I had a similar problem with the rust converter on my perfectly wire-wheeled axles, but my problem was adhesion. After speaking with a tech person for awhile he let it slip that this product should not be used on bare clean metal and that it is really formulated to work on top of adhered rust. Doesn't matter that the side of the bottle states that it can be used on bare metal!! So that is what I believe is your problem. I had to re-strip my axles and sprayed them with Eastwoods Epoxy Primer and that stuff worked great. Indestructible. I used Nason Epoxy Primer on all my sandblasted body panels and it works wonderfully as well. Epoxy is the best thing you can apply to clean metal in my opinion.