Flash rust?

[J P D]

I got all the tar off the floors of my z and the metal looks good. I used chemical paint stripper to get the glue off the trans tunnel and all the crap off the firewall along with the paint. Then I wiped it down with mineral spirits. Now it has been sitting bare for a few days. What does flash rust look like? The metal on my car doenst apper to be rusting from sitting bare like many ppl say it will. Is this something I should worry about? Im not ready to spray with primer yet, still gotta run the 220 to the garage for the compressor. Should i get a krylon primer and just spray over those bare areas as a temp solution to hold off the rust till im ready to put down the real primer? Do i need to prep the metal first? Im really kind of confused as I have searched many forums and still cant really understand what to do. Any help would be appreciated, I dont want my rust free car to start rusting because i made a stupid mistake. Thanks alot for the help!!!

[Fun_in_my_z]

My car sat with a bare querter panel outside for a week and didnt rust. All be it she is under a canopy. And it didnt rain thank God.

Bare metal will rust very quickly so i wouldnt leave it for long. But if its in a dry garage i wouldnt worry much about it.

[hls30.com]

I would wipe down any metal left bare for more than half an hour with Metal ready, Ospho, or the like just to be sure the pores of the metal are empty-hat to have a vein of rust come up moths after a paintjob!

Will

[xray]

Agree with Will. Once you start the job and get down to metal, you shouldn't stop there. Flash rust occurs inside or out, rain or shine, mainly from inherent humidity in the ambient air. Faster (obviously) when raining, but it will still happen. DON'T smear a coat of oil on it unless you plan on thoroughly scrubbing it prior to priming/painting.

When I removed undercoating from the floors and fenderwells, I noticed that it appears Nissan may have primed prior to undercoating. After using heat gun, scraper, mineral spriits, etc. I was not yet down to bare metal. For fun, I took out my grinder and ground off what ended up being primer! Quickly did the Marine Clean, Metal Ready thing, then slapped some POR-15 on for good measure (that company's got me hook, line and sinker, BTW) and now I can pause a few days before priming and painting.

You are only part of the way there if you are at bare metal, so don't stop!

Steve

[montoya_fan01]

Agree with posts #3 & 4. Flash rust isn't always visible to the eye in it's earliest stages. Protect the bare metal!

[J P D]

Ok, i stoped by the paint store today and picked up some ppg dx579 metal cleaner and some rattlecan primer. I mixed up the solution and washed down the bare metal, then I washed it down again with plain water, then dried it with a towel, then I sprayed the primer on. The guy at the store didnt specify any amount of set or dry time between each process. Just to dbl check, did I do this correctly? I sprayed the primer right after I towel dried it, I didnt let it air dry, is this ok? and did this take care of any flash rust that might have already occured from the metal sitting bare for a few days, suprisingly the guy at the store didnt know. thanks

[cremmenga]

My rear hatch area and my floors/tunnel has been bare metal for more that 2 months now. I did this before I took it in to my body man. I was worried about the same thing, and he said don't worry as long as you dont' touch it and it stays in side " which it has" it won't flash rust. He was right because I just went home last week and stopped by the shop and it was still as good as it was 2 months ago. I also asked him if i should raddle can primer it and he said noway. I don't know why but he said that stuff is crap. I'm sure there has to be some good kind out there but atleast the stuff where I live he didn't like!!

[hls30.com]

Personally,

Water is not the last thing I want on bare metal before it is primered.

I use metal ready, ospho, tripple etch,etc, then wipe down with laqueer thinner-no oils or moisture between the metal and the primer-no chance of an oops.

Will

[J P D]

Well the car is sitting in the garage all winter, will not get wet and the humidity will be low. So I think everything should be ok. Even if it does start to surface rust in spots I should just be able to just sand it off when its time for the real paint prep correct?

[hls30.com]

just wipe some of the afore-mentioned rust eaters over it, and prime.

I'm in coastal South Georgia-almost never below 90% humidity-that is why I am so careful-not the best environment for bare metal even on a clear day!

Will

[Zak's Z]

I sand blasted the lower half of my '72 2 weeks ago...and the garage is JUST starting to put in the new floors. Its been inside the whole time...but I can tell its rusting already...tiny dots in the pours, and where it used to be shiny, its got a very slight dull haze...hard to tell if I didnt know what it looked like after blasting. Im the one who blasted it, so I can tell. Its not bad, but worries me! Im gonna take the advice on this post.

When I get it back (with new floors/rails) im going to go over it with metal ready, then im going to por-15 the underside and wheel wells,then when thats done, start to prep for painting.

If you want me to take some pics of what the bare metal looks like 2 weeks old, send me a PM and Ill get them to you.

Zak

[J P D]

Hey Zak, mine did the same thing in the rear hatch. The metal seemed to have a haze to it. I took some sand paper and sanded a 4x4 section and I could notice a difference where it took the haze off and was shinny. I left the rest of the metal hazy and just wiped the cleaner over it and then primered. It should be fine for a month or two till im ready to lay down the real paint job.