Fighting the battle against surface rust

[Analog Kid]

So this spring I would like to deal with the surface rust that is mainly on the lower portion of my car ('72 Fury). See pics - this is the passenger side. The driver's side has it too but it is not as bad.

I can't afford to do a full repaint on the car and I don't really think it needs it. I am thinking maybe just the part below the trim but I wanted to get some opinions from people on how to go about this. Sanding down to bare metal is a no-brainer but I wasn't sure if I should use regular primer or some type of rust-encapsulator before doing a final coat. Also I'm not sure if I should do a single stage paint - like an enamel or try and do a base coat/clear coat. I have access to a paint sprayer but I know that some places like Paint Scratch have the spray cans which would be more convenient for me.

I figure whatever the outcome it can't look any worse than it does now....

 

[live4theking]

I'm probably more of a novice at this than you are, but the one thing I would do is go to a good autobody supply store that can try to color match the existing paint. I think you would be sorely disappoint if you just bought the color called out for by your paint code.

 

[3C's & a D?]

As you say, that appears to be mostly surface rust. I would hit it with CLR before trying anything else. I'd start half diluted and depending on how that works, maybe work towards full strength. Neutralize with water after each application and be careful to not let it dry on. It will etch if allowed too much time to work.

 

[Big_John]

Just a thought... If you want to put off a paint job for a while, I'll bet you can make that look a lot better with a few buck worth of products and some elbow grease.

I'd wash the snot out of the area with some strong soap. Some Purple Power mixed fairly strong. Then I would use some rubbing compound and see what happens. Follow it up with a few coats of your favorite car wax. Bet that will remove all the rust staining that you see. It won't fix anything, but it won't hurt anything either.

 

[The Goose]

What Big John said but if that don’t work I’ve seen people use comet and those kitchen scrubby sponges. Depends how bad the paint/rust is.

On POR or a similar rust encapsulator product. Try it on something and paint it. Some of that stuff leaves the surface really crummy. It’s great in trunks and places a good finish isn’t a big deal. Some of those products are super hard to sand once they dry also. Test it first.
Good luck man & post your results.

 

[Analog Kid]

Thanks guys....I will try some scrubbing this weekend. I did try rubbing it with some fine steel wool and that seemed promising but it was dulling the paint. Maybe some wax will shine it back up. In any case....here is a close up of one of the bad spots so you can get a better idea of what I am dealing with.

 

[tbm3fan]

There is more rust under the paint in that last picture. You just don't see it so easily at the moment but the cracks give it away. It will need to be all removed and sanded down. However, there will still be tiny little pits that will harbor the seed of rust. Rubbing something like Picklex 20 over it well and allowing to sit one minute will take care of the rust in the pits. Then an epoxy primer that doesn't have an acid base to it. After that the color/paint of your choice.

 

[Analog Kid]

Did some scrubbing yesterday....good upper body work out - that is for sure.

I used CLR (diluted with water) and some fine steel wool for scrubbing. Definitely an improvement - I think. I might pick up some wax this week and try that out - any suggestions for wax? I don't know if I have ever bought any.

For the rocker panels where the paint is cracked - will probably have to sand that area and then repaint. Might not be that noticeable though if the paint is a shade off.

 

[moper]

That actually looks to me like an issue with the metal under the paint. It IS rusting, but the paint checking and stuff - seams odd to me. The short answer is - it needs a paint job. The tricks to get by are just that - tricks. If you want to save it. Sand the rust to bare, treat the panels with the rust convertor, then prime and paint. I would not hesitate to use spray bombs for this if it's temporary anyway... That's a repaint - and not removing the surface stuff and neutralizing it will not do anything to save the car.