Hi All, I have a 1950 ford shoebox I bought in March that is chopped with a 350 engine and airbag suspension along with paint. I bought this knowing I would focus on finishing up the interior and driving it to enjoy it and hoping I wouldn't have to worry about too much else for the near term. Is it critical for me to deal with any surface rust on the inside of the car before I finish up the interior? Attached are some photos. I intend to keep this car garaged always barring some major thing I have to deal with in my garage (tankless heater or plumbing replacement, etc). For a few areas outside (inner fender for example) I'm thinking with time I can spray with rustoleum rust reformer and spray in black. For the interior I'm hoping to avoid masking everything off and spraying areas inside with any surface rust since it has windows, paint, carpet, seats done. If this was my project from the get go I would have taken care of all that beforehand but now that I'm in this situation I mostly want to enjoy the car soon and retain the value (or at least price I paid for it).
I would want to get it sealed, and now's the time. There are lots of products you can brush on. Just cover the seats and carpets. For that matter, how long would it take to pull out the seats and carpets? An hour?( if the carpet is not glued down)
Unbolt/remove whatever you can, tape off the rest, and brush paint the whole inside of the car with a bucket of Rustoleum or something. Put hardener in it so it dries, and when it's dry, re-assemble. It doesn't need any fancy rust converters or to be ultra clean before paint, but it'd be a very worthwhile weekend spent getting paint to cover everything. No need to get fancy, but a good idea to get it sealed up.
I’d brush on something like POR 15 on the welded panels. You can lay some plastic sheeting over the seats and carpet. On the surfaces that will not be covered by upholstery you could brush on Rustoleum. One thing about POR15, make sure to wear gloves and an old long sleeve shirt. That stuff gets on your skin, it takes forever to wear off. Don’t ask how I know….
Rust needs TWO things to grow, water AND air. If you seal it off it will never bother you. Listen to @anthony myrick and others. Don't overthink it.
Thanks everyone, I'll go ahead and do this following advice from responses above. I realize the importance and now would be the time to do it rather than worrying later or kicking myself for not having done it when I was at a more convenient point in time.
I think the carpet is glued down, but also I notice its a little short on the passenger side (it doesn't quite meet where I would be putting the kick panels) so I may have no choice but to redo it anyways. This car has turned into so much more work than imaged but I'm really happy with how the chop looks and there's no way I could have pulled that part off myself any time soon!
POR15 will do it, buy the smallest can possible and get some cheap disposable brushes. I have had poor luck opening a re-sealed can of the stuff.
To reseal a can of Por15 cover the open can top with suran wrap (from the grocery store) and then put the metal lid back on. If you are worried about the surface rust go to the local hardware store and buy a gallon of OSPO and a few disposable brushes. Cover the areas and forget about it.
Thanks I may try that. I don't know I want to mess with taking the carpet off (but its short on one side a little so I might have to anyways). I think I'm going to do just the doors for now, throw some 1/4" luan and get some drives in this car before I apply any Por15 or OSPO to the rest of the interior.
Along with the disposable brushes you will need a disposable shirt because whatever you use will run down your arms and sleeves. Gravity does that. Wear eye protection as well.
I’d suggest thicker material than Saranwrap. Years back I bought a two or three little thing of POR-15. I did the Saran Wrap cover, tapped the lid on. Maybe 8/9 months later opened it to use and was hard as a rock. Maybe you had better results, but that was mine.
I'll have to keep this in mind. I was hoping to do segments and drive the car rather than remove or mask everything and spend a weekend (probably a week in my case) but I may go that route so I don't have to worry about any of it getting hard and unusable.
I prefer rubberized undercoating like this. Easy to touch up later. You can knock out a car like yours in a couple afternoons. You can also buy in a can and spray with a Body Schutz gun. 3M™ Rubberized Undercoating | 3M United States
I would spray with a converter first. I like this Jasco product, it can be found at the hardware store.
I pulled the carpet out of my merc. Glad I did. Very little rot but lots of surface rust. The OE vinyl mat and water soaked underpayment was still there. Ford put very little primer and paint on the floors of these cars. I’ve wire brushed the surface rust and will treat it with one if the converters and brush paint it.
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