The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop backpriming with zero rust

I was just thinking the other night. If you paint the insides of your fenders with zero rust, would the rust then try to escape in the other direction? Would it acellerate the time it takes for the paint job to fail since that would be the direction of least resistance?

My truck has no rust. But I was just thinking about the zero rust recommendation to just paint over existing rust.

Tony M., I have lots and lots of rust. I'll give you a bunch. I won't even try to sell it to you-LOL. I have just finished painting my 45 GMC COE (on the outside) with ZR. This will be the ultimate test for it. I removed all paint and rust scale with a vibrating wire brush and got out as much "rust" as possible that way. I have been watching this poor truck turn to rust more and more every year that I work it. A fellow Stovebolter (The Hardwareguy) happened to leave a gallon of black ZR behind for me when he was here. (What a great guy!!!) I have painted the entire cab with the black ZR and by spring I'll see if it works. I can't afford to do a restore but I sure hope the ZR will stop the rust in its tracks. As far as rusting from the inside- I won't be able to stop that at this time. It seems to me that if you have painted all sides of your metal that no water and air could get to it to start rust.
The way I look at it- I got the truck for its workability and if I can STOP the rust maybe someday I or the next person to own this truck can restore it. In the mean time I am just trying to keep it half way presentable and working.
But, what do I know? I'm a bit over my depth when it comes to "body and fender" work. Best left to the Pros to answer.

Oly, Have you heard from the " Hardware Guy " ? He was going full speed for a time but I have not seen him lately...

I feel for you guys working in the rust challenged parts of the country. I am using Zero Rust liberally underneath the truck but it is a real treat to start with a truck with zero rust. You would be amazed how good a 50 year old truck can look if kept in a nice warm and dry climate.

I am thinking of spraying the outside of my 62 dumptruck with the Zero Rust. The 54 will get real paint.

53 4 me, I heard from Hardwareguy this AM, and he told me he is working in the store nearly by himself twelve hours a day, so he doesn't have much time to even go near the computer. His son seems to have started thinking with "the wrong head-LOL" and has lost interest in his Bolt. Now I know none of us would have ever done that-LOL. He'll get over it- hopefully!!
Tony M., When I go to finish painting my trucks I am thinking of using ZR all the way. This dang rust is something terrible here. They seem to have ZR in a lot of colors. If I could figure out a way, I would just dunk the whole truck in ZR.(about five times-LOL)

Just as a matter of interest I can tell you of a product that I have been using for 20 years. It is called RustCheck. They have dedicated centres to apply the stuff but it is available for self application, usually used by construction companies or farmers with heavy machinery. The centres drill holes in many areas of the vehicle to make sure of total inside coverage. They use rubber plugs to seal up the holes. I first used it in Montreal ( an area of heavy salt application in the winter). I had a 1981 Chev Malibu that I bought new in 1982. A bit of a side note on that car: That particular model was one of about 10,000 manufactured for the Iraq government. They were to be gifts for returning soldiers of the Iran/Iraq war or for families of soldiers who had been killed. They had quite a few special features one of which was a 3 speed manual transmission,floor shift. Lots of other things but I could list that later. The Iraquis refused to accept the cars on some pretext so they were put up for sale in Canada. I kept that car until 1988 and it had no rust on it at all! The next vehicle was a 1988 Isuzu Trooper. (A GM affiliate so guess I can mention it). At this time I was located north of Toronto in a snowbelt area where they dumped copious quatities of salt in the winter. After 3 years, other Troopers that were not RustChecked were a rusty mess. My vehicle lasted me until 1997 when I bought a Chev Silverado 4x4. The Silverado still looks mint although this area I am in now is not quite so bad for laying down the salt. My 1946 Chev is due back from the painter anytime soon and it is going to RustCheck as soon as I get it. One of the Vintage Vehicle Associations endorses this product and I'll check further into that and post it.
Anyone interested could contact Rust Check Corporation, 6175 Danville Rd. Mississauga. Ont. L5T 2H7, Canada

I should have mentioned this stuff should be applied yearly. If done by the RustCheck centre every year they warrant that there will be no rust through for the life of the vehicle.
The panel on my 46 was faded so I tried an experiment with the RustCheck. I applied about three horizontal beads across the panel and it crept into a solid covering of it. This picture shows the panel. I know it is not 'pristine' but it turned out pretty good. Much better than it was at any rate and the painter thought it was good enough to leave like that as that orignal panel paint seems fussy to do.

http:/www.geocities.com/jarge46/panel.jpg

Tony:
Can't go without commenting on your concerns about rust "movement". The ONLY way rust can occur, is if oxygen comes in contact with steel. It won't migrate from one surface to another unless there was a crack or fault in the metal that permitted the chemical reaction that rust truly is.
What we mean when recommending ZR can be applied over rust, is AFTER the loose and/or powdery rust has been dealt with. To do otherwise is to invite the entrapment of oxygen within the "rust" structure, thus wiping out your investment, time, & energy. We all know that a white metal blast is without question the best prep, but it ain't always practical or possible, thus the stated recommendation.
HTH
WK Irish