I was recently given a small trailer that had a past life in northern Illinois and was used in the winter. It is structurally solid but has surface rust over a large part. I was wanting to try and treat this and wanted to see what the best options would be. I have two ideas but others here might have something better.
Pressure wash the thing to blow off all dirt and rust, then treat with a cold galvanizing compound. That would be the last step.
Pressure wash and treat with a rusty metal primer, then apply a top coat of tractor paint.
This thing is going to be for mowers, kayaks, and firewood so cosmetic appearance is not a focus. Any other ideas on how to best proceed with the max bang for the buck?
Iâd go for #2. The rust converter will work on any rust, but if itâs loose, the loose converted particles will just flake off. You should wire brush the entire trailer. This would likely be quickest with a power tool, like a drill motor with a wire brush attachment. Get all the remaining loose stuff off with a power washer. Apply the rust conversion primer per the manufacturerâs instructions.
If you are willing to spend a little money to save cleaning time, you could get the trailer blasted and then paint it. Blasting should be quick enough that you could get the trailer cleaned and primed in one day. They could even blast off the loose rust at your place.
I think just blowing it off would leave a lot lose particles on the trailer. Blow off a section then wipe it off. Whatever you wipe it with will turn red, indicating that there is still loose material on the surface.
I donât even want to think about it. Tester is right. It has to be removed. Sand blasting would be best then a two part epoxy primer. Iâve still git pour 15 on the shelf. It is like a ceramic coating but th3 rust still grows underneath. As far as conversions, rust mort seemed to work best. Made by Sem. DuPont had an acid product (forget the name) that would eat the rust out of pits. Nothing easy so just plan on repainting with rustoleum from tim3 to time. Itâs not a very good paint.
Iâll second the POR15 recommendation except you do not need to top coat it with regular paint. The formulation was changed some time back to allow it to be the top coat.
Remove loose flakes and just paint it directly onto the rust. It prefers rust over shiny metal.
Like anything, they have to recommend all those steps be done so that they are covered under all circumstances. I have never used metal ready etching unless I ground down to shiny metal. A rusty frame without grease doesnât need cleaner either. Iâve done dozens of restorations or preservations using POR15 and just removing flakes and slapping on the POR15. I havenât top coated it since maybe 30 years ago now when I did my first two restorations. Unless itâs exposed to UV and youâre really concerned about the appearance over time, it doesnât need a topcoat. It just turns a lighter shade, kinda chalky looking after a long time exposed to sunlight. I use the silver when Iâm doing a simple preservation of something like a trailer frame. That seems to be a lot less noticeable than the blackâŠ
I am also seeing that spraying and scrubbing with white vinegar does a great job of removing very light rust according to the forums. I might do that on some very lightly rusted patio furniture I plan to paint and see how it goes.
I am going to look at POR15. Going to hit the parts store today for some oil and see if they have it.
In the words of Neil Young, âRust never sleepsâ so anything you do short of cutting off and replacing with galvanized metal will only be a temporary solution.
Since youâre looking for âquick and dirtyâ any of the proposed solutions will work for a year or so or until you sell it but donât build your hopes up.
If youâre referring to POR15, itâs widely available now. Around here, you can walk into Autozone or similar parts stores and buy a small kit or individual cans. They stock it.
My suggestion if youâre just trying it out- buy smaller cans. Itâs difficult to preserve it once opened. Most certainly use wax paper or cling plastic (saran wrap) between the can and lid or youâll never get the lid back off
You can tell the stuff that really works when it goes from a small enthusiast group using it to readily available in most stores. BâLaster PB was like that and POR15 has followed suit.
I still recall my first big project, an older vette I was trying to restify. The frame was pretty rusty and it had some bigger holes in the frame, where they typically rust out. Looking for replacement sections was difficult and anyone who had them were asking ridiculous money. I found some guy claiming to have some for reasonable money. Went there and he had to recall where they were- in an overgrown field. When we finally found them under seasons of dead grass, they were worse than what I had to deal with. So I just fixed mine by cutting out the bad sections and welding in replacement steel.
Then I threw the frame out in the back yard for a month. Friends would ask why I had it out there- Iâm getting it ready for paint! When it had a nice solid flash coating of rust over the new sections, it was ready. Wire brushed the loose rust and painted it with POR15. That was more than 25 years ago now and I still have that car. The frame looks like the day I did it with the exception of a coating of dust
I might have another project for a small can as well. It is interesting that some rust is basically a good thing when applying this. I guess it needs a little rust so that it can bond.
I see two different formulas, if not more. One appears to be a two part mix while the other is a one part. Any reason to use one over the other? This stuff is kinda spendy so out on the patio furniture. That furniture is nothing special and could be replaced for probably the same price as what it would cost to treat it with POR-15. I have treated stuff like this with Rust Oleum rusty metal primer and a topcoat of whatever color I want with decent results. It will last several years before needing a good touching up so not too concerned. By then I may be ready to ditch the furniture anyway. For a car or trailer, I want something else better though.
You gotta love when people try selling used junk like those frames for top dollar. I guess the only value in buying a badly rusted frame is that you could leave the other on the car while mending that one, but only if you donât spend a fortune for the rusty one. It sounds like the product really works. Does it go inside the frame was well to prevent rusting from the inside out? I see they sell stuff for that.
I had the same thing once with some used chimney flue pipe I was looking to buy. This stuff wasnât cheap back when I needed it and am sure it is worse now. Anyway, I thought I found a decent price on some used sections. The guy said they were in great shape so I drove a considerable distance to buy them. When I showed up they were worse than what I needed to replace. I think he thought I was trying to get him down on the price so I finally told him I didnât even want them. They internal walls were cracked in places and the outsides had obviously been handled quite rough. Some sections looked like they had been run over by a truck! Anyway, he asked what I was willing to pay and I told him nothing. I told him I might keep one section that didnât look too bad but the rest would go straight to scrap if he gave them to me. I ended up buying new at the high price as I wasnât going to risk a fire.
The zinc phosphate in the prep or paint reacts with the iron in the rust or steel to form an iron phosphate that precipitates out of solution and bonds to the substrate. The surface prep solution does a better job of cleaning the surface. If a rough surface doesnât bother you, skipping the surface prep is probably OK.
Hereâs some other rust conversion coatings you might look at.
Yes. It actually makes a big difference. They call it âtoothâ, something for it to grab onto.
As you discovered, the paint products are one part. Itâs been a while but they used to have two different paint formulas. The black was thinner and sprayable if diluted a bit more. The silver was thicker and provided more filling capability for pock marked surfaces.
A quart of the black will go a long way. If you brush it on, it will go farthest. Rolling still decent but not as efficient. You lose a lot in the roller. If youâre unsure you have enough, just stop at a natural break in the workpiece. Once dried, it doesnât like to stick to itself unless you rough it up and thatâs not easy.
Take the precaution about protective gloves and clothing seriously. If it dries on your skin, you have to shed the skin to get rid of it. Takes a week or so.
Thatâs whatâs frustrating. Hard to tell if the person is delusional or just thinks youâll cave after investing in the drive. But that kind of deception earns a hard NO from me.
Buy smaller cans unless you will use it all at once. Agree youâll never get it open again if you donât use wax paper on the cover but it will dry solid regardless. Hope you have better luck but it didnât work well on pinch welds. I have used fiberglass cloth saturated with it and that works well for like floor pans.
I might have another project for a small can as well. It is interesting that some rust is basically a good thing when applying this. I guess it needs a little rust so that it can bond.
I see two different formulas, if not more. One appears to be a two part mix while the other is a one part. Any reason to use one over the other? This stuff is kinda spendy so out on the patio furniture. That furniture is nothing special and could be replaced for probably the same price as what it would cost to treat it with POR-15. I have treated stuff like this with Rust Oleum rusty metal primer and a topcoat of whatever color I want with decent results. It will last several years before needing a good touching up so not too concerned. By then I may be ready to ditch the furniture anyway. For a car or trailer, I want something else better though.
You gotta love when people try selling used junk like those frames for top dollar. I guess the only value in buying a badly rusted frame is that you could leave the other on the car while mending that one, but only if you donât spend a fortune for the rusty one. It sounds like the product really works. Does it go inside the frame was well to prevent rusting from the inside out?
I am definitely going to use the POR-15 on a couple rust spots I found on the underbody of a car. Apparently a shop the previous owner used didnât lift it properly and has caused rust at the lift points. I have another truck in the shop and will fix the rust once it is back so I can really cleanup the areas and let them dry for a couple days.
The two part epoxy paint is a top coat urethane. Itâs an industrial strength paint meant as a top coat over clean and primed metal or to top coat the POR15 rusty metal paint. It wonât adhere properly to rusty metal.
