Experience with rust converters?

Non-Suzuki related topics. Anything can go here.
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Dyligisho
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:26 am
Location: Madrid

I have a wee bit of rust on my rocker panels that I want to grind out and treat. After reading through the archives, so many people swear by so many different products, I can't tell which one I need. I think I've narrowed it down to 3 different products:

1. SEM Rust Mort or Rust Seal
2. Eastwood's Rust Converter or Anti Rust
3. NAPA Rust Stuff (forgot what it's called, but many people on the forum swear by it)

I think they all do mostly the same thing, but I can't for the life of me decide which one is better/which one I need. Has anyone recently had success with these products?
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Not recently. Permetex rust reformer is what I use when I need it. Last large scale usage was probably 15+ years ago on the Samurai's rockers when I pulled the rubber rocket covers off the tub. Small scale dings and chips is all I use it for now. On the Samurai, the paint was gone, plenty of surface and scaley rust. The metal was beginning to pit deeply but hadn't rotted through yet. Wire wheeled the loose flakey corrosion off and painted the rockers w/ the stuff. Created a nice opaque barrier and halted any further corrosion. That part of the tub at least hadn't gotten any worse over all those years.

Prior to that, Rustoleum had a product late 80s that worked the best which I'd used on a Toy pickup's bumper that was surface rusting badly. Once that stuff finished converting/reforming the rust, it was tough as nails. Forget sanding it afterwards for painting, wouldn't touch it. Tried it on the Samurai rockers, and it wasn't the same product any longer. Switched to the Permatex, which, I acquired at NAPA as I recall. Didn't work quite as well as the Rustoleum I'd used, but did the job and was a fairly tough coating.

I honestly don't think any of these types of products, much like automotive paint, are as good as they used to be due to the environmental concerns surrounding all the 'bad stuff' that makes these products perform well.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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