Thinking about puttung Rust Bullet on my truck...

[IrollwithTojo]

Recently I have been wanting to apply Rust Bullet on my truck, slightly over the fender like most other people and up front.
Does anyone have/know of the best or easiest way to go through with this? I was thinking if I went through with this to use a roller
Pics?
Pros/Cons
Opinions (Like I need to ask for them )

Fellas

-Carl

 

[boots4]

I really like RustBullet and have bought their stuff a couple of times now. Prep is obviously important so following their directions will get good results. For pics of what I've done with it on the fenders and lower body line check out pg20 of my build (in my sig).

 

[NocalFJ60]

I used rust bullet on my fenders and entire engine bay and have been very happy with it. I used a brush to put it on everywhere.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Great looking rig Boots, thats almost exactly what I want to do with mine, but on my rig theres rust little higher, so I would put the Rust Bullet on that entire body line (if you know where I'm talking about) and possibly the bottom of the tailgate and front of the truck.
Best to use brush and/or roller?

-Carl

 

[PurpleFJ62]

I have used both rust bullet and POR15 and have had some intresting experiences.
I was told at the local painters supply that its better to put por on a rough rusty surface than a fresh sandblased one. This seemed a little odd to me, but hey, they are painters by profession and I am not. So i did as they said, what a mistake. I too my chassis and rough sanded it, wire wheeled, etc. and cleaned with brake cleaner. It rusted within one month, sitting inside might I add.

So next time I sand blasted an entire axle housing and tried it again. It worked much better, been outside all winter and I havent seen any rust yet.
In my experiences surface prep is extremly important, I dont believe any of this paint of rust stuff that it may say on the can. Now I do have much more experience with por than rust bullet, but I think they are pretty similar...am i correct on this?

The only way I have found to get proper adhesion to metal is to take it completly apart, sandblast, clean/prep, and paint.
I blasted this pickup axle and painted, I think its acceptable, this only got hardware store rustoleum and its still looking ok. hasent seen salt yet...

[/IMG]

Does rust bullet claim you can paint over seasoned metal?

 

[boots4]

I have a utility trailer I put together out of an old travel trailer. The frame was covered completely with rust, thick scaled stuff no less. I did wire brush it to knock off the loose stuff and slapped on the two coats (drying time in between) as suggested on the can. The trailer stays out in the elements and there has been no rust for two years. I do agree that better prep like purple says will achieve a better result that should last longer.

I was aiming for texture so I used a roller with a thick nap. A brush is easier to get into the tight spaces. Whatever you use it's pretty much a one time use and throw away kind of deal. If your are real good you could wrap them air tight to prolong drying and get another coat out of your brush or roller.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

I see, well I dont have access to many tools, but do you fellas think that is I roughed up the paint/rust pretty good with a sander 100 or so grit and a wire brush maybe? Would that work fine? Also, I dont think I will be doing this all too soon because of how cold it is. But as soon as I can Ide love to put it on my truck.
Thanks again

-Carl

 

[Chase77]

I've used about 10 quarts of this stuff over the last few years. It has been great but I'd never just put it over a totally rusted surface. This just increases the chances of poor prep. At a minimum I always use a wire wheel on a drill to get off all the scale and as much surface rust as possible. I always do a soapy wash with a residue free soap like cheer, scrub it down with rubbing alcohol to get off any residue possibly remaining and then go back over that with xylene to make sure its as clean as possible. I've always done a full 3 coats on all my project and never had any negative issues. Its really easy to use and dries hard as hell. I patched up my front fenders 2 years ago with it and its been through the nasty salty winters here with no issues.

I used POR and thought it was a PITA. Still had good results though.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Wish it wasnt so cold...

-Carl

 

[1911]

I've used Rust Bullet on little stuff like the bottom of my (40) hard top and ambulance doors and it seems to be holding up well so far. I sanded the rust off, used their phosphoric acid etching spray, and used two coats as recommended. +1 on using brushes and throwing them away after each use - I tried cleaning them once and no solvent known to human science will cut that stuff.

 

[Heartworm]

I much prefer Rust Bullet to POR15. Prep is important, but all those steps with POR 15 are too much. I worked my butt off with all the POR prep stuff on a bumper and it came off in sheets in less than 2 years. Rust Bullet has held up better.
I noted that you were going to paint your rockers. I would encourage you to use the Rust Bullet...BUT..I would also encourage you to put some bedliner type stuff on top of that. Rust Bullet will stop rust, but it won't hold up to gravel the way bedliner will. There is a wide range of products to choose from (Herculiner and other DYIs up to professionally applied stuff.)

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Found this not five minutes ago, its a picture of HeartCooksBrain's cruiser with black paint exactly where I want to apply my Rust Bullet.

Yeehaw

-Carl

 

[cfdlighthouse]

i used gator guard a self applied bedliner coating on mine....did it myself....got to be warm when you apply it though...has worked great so far...

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Great looking truck, does the Gator Guard take care of rust like RUst Bullet...

-Carl

 

[cfdlighthouse]

no the rust removal/treatment should be done first. gator guard is just a textured bedliner coating. but if the surfaces are rust free and sealed appropriately before everything should be fine...

 

[ylexot]

It seems everyone is hung up on texture in their rust bullet, or other, finish. What's the deal? Why not a smooth finish?

 

[boots4]

It seems everyone is hung up on texture in their rust bullet, or other, finish. What's the deal? Why not a smooth finish?

We use texture to hide our imperfections.

 

[Heartworm]

Boots is right, it is about covering the inperfections. The texture issue is not a yes/no situation. No all bedliner has the coarse crumbles texture; some of it is like the rattlecan "hammered" texture. I had a few dents on mine and I was very please with how it hide them. Another example: I removed the chrome strip "snake blinders" from below the doors. This left holes that I plugged with hardware store plastic plugs. Once the Armorthane went over them, you could not tell that the plugs were there. I am surprised that more people with moderate rust are not using bedliner to correct the problem. Cut out the rust, pop rivet in some sheet metal, use a thin layer of filler, and put on bedliner. Fortunately, I did not have rust, but if I did I would give it a try.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

The texture looks cooler . Can't wait for it to be warm all the time and get mine on. I cant stand looking at the salt slowly eating my truck

-Carl

 

[ylexot]

I can certainly understand covering imperfections, like repaired rust spots. My current ride is rust free but I've been thinking about giving it a good treatment on the rockers to keep it that way. Is it even conceivable to apply a smooth coat?

My first thought was 'wouldn't the texture add turbulent drag at highway speeds?' But quickly thought again recalling the brlck like profile of the whole vehicle.

The PO of my old BJ, may it rust in peace, "restored" the body with a similar rough textured layer along the rockers and fenders. He then painted the whole thing, but it looked like K-rap over the orange peal 'rust bullet'. (I don't know which treatment he used for sure, but it sure didn't work.)