Rust bullet..... still trying to figure out why its not working???

[DHracer3]

I have been using Rust Bullet now and thought I would share my opinions..
So I have used Rust Bullet now 2 times and both with mixed results.
I used them on my axles and I bought the 5 little pints from Rustbullet.com
and they stuff seemed really nice.. I bought a nice HVLP gun and air filter and went at it... the axles were stripped and sanded and then cleaned with the Xylene that they recommend..
It went on nicely and I put 2 coats of the Silver on thinking this is going to be good! I waited the recommended 2 days and put the black shell on.. once again looked good! Like brand NEW!!
Well its been now a couple of months and the axles are done and put aside while I am restoring the rest of the car.
Even after a couple of months sitting at the side I had it on jack stands to install new wheels and the paint just chipped off like it was nothing!!!
I figured maybe there was something I did.. maybe to much moisture in the air?? I shrugged it off and said I will do it again once it starts looking horrible..

Anyways now I am doing my frame!.. This time I made sure i was going to do it properly.. I bought a big air dryer and a new HVLP gun.. really nice one!
No moisture this time! I put the Silver automotive Rust Bullet on and it went on nicely! Was nice and thick and after the 2 coats it was hard as nails and I could feel it was chip resistant.. after a debate of putting the Black Shell on the nice Silver look I put it on anyways.... wish I had left it Silver! the Black shell seemed thicker in the can and I made sure to stir it and all that.. its hard now but I can literally scrape it off with my finger nail!!! I've had better results with Rustoleum.. !! much better!! ...Now I'm worried that I have a bad batch of paint.. I don't want to have to pull the whole FJ40 apart just to repaint the frame and axles.. this sucks..

Just wondering if anyone has used the Rust Bullet and has had bad results.. I'm not happy with the Black Shell....

 

[neufab]

did u scuff the silver before applying the black?. if not that may be the problem.powdercoat frame and zero rust on the axels makes toutchup easy.

 

[DHracer3]

The Silver that went on seemed to be rough enough but that could be the problem.. The Black Shell just scrapes right off like it can't adhere at all... Could it be that simple??.. I will try scuffing up the Paint the next time.. I followed the instructions on the tin and as far as I could tell it said to just put it on top of the Silver Auto paint.


I think next time I will try some of the paint my buddy uses.. he gets it from a local Industrial paint store here and is a super thick black paint that goes on and is really nice.. I think its the same stuff Automotive companies use on their frames. I think I will try that next..

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I don't know about Rust Bullet but if you waited 2 days to topcoat POR15 then the topcoat would absolutely not stick. You either have to topcoat it within a few hours (but after the POR15 is no longer tacky) or you have to use their intermediate coat before you topcoat it. I'm guessing that Rust Bullet is similar.

Of course if the instructions said wait 2 days and then topcoat then what can I say??

 

[copasspupil]

A few questions:
1. how far way is the compressor from the filter/water separator?
2. did you use a wax and grease remover wipe down prior to painting it? Did you tack it down after?
3. Like others have said, if you wait too long, the surface must be scruffed prior to painting (most brands) in order to get it to adhere. Did you do this? Have you called the manufacturer to get answers?
4. how did you clean the gun?

 

[DHracer3]

I'm not sure why but I was certain that they said to wait 2 days before putting on the top coat... Maybe I should have read into this a bit more.. ! I'm usually very careful with everything that I do and now the paint is just flaking off.. anyway to fix this? just sand blast it? I'm guessing it should just come straight off...
The compressor has some line between it and the air filter.. its a nice big one. I also have another tank in between it to try and cool the air off.

I contacted Rust Bullet but no reply yet.. hopefully they can get back to me.. I'm guessing its going to be the same thing that I didn't sand down the silver paint first..
Well now I know not to do that again.... now I need to figure out a way to fix it.

 

[copasspupil]

You need to have adequate distance between the compressor and the filter >25 ft or you will have problems. Blast away my friend.

 

[DHracer3]

I'll try a bit of sand blasting hopefully this next week.. IT sucks because I just put the axles back underneath the frame and don't want to go through the trouble of trying to do that again!! what a pain it is to get those bushings on the shackles..
will see how it goes.!

 

[NikP]

I also used Rust Bullet black shell and applied with HLVP. I had the same type of result. As I've tinkered around with things, I notice that it chips incredibly easy. I had a heck of a time spraying it because it says not to thin but I couldn't get it to come out of the gun without a lot of peel effect. I thinned anyway with Xylol.

My impression is the black shell dries extremely hard and therefore isn't very flexible causing it to chip easily.

I guess we'll see how it ends-up as I put the car together. Rustoleum gloss black seems to be a pretty good match so any area that becomes a problem will get the rusto treatment.

My recommendation - use the regular Silver Bullet coating for rust protection but use your regular paint for color coverage.

 

[DHracer3]

I also used Rust Bullet black shell and applied with HLVP. I had the same type of result. As I've tinkered around with things, I notice that it chips incredibly easy. I had a heck of a time spraying it because it says not to thin but I couldn't get it to come out of the gun without a lot of peel effect. I thinned anyway with Xylol.

My impression is the black shell dries extremely hard and therefore isn't very flexible causing it to chip easily.

I guess we'll see how it ends-up as I put the car together. Rustoleum gloss black seems to be a pretty good match so any area that becomes a problem will get the rusto treatment.

My recommendation - use the regular Silver Bullet coating for rust protection but use your regular paint for color coverage.

Thats exactly how I feel... ! all that money for black shell and it seems as though Rusto would do the same job..

 

[cruiser88]

anytime you are painting anything that has had decades of grease and oil soaking into the metal............everything needs to be blasted not just sanded.