Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

[itstippy]

I'm restoring a large tool chest and will paint it this Summer. I've taken it apart and am cleaning each drawer, the slides, etc. with Mean Green water-based degreaser. First I'll get everything clean (clean!), then work out the dents, fix loose hardware, etc. As I remove 50 years of grime from each piece I expose bare metal to the air. What should I do to keep it from oxidizing (rusting) that will be easy to remove with acetone in the Spring, when I can do my final prepping and painting? Is WD40 a good choice? I cannot use acetone, spraybomb primer, or anything else that stinks until Spring when I can work outside. The Wife is irritated enough that I take over her basement laundry room every Winter for projects like this. What do you car guys use to protect bare metal until you're ready to paint?

 

[john51277]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Ospho, It works well. I use it for parts that will sit for a few weeks/months before powdercoating. It is reasonable and works well.

I am not afilliated in any way with them.

Here is a link!

url]http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=557&familyName=Ospho+Metal+Treatment[/url]

 

[itstippy]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Excellent! Thanks. That looks like very useful stuff. Do you usually wipe it on with a rag, spray it on with a trigger bottle spritzer (like a Windex bottle), use a chip brush, or how? I guess I'm asking if I need to worry about laying it on too heavy and having it puddle in corners. There are lots of nooks & crannies in these toolbox drawers where the sheetmetal overlaps at the corners. Is it OK to just slobber that stuff on, dribble in the corners, drip and run, etc. as long as I let it get good & dry? Or do I strive for a nice, even coat? I will use fine steel wool & acetone before painting.

 

[john51277]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

I use a spray bottle with a fine mist, then wipe down with a CLEAN towel. if it has oil on it it will take alot more cleaning for the prep work. You can actually prime right over this stuff if you want to. Good luck with the project!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

No direct links please John, just put "quotes" around them...Thanks..

 

[Solittle]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

You are not limited to Ospho. It is the phosphoric acid that does the job. Naval Jelly is another brand.

If you have any really rusty areas after the Ospho, or whatever, dries give it a coat of Penatroil. It penatrates the surface and dries like a varnish. I use it for the steel/iron parts on my salt water trailer. I give the Penatroil a top coat of Rustoleum.

 

[AK_Chappy]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

I would advise looking over the MSDS on OSPHO before you use it.
You might be surprised.
We had some at work. I downloaded the MSDS and found it needed some special PPE.

AK Chappy

 

[dancudayo]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Ospho is good stuff, you can get it at many home improvement stores, but, like said you should use ppe, and it has a very strong smell, kinda like rotten eggs, your wife might not approve of it, unless you can drag the tool chest outside long enough to do it there before it dries. I'm not familiar with the penetrol, I'm going to have to look that stuff up, sounds interesting. Oh also, I wouldn't put the ospho over any body filler if your going to use that stuff, I would wait to do filler a day or two before priming. Good luck! Dan

 

[rob711]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

i did'nt get the name tut this saturday i was watching "trucks" on tnn...its basically a half hour commercial for off road truck parts with about 5 minutes of interesting info...any way the host was do some minor body repair and mentioned using a product designed just for your purpose...they sanded metal down to bare metal but were not ready to paint for a while so he sprayed this stuff on it to prevent any surface rust...again i'm sorry i don't have the name..i sure if u googled the tv show trucks u could get a link to the product..thats basically the purpose of all those shows...good luck

 

[itstippy]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Thanks for the tip about Ospho, guys! Wonderful stuff. Project Toolbox is progressing, giving me a good outlet when the Winter blues take over. Another *^&%!@ eight inches of snow came on Friday. I won't get to use my (unheated) shop until August at this rate. So I'm still making a mess of the Wife's basement laundry room. Thought I'd share some pics:

Here's the box as pictured on eBay when I bought it. It was chock full of very heavy tools, and they beat the He** out of it during shipping. So I'm learning a bit about sheetmetal work too. They bent it all over the place! Sorry I didn't take pics of that. It was heart-wrenching to see.

Here's how the box looks now. I'm cleaning, steel-wooling, acetoning, and Osphoing it. I'll finish the metalwork when it gets warmer, and learn how to use a paint spray gun. Red Rustoleum is the plan, so if I muck it up in the future I can do touchup with a simple spray bomb can:

I priced old Snapon emblems on eBay and they're way expensive. But while I was searching for them I saw a Snapon "Chevy Belaire" toolbox that looked neat-o (thousands of bucks, though). So I've bought some used 1966 Chevelle SuperSport emblems that were more reasonable and I'm gonna have an EXTREMELY limited edition "SS 396" box. I'll post pics when it's all done. Probably in August, though. I can't spray paint in 24 degree weather.

 

[Coors]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Had my hands in osph, for 30 years; still alive.

 

[itstippy]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

It's finally done and in service. I learned a lot in the process. My hat's off to you guys who can restore a car or boat to pristine condition - this box took a lot more work than I thought it would and it's far from "cherry". Solid and servicable, though, and a fun project.

 

[Pierutrus]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Nice job....

 

[Wotknot]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Now that is one RED toolbox !!!!!

Good job.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Rustproofing metal that will be painted later

Dam nice job!