire attachment, and also for drills they make wire wheel assemblies. Dremels, too. Best way to do it is sandblasting, it is much more effective. However, for you, wire wheeling should be fine. Just get the surface rust off, and then spread on Permatex Anti-Rust. That stuff is amazing, it neutralizes the rust to a black nitrate coating which protects the metal, and you can just paint on over it. It's available at NAPA and CarQuest, probably the other chains as well. Good luck!!

Brian
 
Wire Wheeling

I have recently just wire wheeled my entire frame and both axle housings on my 77. What I used was a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a wire cup attachment that I got from home depot. It was quite time consuming but being as I had lots of time on my hands it worked quite well. For the tight spots that couldn't be reached with the grinder I used smaller wire wheel attachments on a drill and wire brushes. I was happy enough with the results that I am now going to do the same on my 78.
 
Thanks Brian. I have read about some guys using a drill and some chain to get surface rust from inside frame channel. Would spraying the permatex inside the frame with a hand pump sprayer be a good idea too? I think a hand grinder will be a good purchase. I read alot of things on here that are done with a hand grinder. Yea new tool..
argh argh argh.

thanks guys :beer:
 
I use a 4" angle grinder with the gnarliest knotted wire attachments I could get.

Get both a cup wheel and a straight wheel. Don't get Harbor Freight crap, it won't last. I bought a 4" knotted wire rope cup at Grainger and paid about $18 for it.... 4 years ago. You get what you pay for...

WEAR EYE PROTECTION, THICK clothing and a good mask!!! :doh:

These wheels will 'shed' little fragments of wire at very high velocity. So high in fact, they will penetrate your skin and you won't even feel it! At least until you brush up against it.

Not to mention they are throwing out rust particles and other debris.
 
One of my favorite quotes on mud:

Toyo FJ40 said:
Tne problem with home sand blasting is most people don't have a compressor that will deliver the volume of air needed to run a sand blaster. The small home sandblasters work so slow that you might as well keep using the zip strip. Not to mention that you shop or driveway will look like the beach when your done. I stripped my whole tub, cowl, fenders and hood inside and out with a wire wheel on a 4 1/2" angle grinder. Like iam_turner said the knoted wire wheels cut great and seem to last the longest. I went through 2 angle grinders and a dozen wheels but it took off undercoating and bondo along with the paint.

Of course I now have carpel tunnel and a constant whirling noise in my ears and there's not a square inch of my body that doesn't have a chunk of wire hanging out of it. :)


Kevin
Click to expand...
 
That's a good one. Hey Trekker, did you get my pm reply? Not sure if I'm doing it right. I am interested in your air cleaner. I had asked where you were located.
 
rust removal

I have heard some people say they liked using sanding flaps like a wheel made out of sandpaper.

personally I had a sandblaster and I used kiln dried sand and a huge compressor we had at our heavy equipment shop on a dump truck bed. I would up using a wire wheel, sand paper, cutting disks and everything else I could. Using air you need a lot of CFM for this type of job. I once used a buddies expensive electrical orbital and compared to my cheaper one there was a difference for sure but this kind job could mean you go thru a couple as above.

unless you are doing something special I agree with getting rid of the rough stuff and using a converter. But I know if feels better to get rid of it all.


Ask a supplier what the best medium for rust removal is ----probably not sand! Oh and it gets everywhere, the beach comment is not an exaggeration I cleaned up with snow shovels!

it will get in your hair under your hood and all through your clothes too!
 
Coolerman said:
WEAR EYE PROTECTION, THICK clothing and a good mask!!! :doh:

These wheels will 'shed' little fragments of wire at very high velocity. So high in fact, they will penetrate your skin and you won't even feel it! At least until you brush up against it.
Click to expand...

That ain't no lie. I was cleaning up a few freshly sand blasted parts a few weeks ago with a wire wheel in my cordless drill. Later that night I brushed my arm against some thing and felt a snag. There was just a little 1/8 inch of wire poking out. I pulled it out and the thing was a half inch into my arm and I never felt it.
 
How do Lulu, lived in Plano early 70s'. Roger Staubach, Tom Landry, Plano wildcats still doing well? Might I suggest kicking it up a notch. Go 6" angle grinder, carpel and all, much quicker than 4 and 1/2 inch angle grinder. Go smaller tool for smaller area, You know. Much protection, oh ya, wire seperating then embedding into skin, not fun. Only buy the best wire cup wheels. Make sure they are specifically designed for angle grinders (High RPM 11500 for 4@1/2" , 6500 for 6")Look for woven strands. Need good position for 6" AG, definitely not kids toy. Yes also on the media, sand not best option, best body guys use couple others, weird stuff, glass medias, maybe pecan shell. Plenty of good paint thrreads here.
 
Well old Roger S. is a large real estate guy down here now, Emmitt Smith is doing deals with him too. Tom L has left the bldg. They do have a hospital/exercise physio. facility named after him The Tom Landry Baylor Hospital. Good Ol Plano Wildcats. I only lived in Plano till grade school. Went to high school and college in Denton a bit west of Plano. Anyway, thanks again to everyone who chimed in on this one. I unfortunately don't have the resources to sand (or any other media) myself. And since I am a compulsive buyer (if you read how I ended up with this FJ) I went out yesterday and bought a $90 DeWalt 4.5" grinder. ;p
The guy at home cheapo got me the wrong wire wheels and they wouldn't fit on the grinder. So I did a bit on the bumper with the cup a bought for the drill. Not a lot of RPM there so that will def. be for the small spots later. I noticed that even at 2200 rpm the $4 wire wheel was throwing pieces. Would tractor supply have better quality. I don't know of a grainger near me. Any other suggestions?
I did end up buying two aerosol cans of permatex. The front end looks pretty solid, the back may be a diff story.
 
Any hardware store worth its' salt should have the correct wire wheels. You will be much happier, not dodging those steel spears for sure. Heck, Dallas is big, you have to have retail tool stores there. Look um up under tool supply or under abrasives supply.
 
hers what i used .you will need the knotted wire wire wheel .i used a 5 inch and a 7 inch angle grinder also air die grinder ,flap disc's suck .also sanding disc on soft rubber backed angle grinder worked well . wire wheel the only way to go .me and a buddy got her done in one day .on the 7 inch i put a bench grinder grinding wheel on it ,lasted forever. wire cup worked good also .pic of what i have left . no pic of wire wheel's or cups for the 5 inch angle.
1 (Medium).webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom