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Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:55 pm

I'm in the process of rewiring my bug and noticed a moderate amount of rust on the heaterchannel; right where the wires go through it on their way up to the trunk. It's all surface rust from what I can tell, but I'm curious what your thoughts on stopping it are? Sand it some and shoot a rust inhibiting primer over it?

Also, I have all the carpet out and want to clean the inside up as much as possible. Should I pull the front insulation up and primer/paint all that? There's some fiberglass matting on the rear portion of the pan, should I pull that up to? Just don't want this thing rusting out, and since I'm in there.

Thanks!!

Tue Jul 11, 2006 4:10 pm

Mar-hyde makes a product that you spray on metal with light rust. It converts the rust to a black primer. I have had great luck with it, in situations where I dont want to remove the rust and use POR-15.

Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:09 am

Most of the rust converters are not sealers and must be painted over. Make sure you buy one that is a sealer.

Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:43 am

Campy wrote: Most of the rust converters are not sealers and must be painted over. Make sure you buy one that is a sealer.

Can I just paint over it? The one that seals is $30, so I bought the one that just converts. I also bought some anti-rust primer as well as some anti-rust enamel, both in Plasticote. That work ok?

I believe the convertor I bought was buy SEMS if I remember correctly.

Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:21 am

You have to spray paint over the regular rust converters, such as RustMort.
My favorite rattle can paint is Plasti-kote's 500 degree engine paint. I have a spray can of "HIGH BUILD ZINC WELD-THRU" primer/coating cold galvinizing compound. It has a lot of zinc in it and prevents corrossion. I haven't used any of it yet, though.
I remember the $30 sealer/converter. I stopped using it years ago because of the price. I had the same problem with 3Ms weldable primer. When the price went up to about $30 per aerosol can, I started buying the much cheaper SEM weldable primer, which I don't like as much.

Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:26 am

Basically for surface rust i use Rust Mort to start, i let it do its thing for a couple of days till it dries out then if i have a hard time getting to the area i spray it down with a heavy coat of Rustoleum black....if i can get to it ok i will put POR-15 over the top of it to finish it off.

No matter what products you use... try to convert the rust FIRST to stop the spread of it..............that is the main objective.

Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:49 pm

Matt K. wrote: Basically for surface rust i use Rust Mort to start, i let it do its thing for a couple of days till it dries out then if i have a hard time getting to the area i spray it down with a heavy coat of Rustoleum black....if i can get to it ok i will put POR-15 over the top of it to finish it off.

No matter what products you use... try to convert the rust FIRST to stop the spread of it..............that is the main objective.

I just peeled up the rear matting and found some decent rust. Hoping I don't have to replace any panels. What's the best way to apply the Mort Rust convertor?

Also, when I'm all done and I paint up the floor and what not, but type of matting should I lay back down? Dynomat or something similar?

Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:38 pm

jamgood96 wrote: Matt K. wrote: Basically for surface rust i use Rust Mort to start, i let it do its thing for a couple of days till it dries out then if i have a hard time getting to the area i spray it down with a heavy coat of Rustoleum black....if i can get to it ok i will put POR-15 over the top of it to finish it off.

No matter what products you use... try to convert the rust FIRST to stop the spread of it..............that is the main objective.

I just peeled up the rear matting and found some decent rust. Hoping I don't have to replace any panels. What's the best way to apply the Mort Rust convertor?

Also, when I'm all done and I paint up the floor and what not, but type of matting should I lay back down? Dynomat or something similar?

If the rust has not gone completely through the metal i try to get as much of the top layer as i can with a wire brush or wire wheel on a drill, then i put the Rust Mort directly on the rust by either pouring a little on or using a spray bottle for hard to reach places. If i pour a little on i use a paint brush to make sure that the rust is completely covered and soak up the excess with a paper towel........you just need to get it covered. Let the Rust Mort do its thing for a couple of days till it dries out, then youre good to go.

Once you get the floor painted up there are a number of companys that sell replacement tar board for the floor i would use that over Dynamat.......the tar board will not soak up water like a sponge and trap moisture between it and the pan.

Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:50 pm

Matt K. wrote:
If the rust has not gone completely through the metal i try to get as much of the top layer as i can with a wire brush or wire wheel on a drill, then i put the Rust Mort directly on the rust by either pouring a little on or using a spray bottle for hard to reach places. If i pour a little on i use a paint brush to make sure that the rust is completely covered and soak up the excess with a paper towel........you just need to get it covered. Let the Rust Mort do its thing for a couple of days till it dries out, then youre good to go.

Once you get the floor painted up there are a number of companys that sell replacement tar board for the floor i would use that over Dynamat.......the tar board will not soak up water like a sponge and trap moisture between it and the pan.

Well I scraped out all the tar board. The PO looks like the did a patch job on the rust with fiberglass. Here's some pics. Any suggestions? I "think" the driverside floorboard may be ok. The passengerside probably needs to be replaced though, huh? Thanks! BTW - Know where to get the tarboard at?

http://people.delphiforums.com/jamgood96/beetle/DSC00497.JPG
http://people.delphiforums.com/jamgood96/beetle/DSC00499.JPG
http://people.delphiforums.com/jamgood96/beetle/DSC00500.JPG
http://people.delphiforums.com/jamgood96/beetle/DSC00501.JPG
http://people.delphiforums.com/jamgood96/beetle/DSC00502.JPG

Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:29 pm

Make sure that you use the screwdriver test on any sheet metal that looks corroded to see if it can be saved. A twisted wire wheel on an angle grinder will clean up the metal, then you can what areas are left where you will have to use a rust converter. Remember that the rust converter has to go on over rust in order to convert it to an iron oxide and not on non-rusted metal. Don't put it on thick and wipe it with a wet rag after it dries. Pay special attention to any areas where sheet metal overlaps.
Aloha. :)

Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:30 pm

Does any automotive parts retailer sell the anti-rust preparations mentioned in this forum? Or, can anyone suggest where I can get these products? My car doesn't really have any rust, but I can see a faint orange dust that seems to show up on top of the pan under the back seat area...I can wipe it off with a paper towel now, but I don't ever want any future rust issues if I can avoid it...Thanks

Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:18 pm

Go to an automotive paint store; you should be able to get some good advice there, too.