removing rust and restoring donor parts

[mspice]

What are you all using to remove the rust and what techniques/products are you all using to restore the donor parts? My donor vehicle(s) must have been from up north b/c they have scary amounts of rust build up.

Wire brush ring/cup on a drill? Sandblasting? Filing/sandpaper?

Rust Converter? Rust-oleum Rust Reformer? Paints?

[mspice]

Before and after pics? I know Mechie3 posted some good ones on his build thread (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?9077-Mechie3-s-818S), but his parts started off in much better condition than mine!

[metalmaker12]

Blast , prime paint, or powder cost etc, go to my build thread I have a bunch of pics

[wallace18]

A blast cab from harbor freight worked wonders for me.

[RM1SepEx]

see my removing rust from bolts thread...

[mspice]

Basically, the first donor parts that I got are from a car that was pretty rusty. I'm not experienced with sandblasting yet, so I wanted to try to restore a few parts to see if they will work or if I need to be looking for a different donor for some parts. I guess this is a newbie request as I was hoping for some specific suggestions/brands of stuff to try for the experiment.

@RM1SepEx, thanks. I had read your thread before posting. I've done something similar on the small parts like bolts before. I'll certainly try that on all of the small stuff.

@Metalmaker12, I've certainly been following your thread too: Metalmaker12's build thread part 1 Parts you need (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?9028-Metalmaker12-s-build-thread-part-1-quot-Parts-you-need-quot). Did you blast everything? Does that require that you tear down each part to only the metal parts that are safe to do so in order to not harm the rubber boots and such? Did you do anything different for the other parts?

I'm wondering specifically about the more complicated parts, like spindles/brake assemblies, steering rack, etc. For some of the items with rubber/boots, I'm thinking that I don't want to have to tear the parts down to the point where I could sandblast them (although I've never sandblasted before so I am not sure exactly how far I have to tear them down). Erik W. Treves mentioned that he used a wire wheel to do some small spot removal and recommended "rust converter". I've since found that there are *tons* of different rust converter prodcuts that have different active ingredients. I've been watching YouTube videos of the results of various different products. Most of the info online are ads (directly from the companies trying to sell them) so I am hoping for real world experience with the techniques and products to know what to go get and try.

[Mechie3]

My car spent it's first 3 years in Syracuse, NY where we had plenty of salt and snow.

Spindles: Tear them down, press out the bearings (get new ones to replace them, a bit of $$, but worth it). I used a bench mounted wire wheel where possible. When that didn't work due to access I used a knotted wire end brush. The ends fly out as it spins. This is great for holes that are bigger than the non spinning diameter of the brush as it's self adjusting.

http://cloudfront.zorotools.com/product/full/4F710_AS01.JPG

I then used eastwoods rust converter and finished up with rattle can paint.

Smaller items were sand blasted. I would always recommend tearing things down completely. A little bit of sand in a bearing or sleeve can cause major headaches later.

[RM1SepEx]

I sand blasted almost everything and powder coated many pieces. I also use eastwood's products inc rust converter and their chassis paint where applicable.

I only replaced one wheel bearing. I made up plastic covers to sandblast the other 3 and keep any sand out of the bearings... the uprights are painted with eastwood chassis paint

[Oppenheimer]

One product I've used in the past for resto work is Por-15. If applied properly, it works very well and lasts a very long time. Its basically a paint. You can brush it on with decent results (it flows out well to hide brush strokes), and you can also spray it (a lot more work and you NEED to worry about proper face mask and ventilation.)

You can apply over very rusted parts, though its not a converter. Rather it encapsulates the rust, preventing oxygen hence further oxidation. Don't get it on your skin. It doesn't come off until your skin sheds off.

Prep is to wire off any loose, flaky rust, spray on their acid wash (household like spray bottle), rinse well (garden hose), let dry, apply paint. Any parts that will see sun need a topcoat of regular paint (Por-15 fades in sun over time). They have a satin black, gloss black, and silver. They may have more colors now, been a few years since I worked with it.

You can apply it right over rust. You only have to get the loose, flaky stuff off. If its just surface rust, you can skip brushing and go right to the acid spray/rinse step.

If you are going for a show-build, I would tear down and blast and powder coat, etc. If you are going for anything less than show quality, I think you will find Por-15 works great. It will save you a lot of tearing down and blasting/brushing.