help with rust

i'm looking for help,i have rust on a 60 year old truck cab what is the correct way to prep this for body work and paint,i don't want to sand blast,cab has some original paint on it,and also some pitting has started,but metal is very solid,are there any chemicals,or just good old elbow grease? thanks

 

Not quite sure of your direction...you mean you want to get rid of the rust, right? Permanently? How bad is it? Or are you talking about fixing some really corroded and pitted stuff, by sanding the top and trying to stop it without cutting it out?

Here is the standard procedure I use to get rid of rusted out sections of steel:

Using a cut off wheel, cut out at least 1/2 inch all around the offending metal and remove. Make a pattern using something like manilla file folder material (use dirty finger method to transfer the edges of the steel to the folder paper), cut the folder on your "lines", transfer the cut-out folder to a piece of sheet metal of equal thickness as your body, cut it out, grind & fit it 'til it fits flush in the hole, then spot weld with a mig welder all around. Seal it, fill with filler, sand, prime, and paint. Ask 100 different people how they do it, and you'll get 100 different answers...

The search function using "patch panel" as keywords brings up a ton of stuff.

 

The correct way would be sandblast and then prime the SAME day with epoxy primer......

Or.... Some of the oldtime antique restorers back in the 1950s would grind off what you can, then wire brush as best you can, then ENAMEL oil-based primer!!! (like rustoleum or ex-o-rust) ...but a "thin" spray job diluted with mineral spirits. Let it dry a week or two, then use old fashioned laquer based highbuild pimer over that. The oldsters claimed the oil & slow drying would somehow seal the rust you can't wire brush out. Also, a stiff wire brush in a reversible drill seems to clean better if you reverse the direction occasionally while working on deep pits.

So, I tried it on a 57 car that sits outside all year plus gets driven year round in salt, etc. I can't believe it has NOT blistered! ... Even down on the door sills where it stays damp & wet. It has NOT lifted in 3 years now. It has acrylic enamel PPG with hardener for a finish coat. I sure would not try this on a show car or something that will have expensive paint. Just for driver quality.

I didn't even have a problem with using the laquer based primer over the oil based primer! I guess because the oil primer was a thin coat just to seal the rust. Go figure

 

The metal etching treatments may neutralize the rust. I found that if I didn't grit-blast the rust pits, they came back after a season or two. Certainly the type of sealant used would effect the outcome.

 

I found some good abrasive grinder wheels ar Harbor Freight, surprisingly. Easy to use taks down rust and heavy old paint to bare metal. Just have to be carefull not to get crazy on pressure and staying in one spot. May not be right way but worked rather well for me.