Treating Rust - What Work, What Doesn't And When Should One Even Bother

[launderess]

Thought it would be nice to have one central thread regarding the bane of any vintage applince lover's existence, rust.

Happily for us appliances made in the old days had tons of metal parts. Sadly metal is going to rust sooner or later, even under the best conditions. This is especially true of laundry and dishwasher appliances due to the fact by nature they must come into contact with water/moisture.

Reading around the Internet, there is a school of thought that trying to fix rust on certian parts, mainly those that are going to be immersed in water such as tubs, is futile, as sooner or later the stuff will come back. Once the original finish on the tub's porcelan or metal is gone, even coating or treating the rust, it still will comeback.

 

[gyrafoam]

POR-15.

 

[rollermatic]

i use rustoleum rusty metal primer

on all my dishwasher sumps and have used it on 3 of my rollermatic outer tubs so far as well. i always sand or wire brush the area to remove any loose rust then wash the area well to remove any oil or dirt or grease. then i give it at least 3 coats, waiting 2 days between coats.then i paint the area with 2 or 3 coats of rustoleum spray paint.

prob not as good as the por-15 i have heard about so many times here, will have to check it out. but the rustoleum does a nice job too and only time will tell how well those washer tubs and dishwasher sumps hold up.

 

[macboy91si]

POR-15

Keeps old rusty Chevette's alive in the salt-belt as well

-Tim

 

[sudsmaster]

On my old cars, if I'm not going to sand the rust down to bare metal, I remove the rust flakes and then treat the area to a coating of Jasco Metal Etch overnight per instructions. This converts residual rust to iron phosphate/chromate which is relatively rust-proof. Then I follow that up with a good quality anti-rust primer, like Rustoleum red (contains fish oil) or a similar product called "Rust Destroyer" (easier to apply finish coat to than the fish oil primer).

For rusted through areas I've had some success patching them (after metal etching) with JB Weld epoxy.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

The only way to stop rust is to remove it. Rustoleum and POR 15 only slow it down.

I treated some areas on my Rambler American 12 years ago with the POR 15 process. The rust is now back, those areas are letting go.

Ken D.

 

[macboy91si]

Temporary

I understand that POR-15 is "temporary", however it slows down rust very effectively. The only way to stop rust is to get rid of it, but it is amazing what a good grind/sanding and POR-15 can do, if you treat the metal before terminal rust it does an excellent job. Best of all it's simple and relatively cheap. I drive old cars, not resto quality show cars, and for this, it's an absolutely perfect product. My current ride (1984 Chevette, 90k) is in very good shape mechanically, 35mpg and fun to drive, but the body leaves a bit to be desired. The car sat and as most older GM cars tend to do, the windshield gasket leaked a bit and kept the car damp inside. What I have is a layer of rust on the floor pans, not rotten, just a little rough. A good attack with the wire-wheel and some small replacement pieces, a good coat of POR-15 afterwards and that floor is like new. Maybe 15 years down the road it may need some attention, but I don't typically keep them that long. If I intended to keep the car THAT long I'd 1st find something more rust-free to begin with and seal it up good and second I would probably not drive it in the winter as people here like salt on their roads as much as their food.

I guess this turned into more babble and rant than anything?

Oh well, POR-15, great product for rust, kind of like duct tape for metal; doesn't really FIX anything, just keeps it around longer with minimal resources.

-Tim