1993 Cobra Registry

Hey guys. My car has the typical wear and rear a 21 year old car will have including Rustin a few areas such as the hatch under the wing. In my mind, it is minimal. But maybe some of you can chime in and share some more knowledge.

See photos below.
I am hoping to just take some sand paper, rough it up and spray and also touch up some of the areas with as close to matching paint as I can.

Will this stop it in its tracks?

And also until I paint it, as long as no new moisture is introduced, will it still spread or will it need some sort of ignition source to feed it (I.e. Rain water, etc. I do keep it in the garage now and when I do wash it, I dry it and blow out the area under the wing.

I have seen how they clear over patina to preserve the look of the rust. Does it stop it?

What are my options. I also have the rust under the drivers side door that may need more attention but same concept here can I just get what I can sanded and spray it?

I'll upload some photos here in a bit. I saved them to my phone to post and they never actually saved.

Sounds like a rust bucket!...

Kidding, yes maybe do that plus some clear. Then wet sand and buff.

Haha!

No definitely not a rust bucket. It is actually pretty clean. It wasn't garaged like it is now. The spots are not terrible but I do not want them to get them to that point. Nip it in the bud now.

I forgot to take pictures I was late running out the door for work tonight. I will try again tomorrow!

Leftyatm wrote:Haha!

No definitely not a rust bucket. It is actually pretty clean. It wasn't garaged like it is now. The spots are not terrible but I do not want them to get them to that point. Nip it in the bud now.

I forgot to take pictures I was late running out the door for work tonight. I will try again tomorrow!

Was it for sale recently? It sounds familiar?

the rust either needs to be cut out and new metal replaced or sandblasted away . also there are some chemical treatments that can be used. Is the rust starting from the inside or as the result of a scratch or other body damage?

Rust is progressive on steel based metals. You have to remove it completely or chemically convert it to a non-oxide form. Phosphoric acid based treatments replace the oxygen in iron oxide (rust) with phosphates, forming iron phosphate which does not affect nearby metal the way that iron oxide does. Best thing to do is remove it, but if you need to save the metal then use the rust converter, then sand as much off as you can, hit it with the phosphoric acid a second time, then rinse until neutral ( you can neutralize with sodium bicarbonate if you have a lot of acid). Then dry it thoroughly and paint it immediately.

Science project^^^ would this count as extra credit?

If you can keep it in a garage and keep the humidity down, it will stay pretty much static.......it's not going to spread like a bad rash. It's when it's exposed to the elements or in a high humidity climate that the stuff just continues to eat away at the metal.

Thanks guys. I sanded it down and painted it. Looks alright. Hopefully it will get me through a few more years until I can justify sinking $5k plus in a paint job. I'm hoping at that time to have the engine pulled and do a complete body and frame paint job.