Rust Removal Techniques... How do You do it?

[Davezilla]

Ok... Here's one I think everyone has had to deal with at some point in their ownership... Rust... and I got a truck with just that... a bed Full of Rust.

I know a trick or 2 to get rid of it but I want to hear what others have done to successfully remove it...
Why? ...
Because I can
Because this will eventually help others too
Because I got a bed full of rust

Here's a few of my methods that work very well...
Sand blasting ... yeah it works, No, it's not good to do on your bodywork since it surface hardens the metal which can and will lead to cracking later on... and it's messy
Phosphoric Acid... good for light to medium surface rust, leaves a nice fresh bare metal finish
Muriatic Acid... Good for the heavier stuff, leaves the metal looking new... Must be neutralized when done, this stuff can be dangerous.
Lye... very Dangerous!!! but very effective... this stuff will eat everything but the base metal... including you if you're not careful.
Electrolisis ... Very effective but you need a tub of water big enough to fit your parts in. All you really need is a good sized battery charger, a few electrodes, and a way to fully immerse the part to be de rusted. Perfectly safe in the right hands... not so safe in the wrong hands.


Those are *some* of my ideas, but I wanna hear what others have done successfully, feel free to add comments to my ideas if you know a better way too.

[PEZi]

Only rust I've ever had to deal with is frame rust... to which I grinded away, prepped and coated.

[mattthruwalkin]

my trick is keep it dirty lol its a hunter green (primer) dull and old looking but so is the truck most of the welds are rusting out on the bed so my other trick is, since we live down a clay dirt road i keep it muddy and i swear its like WHAT RUST , also when the dirt road is dry it gets lovely wash boards in it and knocks all the mud and RUST off , then i have to find some mud again to cammo it

[Nathyne]

Haha i like that one mattthruwalkin :P

I am planning to cut and weld like crazy on my datsun, saw an episode of gearz think it was the first one where he goes into pretty good detail about it watched it on their website. Was on a horrid zebra bronco but good info all the same

[Davezilla]

my trick is keep it dirty lol its a hunter green (primer) dull and old looking but so is the truck most of the welds are rusting out on the bed so my other trick is, since we live down a clay dirt road i keep it muddy and i swear its like WHAT RUST , also when the dirt road is dry it gets lovely wash boards in it and knocks all the mud and RUST off , then i have to find some mud again to cammo it

Haha... so far I like this one the best Well that's my plan after I get this thing restored up just a bit more... but on the more serious note, I do have a spot that's rusted thru on the bed floor that I'll cut out and weld in a new patch before painting it.

[breadbox]

Yeah I don't know much of the ways of rust removal. but I have heard of people coating everything in conventional motor oil, but I'd rather just have a clean and protected vehicle to the best of my slack abilities.

I want to do a full bed off resto and full suspension lubejob, checking out of the T-case.

I plan on taking a grinder and removing all the bed sealant and care fully removing all panels and bolts and doing my best to remove the broken of bolts and replace them. keep a few examples of hardware and going to the store and get nice replacements that won't rust as bad.

Then throw some metal discs on the grinder and start removing and replacing sheet metal where needed.

I really want to eventually put multi link in, so I'd take the time to measure some things out and see how to go about that the best way, plan for fuel cell.

So I really want to know the best way to prep the chassis before everything goes back together. I don't want to mud my truck but It probably would get semi-daily use. I won't ever tow with it or carry much more than a bed full of tires or wood.

My plan according to the way I have seen 240sx folks do it would be

Sand/blast/grind frame and rusty bits and cut and weld as needed.

POR 15
Paint
clear coat
undercoat where applicable.

[CDTJ]

I have yet to try this, but I really really want to in the spring/summer. Essentially, you take raw molasses, mix it with water, let it ferment, and put your rusted parts in there. It creates a mild acid that eats the rust, but not the metal. Best of all, it's practically maintenance free! Just dump it in, mix it up every couple days, then pull it out. I read somewhere that it is good for pieces that are so old that will blast apart in a sand blaster. There is a series of videos, and a few links to people discussing their techniques and mixtures. It's very neat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZCFcxf5 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-gBAjEg ... re=related

This guy has plenty more videos, I think.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/33530.html

http://virtualindian.org/projrust.htm

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/53656 ... moval.html