STeel protection

G

Glenn Mott

Junior Member
What is the best method of protecting the steel on a body and box that has been soda blasted. It will take some time to get the body work done. The pickup will be stored in a unheated metal building. I live in Northern Wisconsin. Also what is the best method of repairing rust on the top inside of the doors? The skin is in good shape.
 
I would neutralize the Soda from the soda blasting and get it right into Epoxy primer. Southern Polyurethane makes a good. Also have a great "Tech" line to answer questions.

Easy to grind off any epoxy to weld in panels and it will last for years inside.

John Poole
 
Vin-tin said:
Brent, i'm curious. What prep work do you do (after the acid treatment) to prepare the steel for primer?
Also, what primer do you use?
Click to expand...

After the sheetmetal has been thru the Metal Shop and is ready for the Body Shop, we wipe down the sheetmetal with Wax & Grease Remover, using a ScotchBrite pad. On certain areas we will use a 50 grit pad to 'tooth' the sheetmetal.

Then we spray epoxy only on areas that will not see any bodywork, fillers or primers. We use fillers direct to metal however we straighten most panels where the mil thickness of the filler is minute. We use a polyester high-build primer for the majority of the leveling, and follow-up with a urethane primer which is block-sanded to a minimum of 400 grit.
 
Where I live I'm 200' from a lake. If bare metal is exposed for more than 2 days it starts to rust. So on goes the Epoxy. Plus you get the advantage of corrosion protection right on the metal as most Epoxy primers have at least a 85% Zinc content in them. The other advantage is that epoxy resin and Body filler resins are compatible so you gain better adhesion to the surface from the filler. Epoxy prime first and you will increase the life of the repair by 3 fold. I have cars I painted 30 years ago that I'm just doing the blow-ins on for minor rust blisters. I call it liquid insurance or Magic glue. Of course if I was lead filling a car then that would be done before the epoxy. The crazy thing with the Auto Body trade is there many ways to get to the finished product. It's finding what works and lasts for you!!!

John Poole
 
I found that the phosphoric acid did not work well for me and prefer epoxy primer right after the blasting. But I do not have much experience having only done five vehicles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top