body on frame resto...

[Jim V.]

Last time I yanked the body...seven years and a top flight latter...I vowed to just drive em. That said, I am knee deep in a firewall and forward resto on my next 1965 project. What tips/techniques recommendations are out there for resto-ing the frame. I have everything apart...control arms etc. Time to degrease, wire wheel, rust convert, prime, and paint. Yes...I MAY have the car judged since it is an original old car. Not so well kept and original to be Bowtie...just tierd and mostly original. Yep...I endlessly read the archives.

Here is the PITA plan (so far...body off would sure make this easier...just cant control the project creep...):
1 Degrease with Simple Green/Super Clean (in my garage so cant use pressure washer).
2 Phosphoric Acid etch and derust the frame (Klean Strip..Phoso Prep $ Etch from HD)
3 Rinse & Wash frame (plus firewall and inner fenders)
4 Sand/grind (using paws, scrotch bright, and angle-grinder)....lots of cracks and crannies...(spring towers...etc)
5 Paint frame-Brush on rustoleum satin black 7777 (primer?)
6 Blackout- SEM Trim Black for firewall, inner fenders, and behind grille

BTW...Still can't find a chunky enough undercoat to match original. Tried most all of the FLAPS stuff including NAPA's asphalt based stuff.

Thanks for feeling my pain and sharing the wisdom.

[Tracy C.]

Re: body on frame resto...

Jim,

As tempting a using acid to derust is, I wouldn't use it on the frame in your situation. The problem is with the nooks and crannies you mentioned elswhere in your post. If acid gets into these and isn't removed or neutralized it will spawn a follow on outbreak of rusty metal like nothing you have ever seen.

I think your better off using POR or other rust treatment on anything remaining after you get what you can off the frame.

tc

[Dick W.]

Re: body on frame resto...

I would use the phosporic acid as an etch prior to priming/painting the frame. It gives a "tooth" for the paint to bite.

[Harmon C.]

Re: body on frame resto...

I have used a product called Rust Cure I bought at Knoxviile Expo show that works very good and needed no rinse just paint the etched surface. It is a phosporic acid product.

Lyle

[Jim V.]

Rust Cure...

I wonder if all of these etch and derust products all just generically the same phosphoric acid?... Home Depot stuff costs $12 a gallon. All the other mail in majic formulas seem to be twice that. Is the stuff you got something other than phosphoric?

Thanks

[Jim V.]

etching...

Yeah...I used the stuff on the last one. Paint seemed to hold-up nicely. I am concerned about having some unrinsed (neutralized) getting inside the frame. I am doing this in my garage, so I can make a water park out of it. Is there another way to etch without the acid? Is Simple Green and Super Clean also acidic? I know I have already got some of that inside the frame.

As usual, for every opinion there is an equal and opposite one.

Thanks

[Jim V.]

Re: body on frame resto...

Thanks Tracey. Yeah...box frames make it nearly impossible to not get whatever you are applying from leaking into the interior of the rails. I can be sure to neutralize the exterior but the interior is a crap shot. I am a little hesitant to buy into the Eastwood stuff. Isn't Eastwood stuff 99% marketing and 1% generic product? All the big name paint and chemical concerns seem to have a rust converter and or "encapsalater". Am I mistaken on this? Where are all the chemical engineers when you need one?

Thanks

[Harmon C.]

Re: Rust Cure...

It must be different as you don't rinse it off. If water hits it before you paint it it turns white. It does have phosphoric acid listed on the label.