can rust be slowed?

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I have a 1995 Cutlass Supreme Convertible that I really enjoy. It is showing minor rust at spots like just above the wheel arches. I have been fighting some of it with rust-converting primer (car is black so this is easy to do).

I have some questions:

1. If the car is kept dry, is there enough moisture in the air to feed the rust to spread? If I adopted a strict no-rainy-days policy with this car, would that significantly slow the spread?

2. I took it to one body shop, and they were hesitant to do the work. They said even the best sanding followed by chemical treatment and painting, would eventually give way to rust again. I am in Cleveland so the roads are salted in winter. However this is a 3rd car so it would be possible for me to put it away during winter and even rainy days.

The rust is not very noticeable right now, so I'm weighing my options, deciding what to do with it. Sell car... get it fixed... keep band aiding it with rust converter.

Mechanically it's excellent. That's my hesitation in selling.

Thanks
Brian
 
in the short term clean the rust up with some abrasive and apply a rust neutraliser, like ospho daily. that will keep it from spreading untill you can fixue out what you want to do with it.

the more you wait the worse it gets.
 
Just started reading about Ospho, interesting product.

Let me describe my needs better, if I am to suppress the rust and keep the car. There are a couple spots where the rust is in crevices and seams. Where I simply cannot get to with a brush-on product.

Does anyone know of any rust-converters or rust neutralizers that come in an aerosol spray can? Preferably, something that dries black. If nothing comes in a spray can, perhaps something liquid enough that it can be applied by a sprayer.

I'd prefer to stick to black because although these are not obviously visible surfaces, they are visible. If I have to do a two step approach (neutralize rust, then paint) I will.

The rust converting primer I bought is nice in the sense that I can just layer it on and it dries a semi-glossy black. The drawback is that it's too thick and must be brushed on. Hard to hit all the rust with it.

Thanks for your help.
 
i use a product called rust cap..you just spry it on rust and it smothers it..no more rust comes in different colors too..i get it at painters supply here in denver..its a great product!!
 
I have encountered two types of rust converter. Most are a thick milky white concoction.

Last time I checked, TSC (Tractor Supply Corporation) had a product that was thin like water.

Check their paint section.

If your rust is from the inside (not surface), you are doomed. You can slow it down, but it's near impossible to stop.
 
move to AZ if you want to control the rust. as I see you live in snow central and prob most of your rust comes from the salt on the roads during the winter.

move to an arid place will slow the rusting process as theres alot less humidity in the air. why peopel goes to that area to find old cars to rebuild as most of the rust is surface rust.

but in your area it will just continue to rust as all vehicles up there unless you have a saturn then most of the vehicle will never rust body panels.
 
I wouldn't waste my time and money using any of the rust prevention stuff in the stores. Been there done that! I had a 92 Cutlass

I have never used it but this POR15 stuff is SUPPOSED to work good. http://www.por15.com/
 
Fluid Film is a great product and it comes in a spray can. Only drawback is that soap will remove it. It will work better than most products for stopping the rust if it is coming from the back side of the metal.
 
Fiats rust fast. A customer of mine had his Fiat 131 in BOSTON for 17 years and drove it every day. There was very little rust on his car, in fact I thought it was good for a California car. He said he protected the car with weekly pressure washes during the winter.Sure impressed me.
 
Dudes,don't you guys have sometihing like Tuff-Kote Dinol or Ziebart Rust Prevention Dealers in the U.S.A? These places rust-proofs new and old cars. For old cars they try to eliminate as much rust as possible and spray the undercarriage,wheel arches,engine bay,rocker panels,etc with rust proofing compound and they also do Sound Clad,which is liquid sound barrier on top of the rust-proofing compound for sound deadening. As you might have guess,rust proofing older cars is much more expensive than the ones just been driven off the lot.

Search google for Tuff-Kote Dinol and Ziebart.
 
Hold the train...did someone mention Ziebart??? In 12 years time, I went from a *** on BR cleaner to shop manager, to store manager and eventually micro managing all 5 stores in the Metro Milwaukee area. All my training was done in Detroit for all products, services, and chemicals.

Ziebart uses only 3 products for rust proofing and rust prevention.

"Formula A" is a thin waxy yellow substance used in doors and it applied with long tools. It always stays waxy, never dries out.

"Formula Q" is the black undercoating. This is the same stuff they use for their sound deadener, only applied in a thicker layer.

"Rust Converter", lack of a real name, thats what it does. Neutralizes rust, turns it black, can be bought in stores, enough said.

Take it from me, once rust has begun, you will not stop it unless its COMEPLETLY removed, neutralized, and properly coated. Zeibarts “used car” rust protection is not worth a dime because they don’t tear down the car to do it. Nor do they do much prep work underneath before coating with black goo. I’ve done it, seen it, know it well.

My experienced opinion, the black undercoating is the best bang for the buck, IF DONE RIGHT and on a NEW CAR only. Applied thicker for sound deadening, is very effective. Full rust proofing just isn’t worth the money because it has to be done very precisely and accurately, and odds are you wont find a guy who cares. Rust proofing older/used cars is putting money in the toilet with a delayed flush.

“Too Slick” got it right: “Rust never sleeps”.
 
They use lots of salt up here in Canada on the roads in winter so rust is a serious problem.

The best thing I have found to treat small spots like you have, is simply with OIL. Good old 5w30 dino. I've applied this with a kleenex/rag to several small rusty edges on one of my cars since it was 5 years old. It's now 18 and it hasn't gotten any worse.

I also oil spray the underside every couple years and it stops rust completely. Some of the more wattery rustproofing like "rust check" work ok but don't last like good old oil.

Also, do not put the car in a heated garage if it gets driven in the winter. The warmer temp accelerates the rust.
 
I had a small spot on a seam on the lower rear fascia on my 91 BMW, where rust was starting to show bubbles. It was in the painted black area at the very bottom. It was very tough to access.

I utilized POR15, some toothpics, some q-tips, a small foam brush, a lot of paper towels and letex gloves... and some patience.

Cleaning was done as best as it could with a very small brass brush and toothpics to pick and prod all areas. This part of the job did scuff the surrounding areas, but it was OK, as it would be re-coated later anyway.

At that point, I more or less slathered (carefully and only in a small tight area) the area with POR15 via the small foam brush, and then also utilized toothpics dipped in the POR15 to accurately deliver a drop and remove any air from spots that seemed too deep or hard to reach.

I followed the directions, so had to do it at the right temperature, humidity, I had to let it cure, etc. In the end it dried t a very hard black coating of multiple layers.

I then used 3M Spray-on undercoating over the top. It matched well with the matte black that the fascia was painted on the bottom half.

This seems to have stopped the rust, and it is not noticable unless youre laying on the ground checking variation in the paint. It worked well.

I did a similar job (minus the undercoating) in the trunk of my 83 MB, by the trunk drain hole. that worked excellently as well.

So, sheck out POR 15. Ive had great experience with it!

There is also a product called rust bullett that is useful for all the same applications. I got some for my parents to do their wrought iron railings with, but they havent applied it yet. Rust bullet also sells a product called black shell, which protects and encapsulates the already hard-coated and bonded rust. It might be a good combination for your application.

JMH
 
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