Learn me: Rust repair (or are rust converters worth it?)

The Triumph has some rust, and aside from the two points I'm going to patch (hole in the floorboard and spare tire well) the rust is all surface rust. Solid panels with a nice scaly coating, if you will, but they easily pass the screwdriver test (take a screwdriver and poke it as hard as you can) and most of them are in places where water isn't trapped, but rather flows over a point subject to paint wear. The best example I have of what I'm talking about is a half-dollar sized spot on the front passenger door, right where the vent window channel meets the main window and the water runs down; the door skin is fine (drain holes, etc. all good and passes the "screwdriver test") but has a big ugly spot of surface rust that needs to be dealt with.

So, I'm conflicted. Patch and body panels are virtual unobtanium (I feel safe saying I probably own the only surviving unrestored example in the South) so my dad's old-skool, do it right, "car show" approach of replacing what you can't sandblast to bare metal won't work, and media blasting some of these spots would create days of work to remove what is essentially a playing card-sized patch of surface rust on an otherwise cherry panel.

Has anyone had good luck with rust converters and rust encapsulating primer? I've been eyeballing the Eatswood stuff, as wire-brushing the rust spots then painting them with converter won't require me to strip the damn car to a shell and take it off the road. If it's safe to use and durable, I'd much rather use the chemicals than mechanically removing rust with media blasting, grinding, sanding, etc.

My 280z was like that and I just sanded it down and put a coat of Rustoleum over the whole car to prohibit the rust "growth"

Whatever you do, keep it dry, dry, dry..... Nothing sucks worse then fixing rust and then see it comeback in the exact same spot.

The rust converters work well if you clean all the loose scale etc. BUT, they are only the first step and will not hold up if not primed and painted. I have treated difficult spots on a restoration project and had it hold up for years.

Don49 wrote: The rust converters work well if you clean all the loose scale etc. BUT, they are only the first step and will not hold up if not primed and painted. I have treated difficult spots on a restoration project and had it hold up for years.

That's what I was hoping to hear. Any specific brand recommendations?

We've used POR15 products with good results. The real trick is to follow the steps to-the-letter. Try to speed up the process or take short cuts and it won't work. One problem I have with both Eastwood and POR15 is they make their products sound simple: "paint over rust with this and you'll never see it again!", but in reality none are a one-step process. There's the cleaning process and the treating process that must happen first to get the best results.

When done right, the results can be nice. We pulled the B20 out of our nice 1800ES during a trans swap and the g/f did the full POR15 treatment to it while on an engine stand in her sunroom. Marine Clean, followed by Metal Ready, then POR15 encapsulator and finished with POR15's Ford Engine Red. Over 5 years later, the engine paint still looks "wet" and is hard as a rock. It's easier to clean as well, since it's so glossy.