How can I save Gertrude?

[man_mark_7]

Shortly after I bought Gertrude ('73 base model) I noticed a couple of paint chips on the nose where some hack bodywork had been attempted. A few days later and the old girl had another chip and cracked a smile!! I have never been one to worry about paint too much. If I can't do it myself, I tend not to do it at all. Now that a somewhat battered, but still grinning, Gerty has shown her face, I would like to find a way to preserve it.

 

I was thinking about dabbing Gerty with a spot of clear POR-15 to seal her in and keep more chips from forming. I read that POR-15 doesn't like UV light though so somehow I would need to topcoat with a clear UV protectant. Anyone have experience with this?

 

thx!

Mark

 

[TobyB]

Having been in your boat more than once,

 

I'd mechanically remove as much rust as you can physically,

then use a 'rust- stop' treatment.  Commercial

etch primer works very well, but the THIN consumer versions

do ok, too.

 

Then spray a thin rattlecan into a cup for a minute, and

use a fine brush to brush on several coats of that.

Not gorgeous, but probably the least intrusive, and 

easiest.

Pick a color you like- sometimes, contrast is beautiful!

 

POR-15 is like applying liquid rocks- when you go to

properly fix (repaint) it, it's a fiasco.

Great for crusty truck frames (maybe- I've only had it on a year)

but not so much for exposed exterior surfaces. 

 

 

Everyone's going to have an opinion, here- pick the one that fits your aesthetic

and goals best.

 

t

 

[Son of Marty]

It looks like the po bondoed over rust I'm pretty sure the smile is going to go away as the rest of the bondo chips off. The real fix is to remove all the rust you can the treat the metal with one of the rust killer products and then reprime the area with epoxy primer.

[TobyB]

SoM, I'm not seeing the bondo- pop, except maybe on the horizontal surface of the nose panel-

 

and even then, 3000 internet miles away, it just looks like the rust got under the paint.

 

I grew up with rust belt rust, and that (one, close up) picture doesn't look bad.  Looks like what we'd get

around here if we left a rock chip uncovered for a half a decade...

 

of course, recently, I seem to be buying rusty things,

and I don't know what's up with that,

except maybe extreme masochism.

 

t

ferrically

[Son of Marty]

Toby, you may be right, I saw that color around the grill and thought it was a skim coat of bondo, but enlarging the picture it's probably paint, but that doesn't look like new rust to me, I could be wrong but anything applied to a rusty surface is bound to fail, IMO anyway.

[dlmrun2002]

If you use self etch primer you can't use body filler over it. If you can't remove all the rust you can use a rust "convertor" like Picklex 20 ( NMNA) and then a good top paint like epoxy primer. I've had good luck with "Zero Rust" and "Rust Shield". POR 15 is ok, it gets real hard and can crack. If you do all that and throw some color on top you should be good for a while.

dlm ny country

[JsnPpp]

I've had excellent results with Ospho 605 (https://www.amazon.com/Ospho-605-Metal-Treatment/dp/B000C02CDG) which is likely similar to Picklex, etc. Converts iron oxide (rust) to iron phosphate (not rust). Rust turns black but its not a shell like por-15, which is "liquid rocks" for sure like Toby said. I don't like por-15 for that reason unless I just had a farm truck that I didn't care at all about or something. 

 

Basically flake off as much rust as possible (buy a rough metal brush) and then brush Ospho on a few times. If you soak it well and get to as close to pure metal as possible it works really well. Then you need to top coat it (epoxy primer, etc.) to prevent water from getting back in and starting it all up again..

 

JasonP

 

[TobyB]

Quote

If you use self etch primer you can't use body filler over it.

Absolutely- in fact, if you use self- etching primer, it's important to get a seal coat over it within a 

pretty narrow time window.  The commercial version gets dusted on, 15 minutes to flash, and an

immediate coat of epoxy to bond and seal it.

 

The over- the- home- depot- paint- counter will say on the label.  

 

t