How would you treat this surface rust?
 

Up fixin der garden tractor. This is another old ford I got from my dad. 1972 ford lgt.

My sandblaster/ compressor sucks. It doesn't have the wheaties to get all this.
After some time with strypeeze... I am here.

What do you suggest?
I've had mixed results with por-15, for me, it works well staining my hands, but the rust comes back.

When I try HCL or phosphoric treatments, I bungle the neutralization process, and the rust comes back.

I'm thinking trying some ace hardware rust converter. Cheap, easy, and gets good internet reviews in relation to Por-15.

This is versus sucking it up and buying more sand to just plug on through the sandblasting process.

edit- I'm not bashing the acids/por-15 product either, I may have been doing it wrong in the past (last time I used either one, I was a teenager).

Since I'm currently on partial sabbatical due to a certain pandemic, I don't want to pour $$$ into a garden tractor project that I don't even need. It is sentimental value only. It's easy to dump $2k into a project like this if not careful. Need to keep the expenditures on the down low. :D

Oh yeah... pics...


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I've had pretty good success using oven cleaner on parts like that. Also great for cleaning filthy dirty transmissions.

Ha! I've got some filthy dirty transmission too... I had no idea alkaline concoctions could remove rust like acids- cool.

Do you just wash it with water afterwards on the bare metal?

Personally, I'd media blast it and then shoot it with an epoxy primer, but I have that stuff on-hand

I'm also thinking I might use some spare plastic I've got laying around and make a blasting booth. I'd need something big enough to get the rear fenders into. My biggest gripe right now is that the sandblaster makes slow progress, and the media is just blowing away. I've had some luck blasting some smaller things in a trash can, but the larger pieces don't fit. Also think I need some finer grit to get into the some of the deeper pitting. current grit is not getting it.

I'm not averse to buying some epoxy primer. Arghh. Big $$$ project here I come! :D

$25 to $50 at local blasting shop then epoxy primer.

My thoughts too.

The hood on the 911 had some rust and I couldn't be bothered doing a proper job on it. I just wanted it to be legal. So I scraped the rust off with a house paint scraper, scotchbrite scrubbed it with phosphoric acid, then dumped a couple of coats of epoxy on it. Wow, best rust repair I've ever done. Years ago and no signs of rust.

Wow! That's a huge savings. Okay- let me ask this- Seems like every time I have "my guy" do this for me, it ends up costing a lot more, like $3-4 hundred at least. IIRC- they were a machine shop, and didn't do a lot of blasting, and they did some welding, but still, it seems like they don't like to blast, and were passing the hassle onto me (this being a previous similar tractor as well as some other odd projects.)

You've probably got much more experience with this- would you have any ballpark what something like this should go for- blasting hood/rear fender/mower deck/rims? Just the bare parts, I'd do all the disassembly etc...

I've always thought that I was paying a "reasonable" fee, but I've never shopped around. Pretty rural out here. I'm thinking with the extra stuff, deck, wheels, etc, I'd be right back at what I paid the first time.

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Same here.
I've always experienced same-day phosphoric flash rust treatment after following directions sourced from a good paint shop.
Frustrating. Probably user error. It said to clean with water after application.
Local bad weather and having to leave bare metal exposed for days ruins any work done.

Here is one direct metal treatment found on the 'net:
https://www.bing.com/search?form=MOZTSB&pc=MOZI&q=hydrate+80+rust+kille r

After painting and touchup:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=acf50+vs+corrosionx&qs=AS&pq=acf50+vs+c&s c=1-10&cvid=E7508A740CEF4B5E8BEB88E1B49E2180&FORM=QBRE &sp=1 ACF-50
https://www.bing.com/search?form=MOZCON&pc=MOZI&q=Collenite+Insulator+W ax Collenite Insulator Wax
https://www.bing.com/search?form=MOZCON&pc=MOZI&q=LPS3 LPS3

The option of spray can seems like an easier option for the layman and small jobs.

Find an industrial powder coating facility.

My place in rural Ohio is about $80 per hour but they have a flame-thrower sized blaster.

My guess is $200 for the lot BUT then they like you to powder coat in conjunction with the blasting.

Buy some Evapo-Rust. It comes in 1 gal. plastic containers. I keep some on hand to derust/neutralize things pretty often. You can submerge an item, let it set, check on it once in a while, and pull it out when it's good enough. Not caustic, biodegradable, effective, & not too expensive. When I want to do something flat, I put cloth rags or paper shop towels on it, soak it (apply more to keep it wet) with the Evapo-Rust, and check it once in a while for progress. When done, remove from soaking or remove the rags/towels and flush with water, dry it off and primer/paint/POR-15 - whatever you want. It does a good job on fairly heavy runt too. I have two gallons now. Got them from either H.F. or off of Amazon.

This guy uses muriatic acid. It's a little scary but sure looks effective. He talks about the neutralization process.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EY7_7uey1ac" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Is baking soda actually conducive to rust?

Acid will eat the rust but it will also eat the metal a little bit.
UCSB Science Line
"However, the acid will also oxidize the metal further, forming more rust,"

He brushes on the acid. Shouldn't he spray any potential treatment instead?
The brush only fixes what it touches.

okay- I'm over at my wife's house (it's complicated :rolleyes:) and only have the hood. She had some oven cleaner- so I sprayed that on for tonight. I have never heard of using a base to remove rust. So let's try! This will give me time to go over all the links suggested here.

Tell you what, it hasn't had time to remove any rust, so I will report back tomorrow, but the oven cleaner really cleans up dirt fast, and gives the hood a nice clean oveny feel! Just look at that bacony grease coming off! :D

Will report back tomorrow.

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I'm gonna sell my water blaster attachment for my pressure washer! You just need a pressure washer that'll do 4gpm flow. Then you need some media and some rust inhibitor to rinse the piece with when you're done.

Surface rust? What’s surface rust?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1586907801.jpg

I've got a huge blast cabinet myself but have had an entire 911 body blasted and a pair of doors and then random sheetmetal. Place in NH. Female owned blaster. 911 was $500, doors were $100 for the pair. Maybe she was sweet on me. Don't know but pricing seemed right too. She wears a complete deep sea diver outfit with air and blasts away in a room. Doors probably took her 10 minutes if that. 911 body, an hour. So she's making good money.

I got wood dood.

Stop.

I had rusted steel wheels for my winter tires. I used a wire wheel and sanded everywhere else.
I tried POR-15 for the first time. I used their metal prep before applying POR-15. After it dried I painted over the POR-15 with Rustoleum. So far so good, it held up this past winter.

DP 90 epoxy primer on my old Diamond T truck for probably 8 years now and no one rust spot. Straight over bead blasted steel.

That's interesting John.

I didn't know what to buy, so I just chose one randomly I guess. I got PPG PolyEtch https://panelstore.co.nz/products/ppg-polyetch-base-primer-kit-yellow-1-litre which has worked out well.

I guess the secret to epoxies success is they are not porous so no oxygen or moisture can touch the metal.

This stuff kicks ass, check out the youtubes, buy it at Home Depot.

Thanks for all the replies everyone-

As an update, I got fine grain blasting coal which works MUCH better than the medium grit (I was using). After reading some more, I wanted to see how that worked before deciding what to do in terms of acid/rust remover/rust converter, etc...

Then, as always:

The rabbit hole thing happened, I pulled the dash, pulled the steering column, now rebuilding steering assembly, which got me thinking, I got TWO of these tractors off my dad's property, and both have sentimental value and both have rotten to high hell from neglect.

I'm thinking I could combine the two tractors into one, taking the best from each. It would have a solid 12 hp engine to start, but (if) I ever get around to it, I could rebuild his 16 hp engine which is due for a rebuild.

These things have no real $$$ value, perhaps $600 restored, and at my mountain house, there are borderline "not enough tractor" for the 5 acres. Particularly the 12 hp- it gets overwhelmed on the 5 acres. So this might be the best way to handle the balance between preserving my dad's stuff vs. throwing it all out.

He would approve the joining of the tractors.

Heres we's goes.....:D

For an idea of how bad this stuff had gotten- Here's the gas tank once I cut the bottom out...There is no easy replacement from amazon...:rolleyes:http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1586974092.JPG

And here was a spring dusting of snow on the mountain this morning. Brilliant!

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Thanks to covid-19 you have the time. AND it will bring a smile to your face every time you see tractor.

I've had good luck with evaporust, but it wouldn't be practical for something this size.

I was wondering why no one suggested a $5 bottle of naval jelly or Permatex rust treatment. Turns rust black.

Because those products are useless. You're not removing the rust, you're just creating a black passivation layer.

It's a $200 tractor that he has no use for. He's just fixing it up to pass the time. Blasting it is overkill.

I spray the receiver for our hitch every couple years with the Duplicolor converter stuff and hit it with Plastidip. Works well enough for 10 minutes work.

(except to that buyer depending on crop harvest 50 years later)

But if I mow the lawn with it, will I kill the resale value for the potential next owner?:D

Talk about a complete time kill- LOL- Huge rabbit hole. Benefits? Hmmm.... spending time outside wrenching on some nostalgia from my childhood. The spring breeze is incredible. It's just good to be outside. My wife likes her jigsaw puzzles. I like to shoot carburetor cleaner at stuff.

In my profession, I have to be very precise 24/7. It's nice to do something where it doesn't have to be perfect. Very relaxing.

It's also cool seeing my dad's handiwork over the years. I can tell exactly which bolts he used the anti-seize on, and even where he used some sort of copper spray. My dad taught me how to spread bondo on this thing. He showed me how to use a spray gun on this thing.

Sugarwood- $200 bucks for the tractor? Ha! That's way too much! You are shooting too high!

I don't remember if I shared this, but I was able to snag a 3-point hitch hookup from my dad's house for this. What will I do with a cat-o 3-point?

Nothing! - It's just looks cool! ;)


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Wow! That looks like so much fun!

I think it's a great project, please post a video when running and cleaned up

Very Cool I agree.

What in the heck took a big bite out of that rear tire Leaky?

^Thanks everyone- I did. I sawzalled it today to look inside.
My dad filled the tires up with antifreeze in 1980 to give some extra weight to the rear. The antifreeze stayed in for 30 years, until the tires dry rotted and burst. (around 2010)- These are wide rims in garden tractor world- like 15x11 Fuchs rims, and I wanted to make sure they hadn't rusted too bad on the inside. Surprisingly- things looked good.

Which is good, because they will help with "the perfect stance" when things are done!

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I'm going for the 'ever so subjective' rauh welt tractor look....

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Update-
Spent much time contemplating rust products.
In the end, went with (drumroll)........................................ ..............

A second air compressor off craigslist (found a WELL cared for unit close by). This upped my CFM to 12, enough to get by.

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And me revisiting a maligned HF sandblaster I had hiding in the garage. I couldn't even give away on CL. Red POS you are.

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There was simply too much rust to handle with magical potions.

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In the end, with some fiddling, I was able to turn the POS HF sandlbaster into an effective beast, all for less than the $ of having someone blast it for me.

I am now a jedi of sandblasting. I can make a HF unit work. No fear of the dark side here. The youtube videos on this unit are so bad, even by the company rep, I'm thinking of making my own. I Certainly have the time.
Slowly plodding along...

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Took the fender off to see if there was any dirt behind it, cut a hole in the tire to check inside, you really do have too much time on your hands :)

Nice SmileWavy

Make the video.
Time to give back