Rust reversal theory and how to sandblast? (3 Viewers)

[Red Merle]

I have been using a rust reversal technique on my rust belt cruiser for the last 6 months. I have discovered that a mix of bar chain oil and Fluid Film makes a easily sprayable coating that finds its way into the threads and nuts. Things that were straight up seized and crumbling have since come off with ease using normal hand tools and one of those Irwin nut backer outer things.

I want to sand blast all of the old crust off now that the coating has found metal and all of the rusty crud can be washed off. I have a pressure washer and I scrub the snot out of the frame and all of the other stuff under there with a chore boy whenever I get under there.

I see guys that advertise a dustless mobile system and the rental places say you need 33 CFM to run a big blaster. But honesty, I am not even sure that I want that. It seems super aggressive.

Should I just keep plugging away with my current system or should I try to clean the underside of this thing up enough to justify fixing the three small rust spots on an otherwise really clean body? I am planning on learning how to weld and buying a nice mig welder for my shop.

If it factors into what you think, I will also add that I have already dumped about 10K into this truck to get it back to good specs. I only paid $3K for it though, so I have been able to dump a lot of good money into it as I have done it all myself. $7000 goes a long way when you do it like this.


My long term plan is to probably have this truck for the rest of my life (I'll be 41 in July). I can't think of a reason why I would sell it now that I know it as well as I do, but I would like to think that my "investment" isn't a complete money pit. I think this thing has quite a bit of value and it would be sweet if I could get to the point where I could tell someone it has some mitigated rust issues.

Any thoughts on how I should move forward?

 

[Maleficio]

There are loads of rust-killing spray videos on YouTube.

 

[Red Merle]

There are loads of rust-killing spray videos on YouTube.

That isn't my question. I am wondering how people blast off the old stuff once they use one of the sprays.

 

[jfz80]

There are commercial blasting sites you can drop your truck off at. Call around and chat to see who sounds competant and comfortable smartly blasting the underside avoiding parts they should.

Beej has some experience

Rust bucket 80. Updates and insight

 

[Maleficio]

That isn't my question. I am wondering how people blast off the old stuff once they use one of the sprays.

Sorry.

 

[Red Merle]

There are commercial blasting sites you can drop your truck off at. Call around and chat to see who sounds competant and comfortable smartly blasting the underside avoiding parts they should.

Beej has some experience

Rust bucket 80. Updates and insight

That is my truck. Are you just giving me a hard time? I don't get it.

Weird. I thought somehow it got stuck on my truck and then the rest of it makes sense.

 

[LINUS]

I'm far from a Midwesterner who has to deal with rust (hats off gents, really).

The way I go based on what my final goal is:

Rusty but solid metal is best for POR-15. If I want a better finish you can epoxy pai t over it. For metal I don't care extremely about.

Or I have the old style "sandblaster in a bucket" - nothing fancy, was $10 @ a farage sale. If I can strip it, I use sugar sand, if not but washable I get blast soda.

Soda is ~$40 /bag, sugar sand is $8 /bag so that can be an issue.

If I soda blasted the underside I would really like the 80 up on blocks ~2" or so, both for all the crap and to fit your arm upright in nooks both blast & paint, brush covers way thicker than spray but either way good primer like the aluminum powder content Tnemec line & their epoxy topcoat is durable enough to take sulfuric acid spray on a infrequent basis & that stuff is wicked.

That acid stains the paint a little like a coffee stain, but unless a pipe sprays prolonged on it it stays. Even if it blisters the aluminum primer holds fast.

Dumb luck we used a grey like that undercarriage sprayed & looks identical.

IDK if that helps any, but now you know what I do on that. GL!

 

[PDoyle]

What ever you do count on doing it again and again.
Really your sand blasting when you drive it .
This fall I got under my rig I've had for at least ten years and used brush on rust inhibitor from Eastman.
I've tried fluid film as well but it wlll get removed in parts by road spray.

 

[jfz80]

That is my truck. Are you just giving me a hard time? I don't get it.

Weird. I thought somehow it got stuck on my truck and then the rest of it makes sense.

Whoops not giving you a hard time. Just searched 'sandblasting' by beej and copied the link to post 14 where he showed what i was describing. Didnt notice it was your thread.

 

[flagstaff]

A bit off topic but there is also electrolytic rust removal. It takes putting the part in water (harder to do on a frame) and connecting a car battery charger to remove the rust. I did this on many parts for a 68 T-bird and it's very effective.

 

[2fpower]

What parts are you talking about needing cancer removal and treatment? Put up some pics and then we can give advice on topic.

I would treat frame very different than axles or other smaller parts.

 

[Malleus]

Ed's Red Penetrating Oil

If I had a frame I could blast, meaning one without a body nearby, I might try CO2 media. It doesn't leave any residue, does the job and is very fashionable!

 

[viol8r44]

[QUOTE=" I have discovered that a mix of bar chain oil and Fluid Film makes a easily sprayable coating that finds its way into the threads and nuts." [/QUOTE]

Just curious do you mean like chain saw bar and chain oil? how do you mix that and fluid film to spray it? just in a regular spray cleaner type bottle? I just bought a LC thats from Ohio and its covered in rust..my nuts are all seized up..(that just sounds wrong

 

[Red Merle]

Whoops not giving you a hard time. Just searched 'sandblasting' by beej and copied the link to post 14 where he showed what i was describing. Didnt notice it was your thread.

That's OK, I was several brews deep and really sleepy when I posted this. I kinda forgot I had posted that thread back then

 

[Red Merle]

[QUOTE=" I have discovered that a mix of bar chain oil and Fluid Film makes a easily sprayable coating that finds its way into the threads and nuts."

Just curious do you mean like chain saw bar and chain oil? how do you mix that and fluid film to spray it? just in a regular spray cleaner type bottle? I just bought a LC thats from Ohio and its covered in rust..my nuts are all seized up..(that just sounds wrong [/QUOTE]


Yes, I mix the Fluid Film with the chainsaw bar oil and then heat it up a bit on my gas stove in my house. Then I spray it with a cheap paint spray gun attached to my air compressor.

My real question I guess is whether or not blasting is even a good idea or if I run the risk if blasting a wire fitting or brake line and making things worse.

The truck is much less rusty looking underneath now compared to when I bought it and if I scrub the areas that have been soaking in the mixture for six months now, I get to bare metal pretty quickly. The trouble with that is that it's tough to scrub everywhere and it's a ton of efforting, which isn't my normal way of doing things. I would rather get under there and blast away, but I don't want to be super aggressive or damage the paint on the body under there when it's still pretty good for the most part.

I looked into renting a blaster from a local rental place and they say it has to have a air compressor that can push 33 CFM, which is insanely high. The only unit they have that you can rent that puts out that type of CFM is mounted to a trailer and is diesel fueled. I am afraid it will destroy things rather than just blast off the rusty crud that is left on the metal now.

Do those little blasting kits that places like HF and Sears sell any good, or is that a waste of time and money?

 

[Red Merle]

I'm far from a Midwesterner who has to deal with rust (hats off gents, really).

The way I go based on what my final goal is:

Rusty but solid metal is best for POR-15. If I want a better finish you can epoxy pai t over it. For metal I don't care extremely about.

Or I have the old style "sandblaster in a bucket" - nothing fancy, was $10 @ a farage sale. If I can strip it, I use sugar sand, if not but washable I get blast soda.

Soda is ~$40 /bag, sugar sand is $8 /bag so that can be an issue.

If I soda blasted the underside I would really like the 80 up on blocks ~2" or so, both for all the crap and to fit your arm upright in nooks both blast & paint, brush covers way thicker than spray but either way good primer like the aluminum powder content Tnemec line & their epoxy topcoat is durable enough to take sulfuric acid spray on a infrequent basis & that stuff is wicked.

That acid stains the paint a little like a coffee stain, but unless a pipe sprays prolonged on it it stays. Even if it blisters the aluminum primer holds fast.

Dumb luck we used a grey like that undercarriage sprayed & looks identical.

IDK if that helps any, but now you know what I do on that. GL!

This is good advice. I am wondering about the unit you blast with. How does it work? Do you need a huge compressor for it?

I just have a 30 gallon Craftsman compressor and it's been fine for most of what I have needed and I don't have 220 wired in my work shop.( I might get a quote for that though because I want to learn how to MIG weld and some of the units I see need more juice than what I have out there now).

 

[Red Merle]

What ever you do count on doing it again and again.
Really your sand blasting when you drive it .
This fall I got under my rig I've had for at least ten years and used brush on rust inhibitor from Eastman.
I've tried fluid film as well but it wlll get removed in parts by road spray.

I don't mind doing it over and over. I have been using the Fluid Film on my Tacoma for the five years that I have had it when it came to me rust free from the desert. It's still rust free. The Cruiser is a northern MN rig that was stored and generally kept out of the salt for the last ten years. The body is better than average for up here, but the frame and undercarriage are rusty by anyone's standard, no holes anywhere though. I think the people that owned it were really good about putting the truck into storage after washing it, but the water that was on it when they did that led to the truck having months at a time where rust could form. There were literally rust structures forming well above the metal when I got it. It almost had like stalactites of rust in some areas. Much of that is gone now though and the majority of the truck is blackened rust slurry now that scrubs down to bare metal fairly easily. If I could get all of that off of there I would just keep spraying the mixture under there at least twice per year forever.

 

[LINUS]

This is good advice. I am wondering about the unit you blast with. How does it work? Do you need a huge compressor for it?

I just have a 30 gallon Craftsman compressor and it's been fine for most of what I have needed and I don't have 220 wired in my work shop.( I might get a quote for that though because I want to learn how to MIG weld and some of the units I see need more juice than what I have out there now).

Mines a unit that was popular in the 70's - 5gallon bucket sized hopper & 'gun' has a hose between hopper & it to keep fed with media.

Compressed air goes right into 'gun'head, uses venturi to pull media from bucket.

The only thing you may need is a dehumidifier inline, since a condensate goober will kill the venturi.

These were all people had at home prior to blast cabinets getting common in the 80-90's.

I bet I have the near same sized compressor for my portable one, runs these style fine.

 

[izzyandsue]

You may want to look at soda blasting. Basically baking soda, not as aggressive as sand, and very safe to use and clean. We have used it in many applications with great results

 

[dogfishlake]

Soda is good for paint but will not take off rust as it is too soft. A siphon blaster will work fine just a bit slow if your compressor is small. There are siphon blasters that work with a power washer too, not sure how they work though. I used my small pressure blaster (like 40ish cfm) at my shop and blasted the back half of my 80 (still have to do the front). Big sandy mess but worked great. For paint, try Chassis Saver brand. It works as well as POR 15 at much lower cost. As far as keeping it nice, just spray the bottom with your favorite oil and hit the car wash a lot in the winter. My white 80 is really nice underneath after a Michigan life, just taken care of from day one.