Any help/Direction is appreciated. I have searched google, YouTube for videos and this site and could not really find an answer on how I should proceed with a rusty body panel (All info either deals with clean parts or rusty small items like steering/Chassis components): If anyone knows of a good thread I should read please feel free to point me in the correct direction. All I found was paint prep, painting ?'s and so on. Nothing really dealing with a rusty panel. I replaced my smashed up 1956 Mercury hood with this one: Some surface rust and 2 small rust holes in the front lip. Other then that it is much nicer then my old one. My plan: 1) Strip the hood (once I figure out best option) 2) Primer with epoxy primer 3) Fix dents and rust holes 4) Epoxy primer fixed areas 5) Sand epoxy primer to give the high build something to bite into 6) Highbuild primer 7) block sand 8) Paint with white My questions: 1) To strip the hood should I use paint stripper or do I just hit it with a DA until all shiney? I usually use paint stripper and then prime but never dealt with this amount of surface rust. 2) Do I need to do anything special because of the surface rust before priming? I have seen vides on water/vinegar washing it?? 3) Final paint... Any ideas if I should use a single stage or something else? Want the paint to look similar to stock so I will be getting the factory color mixed up. 4) Anyone see any issues or tweaks I should make with my plan?
If you could find a soda blasting company I think they could take the rust off. Or a redneck way would be to get an old plastic backyard swimming pool, fill it with a 8:1 ratio of molasses to water and let it soak for a couple of weeks. Molasses bath does wonders with rust...
I media blast with coal slag, also know as black beauty and use less than 90 psi when doing it. Another option is a 7 or 8" 80 grit disc on a variable speed buffer going pretty slow so you don't heat up the metal. A goo dhood is a real find so spend the time to get the rust gone before you start. You can use a da and do it, it will just take more time and sand paper. The rest of your plan is good. Good luck towards good results.
The roof on my '37 Buick looked worse than your hood. I didn't even consider blasting, especially not with black slag, way too aggressive. I suggest using a fiber disc to remove the paint. Then followed up with phosphoric acid and remove the surface rust. I used Krud Kutter brand. My roof had a lot of deep rust pits and I got all of the rust out and had clean, shiny metal in the pits.
Whatever mechanical stripping method you use, make sure to go slow enough so you're not building up too much heat = warping....
Well in that case, disregard my statement. I have never used it, I thought it would remove rust. Learn something new every day.
Just did a 55 Chevy hood that looked just like yours,but has 4 rows of louvers to work around. I ran a DA with 120 grit over it,to smooth the rust out then I used Posphoric acid sold as concrete cleaner at the hard ware store.Keep it wer for several hours,and most of the rust comes right off.What doesnt turns black so its dead.Rinse the acid off with water,and dry in the sun. Theres a rust killer primer called Rust Destroyer. Most real paint stores sell it. Comes in a white,and green/blue can with a army tank on it.This stuff has tanic acid in it that kills anything you missed.Its 37 bucks for a spray bomb,but it really works.Have used it for 30 years. Give it a day to dry then put what ever primer on top.
Put me in for the 3rd agree for the stripping wheels. Be sure to wear a face mask, and expect to get really dirty! Pay attention to where the stripped off material flies to, you may want to protect stuff from the path of material being removed, glass and finished paint can be damaged by the flying stuff.
I too am a big fan of the polycarbonate discs. Chucked in a 4" grinder your hood will be stripped in 10 minutes! I usually buy the Blackhawk 5 packs off Amazon for $40 which are enough to do a whole car. For smaller jobs like your hood, HF sells a single for $6 that's more than enough to strip your hood........ https://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-half-inch-nylon-abrasive-wheel-94017.html If it turns out you have pitted rust, sandblasting with TSC Black Diamond coal slag in those small spots will clean the pits out. Surprisingly, even this small handheld will do the job........ https://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html The rest of your plan sounds spot on. I just did my '54 hood using the same methods and it came out great!
Do any rust repair, welding and metal finishing before your epoxy primer. You can then do your body work on top of the epoxy.
Are you referring to the Tractor Supply stuff they call Black Beauty “. I think that’s what I read. I’ve a need to do a roof on an OT car that’s going to have some pitting on/in it. Thanks.
Just completed a full strip on a 56 PU. Lots of paint, primer, old bodywork and even some rust. Those eBay strip disks work really good. I scrubbed all mine with red pads and Osho to remove or convert any remaining rust. Did all rust through repairs/welding/heavy body straightening followed by a couple of heavy epoxy coats.
Just remember to read the tech sheet on the epoxy. Most epoxys doesn’t like the acid metal preps under them. I would at least wash it really well after the acid if you go that way. like others the striping wheels are awesome.
Yep, Tractor Supply Co. It's called Black Diamond blasting media (coal slag). Make sure to get the red bags. That's the fine media. The black bags are coarser stuff that'll tend to clog the nozzle (unless you have a monster compressor and blasting machine). https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-fine-blasting-abrasives?cm_vc=-10005 It wasn't that long ago this stuff was $6 per bag!
True, I failed to mention that in my post. One of the reasons I've settled on Kirker epoxy. Easy 50/50 mix and OK over acid.
I was a skeptic when I heard others on this site talk about how great citric acid works. I used it about 6 months ago on 4 sbc crankshafts that were super nasty. Soaked them for 48hrs and got 5x the price I was asking before the citric bath. I failed to take photos of the before and after shots, but this week I soaked a '64 bumper corner in a big plastic tub and did do photos. These parts were simply hosed off, NO scrubbing. As mentioned in a previous post, you may want to think about getting one of those cheap kiddy pools and do your hood in a two step process. First the front, then the top. Here's the photos:
Well that's just simply stated is an amazing transformation. Truly is. If he isn't convinced on the merits of making a hood bath over a solid afternoon and evening of noise and dust, it's probably going to take a 2x4 to knock some sense in there.
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