I've got a few spots of surface rust on the door sills, a few wear spots on other surfaces, edges of panels, etc, on my 100 series LX. I have no interest in a color matched repair at this time, but do want to stem the tide. We don't use salt here, but we have enough moisture in the air that I do want to stay on top of it.
What's your favorite method of effective rust stoppage?
I had good luck with Fluid Film, both as a preventative measure and to try and slow existing rust spots down.
As far as actual "permanent" coatings maybe POR15 but I don't believe it's UV resistant. Maybe Rust Bullet?
How aggressive are you looking to get?
For repairing, remember that any rust left on a surface will progress like a cancer so all of it must be removed. Since it's oxidizing metal, you're "real goal" is basically to make a surface material stick to the metal so well that atmospheric oxygen can't penetrate to the steel, which is part of the reason why automotive paints now have so many layers including their clearcoats. Alone for this i'd say to take a day and do a solid derusting/painting/clearcoating to make a new, harder surface with multipule layers of each.
Fluid film is always a good option since it clings to the surface, just remember to reapply it every 6 months.
Finally as a nuclear option for frames- From a youtuber, "The Driveway Engineer"- nab a wax toilet ring from your local hardware store, some used motor oil, and either kerosene or some diesel fuel in a 1:1 mix of liquids. Heat it slowly until liquid, then spray or coat the part you never want to rust again. It's purpose works like cosmoline for guns, since the only way you can firmly prevent rust is through oxygen displacement and paraffin waxes absorb and yield to shock, meaning they don't crack when struck by rocks and such. I haven't personally done it, but a few here have and swear by it.
I typically will pour a small amount of fuel into a glass bottle, then take a towel and slide it into the bottles opening.
Once you light the towel on fire, just simply throw the bottle at the rusty spots hard enough it brakes and buy another truck.
I use Woolwax, which is similar to fluid film and comes in either straw color or black depending on your preference.
enginenerd said:As far as actual "permanent" coatings maybe POR15 but I don't believe it's UV resistant. Maybe Rust Bullet?
POR15's Top Coat paint is pretty UV resistant. I've used the spray can to cover POR15 rust coating and to spruce up exterior trim, it's still pretty glossy even after a couple years in the sun.
Fluidfilm, Woolwax, and the aforementioned "wax ring thing" are all basically the same idea...
1) Part solvent to remove any existing oxidizer on the surface
2) Part oil which forms a far less permeable barrier to oxidation than nothing
3) Part wax which forms an even less permeable barrier to oxidation than oil
But all of these don't really "dry" and they don't stay in place where there is high amounts of traffic (like on door sills where the door is constantly opened and closed). They also attract a lot of dirt overall.
If you want to stop the rust, you need to sand it to clean metal, prime it, and paint it with something. Even if something is just a few coats of primer.
I covered all of the bare metal on my 914 with clear coat. No flash rust.
Also a couple of articles on this recently:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/best-ways-tackle-rust/
I recommend going down to your local docks and seeing what the marine industry uses. They have the worst rust situations and have some pretty amazing coatings.
I used this on the frame of our 53 Jaguar to clean up surface rust and was very impressed
Clean up all the exhaust hangers etc. didn't seem to effect paint or anything else.
I've tried several, Woolwax is my current favorite even if their applicator wand thing for going inside rockers and such sucks. It's a good thick coating that seems to hold up well over time. Others I've used seem to be a lot thinner with pretty limited film thickness, especially when it's on vertical surfaces. The Woolwax is gooy stuff. Downside is dust and grit stick to it, and it does make things kind of messy when you're working on parts of the car that you've treated.
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