Besides the hideously priced Dinitrol converter (£35 a can), what other aerosol rust converter/stabilisers are there? The ones I’ve seen are US market only.
Poking around in the boot, I was inspecting the hidden work behind last september’s wheel arch repair. Going to need some converter, paint and wax by the looks of it. A brush on converter won’t be able to reach the nooks and crannies created by the welds.
Nice…
?
And?
I think I would bite the bullet and use Dinitrol, should be compatible with the Dinitrol you put over it after
One possibility is aquasteel which you can put in a plastic plant / water sprayer
It is a “needs must product”.
Bilthamber claim their S50 also does a similar job of attacking rust from being spayed on to a rusty surface that you cannot “get at to sort”.
Any of the professional body shop suppliers will have a less expensive product.
On a modern car that uses thin steel as you have said yourself, once the rust gets in there it can virtualy go through the steel.
At the end of the day it is a case of deciding on the product you trust, doing the best you can and hoping it works.
Good luck, I have followed the instructions on products that did not work and have hashed some jobs that lasted many years.
The other Roadster I have was dintrol’d extensive when imported in 2002; so much so, that the doors are still a forbidden place, full of wet black stuff (fixing a broken lock spring was slimy). From 2002-2010, was hardly used, sat in a garage (not detached garage). ~100k miles on it. Currently its in getting the arches and sills chopped off due to rusting. So 16 years from import to welding, though the welder (Mike at Thrussington Garage) is reporting someone has had a go at it before, likely 2008-09.
This blue car was imported in 2000, hardly garaged, 170k miles on it; until around 2010, I was putting about 20k miles a year on this commuting. Hardly washed it. One sill repaired in 2011. Both Arches done in 2017, and a bit of welding on the door skin-frame. Never had any additional rust protection.
I will conclude that Dinitrol’s claims are overstated. Its about how you apply it, not what brand you are suckered with in the paid-for infomercials (including so-called group tests). Dinitrol treatment being compatible with Dinitrol wax is irrelevant, as I intend putting a paint layer on top, and only have wax as a secondary level of protection, not primary.
Kind of interesting to see the welds, weld rod, and scorching that went on fropm inside; how many others who have had this welding done have taken a close look. On the Battery side, I had to peel back the sound proofing back to see it. I can see pockets created of potential rust traps. The rusting you are seeing is basically the cut steel edges, and where paint was burnt off. The rusty surface steel is perfect for a tannic-acid based converter to react with. It is kind of odd for rust converters to be not included in an aerosol, commonly, in the UK. Its much easier to apply a light coating with a spray, than from a brush. Plant sprayers will just be very wasteful; the converter needs to be applied thinly, and allowed to react. It its applied too thickly, but of it does not react with the rust, and just dries as a loose gunk
One product which comes well recommended is ACF50, which claims to convert rust. A friend used it on his motorbike which is his daily ride through all weathers, and is seems to work well for him…no new surface rust, and what bits there were seem neutralised and not spread.
It looks a bit ‘naff’ but if it’s inside a box section, who cares?
Can’t give it my personal ‘seal of approval’ since i’ve only used Waxoyl and Bilt Hamber products, both of which are brushed on ‘warm’ and are more of a preventative than a ‘converter cure’.
Google it and see what you think…
Aldi
It does not claim to convert rust, but “neutralizes electrolytes” for 12 months. Doesn’t provide a paintable surface.
Turns out I wasn’t looking hard enough. Jenolite comes in an aerosol; that I am familiar with, the usual phosphoric acid concoction. But another, Rustoleum Rust Reformer, I am less familiar with; this is a spray on epoxy-tannic acid mix, with a black barium sulfate pigment.
A useful non-commercial review:
https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/wp-content/uploads/metal-paper-88.pdf
Thanks. That paper is interesting.
I remember Rustoleum from years and years ago. My Dad used it! And it stank!
However I never tried it mainly because I’d forgotten about it after failing to find it in the shops, and the original Kurust (forty+ years ago) was the one we used most of the time (and no it didn’t work for much longer than the few weeks needed to scrape through an MOT).
I guess this is the one to try. (I seem to remember its in H/Fs as well.)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rust-Oleum-Direct-Reformer-Primer-Aerosol/dp/B01D372RWK/
Homebase sells it
Jenolite is phosphoric acid at a 70-80% dilution rate.
We had our own formulae mixed up by a chemical firm in the North East at a 50% dilution rate, (higher strength)
I recall the conversation with the chap, he told me that they sell it at a 30% dilution rate to one of the big rail companies for use on rolling stock.
Comes with a trigger spray.
https://www.beal.org.uk/chemicals/polish-fillers/high-strenth-rust-treatment-500ml.html
I use Kurust all the time [Hammerite own it now I believe]
Degrease - clean - wire brush - Kurust - two coats of Red Oxide paint [essential] - underseal is my method on many cars over many years - never had a problem with it afterwards.
Current Mk1 Eunos has Kurust on all the suspension, still rust free 18 mths later [although I do go over it now and again if I see any poking through and its not used much in the winter] - leaves a brown sheen and gets into places paint wont and doesn’t mask hidden rust like paint/underseal.
Above is pennies compared to other products and can be sprayed on.