Rust underneath

[bbeenn88]

Hi, my bus has some rust underneath the chasis. None of it seems to be bad, just surface. Im thinking I will attempt to scrape and brush off the rust and paint it to prevent any futher rusting. Any suggestions on what to use?

[bbeenn88]

I tried using wire brushes and thats working but its very slow and hard to get in the corners. Im thinking of buying or renting a sandblaster. Thoughts??

[Docsgsxr]

Blasting is a blessing and a curse. On one hand it gets all your metal down to the clean shiney, on the other you risk unearthing further rust. I would personally brush off the loose and then treat it with ospho which is a rust converter and then paint. You keep some of the original material in tact that way. And you dont have to rent a blaster, get a large enough compressor, or risk damaging other parts of your ride.

just my .02.

-Doc

[texasrednek]

I second the ospho. Just remember to wash any heavy dirt and road grim off and since you are going to be under the bus make sure at a minimum you wear goggles not safety glasses and some rubber gloves like the ones you wash dishes with.

[bbeenn88]

thanks for the input guys.

The chassis is still solid but there is some rust build up that chips off. How much of this bubbling chip off kind of rust can I spray the converter over? there is so many hard to reach places, thats why I thought of sand blasting. but maybe pressure washing would take enough off to spray the converter on?

[Tango]

If you have the room to maneuver under there, high pressure washing should blast off anything that needs to come off (loose flakes). Once thoroughly dry, a good rust converter should take care of whats left. Just check the brand you might be considering to see how it is rated. Most are rated only as "primers" in that they require a coat of paint to get the benefits. There are a couple that do not. I have tested and used a product called "Quest Restore" for well over 10 years on the rebar used on my art projects with excellent results. Tried forcing some treated rebar to rust and couldn't. Good stuff.

And, a cheap little siphon type sprayer is great for putting converter on...no needles or moving parts. I run my compressor at about 90-100psi and it blasts the converter way up into hard to reach places.

Good luck with it. Stabilizing any rust is a great place to start.

[nat_ster]

Tango's advise with the pressure washer will also have one more added bonus.

Many of the buses if you look underneath, will have a white powder forming in some spots. This is caused by two things.
Salt that has not been washed away, and the venting from a flooded acid starting battery. Both mine had this around wheel wells, and over the battery box.

The pressure washing you give it will wash this all away. Just be sure to let it dry for a day or so in the heat, before applying the rust stop spray.

For the rust stop spray, I like to use a clean new hand pump weed sprayer. They also work good for spraying degreaser, ect.

Nat

[bbeenn88]

Thanks for the help guys.