The biggest problem with getting advice on a forum setting is that regardless of whether someone knows anything about the paint products you are using, you'll get plenty of advise for rust conversion products without considering those paint products and cross-product compatibility. From SPI's Epoxy primer data sheet:
Precautions:
NEVER use SPI Epoxy over a Soda Blasted vehicle unless you
call us first for proper neutralizing instructions.
NEVER use SPI Epoxy over Acid Etch/Wash Primers or Rust
Converters.
Acid treatments should not be used unless you know the
proper way to neutralize them, again call us first to be safe but
we strongly recommend against them.
If not handled properly the aforementioned issues can destroy
a paint job and will result in an expensive mistake.
House of Kolor also advises against any rust conversion coating or etch primer with their epoxy.
I agree - my research confirms that
SPI and House of Kolor epoxy primers are NOT compatible with Picklex-20.
Thanks for following up on this point guys. I think the trouble we newbe's to resto and body work run into is we know the rust has to go but often don't have the equipment, the space, or the money for someone else to blast our metal clean. We read the stories of having someone else blast a panel and warping it, or maybe they used sand or soda instead of an epoxy safe media (i.e. walnut or glass etc.) and left residue in the pores or the metal which will come back and bite as much as the un-neutralized converters will and that can be as scary as the problem with converters to a novice.
So while a clean and proper blast might be best practice number one, we can't all always meet best practice protocols but we still want to approach that standard with the tools and techniques available to us.
I fall squarely in that demographic which is why I called Barry at SPI and spoke several times with him about the specific question....
What IS the recommended way to neutralize and remove a rust removal product? Barry told me the problem is only a problem if the proper neutralizing isn't done properly AND that it's still a big gamble cause you can easily miss some small spot which WILL come back and bite you. He stressed the need to be very anal about this step. The key again was to make sure I was removing the product while it is wet and 'active' and that simply hosing it off was not going to cut it.
My conversation was regarding a phosphoric acid based product, I don't know what Picklex is formulated from so I don't want to infer its the same process, simply that there are 'safe but only under stringent conditions' alternatives to those of us "less fortunate" when it comes to tools or equipment.
I see it as being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do we forgo using the best practice of epoxy primer because we couldn't afford to blast? There are plenty of primers that will work with the rust converters but they aren't epoxy.
I chose to bite the bullet and spend the extra time needed to convert and neutralize since I have way more of that than extra money. BUT, I only used it in places I couldn't easily access with the DA, Grinder or my hands.
I hope this doesn't wind up sounding like a blanket approval of rust products because it isn't intended to. It's intended to address the question of 'proper neutralizing' and maybe the reasons we choose to use what we use.
And hopefully move the discussion from whether or not they are safe (we all acknowledge they are NOT) to CAN they be safe and how do we approach that?
