Posted by Paul(in NY) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 at 8:46PM :
Over the past few months. I have been reading about a Rust Repair process called RustBusters. I have talked with a few other welders trying to determine what this type of Galvanized Spray Welding was all about, no one really knew. While on a business trip this week, I stopped at a RustBusters Shop to learn about it and to see if I can do it myself in my own shop.
The process first requires the rusted area to be media blasted wth a medium grit abrasive. The rusted area must be perfectly clean and shiny. I was given a few demos of the process, truck hood with the front edge eaten away, and a cowl with rust holes by the windshield wiper holes. The actual welder is a MIG unit, with modfications. However, this process is NOT, MIG Welding by defination. The wire is Zinc/Steel, and is propelled in a molten state onto the object being repaired. Other wire can be substitued such as copper, aluminum, brass or SS, depending on the spray material you want. For car/truck bodies the Zine/Steel is used.
I watched as the nozzle pained smooth layer after layer of Galvanized Metal over the rusted area, and filling the rust holes. Some of the holes were 2 x 4 inches. The holes were backed up with a piece of regular cardboard to make a temporary back. By careful application, the area being repaired stayed in contour with the rest of the panel. When complete in about 5 minutes, it was just warm, you could put your ungloved hand on the repaired area. The repaired area looked like, and had the texture of a area of steel blasted with a medium media. He then took a DA sander with 80 grit paper and smoothed the area, followed by finer grit paper. Finally shot some primer on the repaired area, and IT WAS GONE. The entire process to repair holes in the hood was less than 15 minutes. I saw pictures of rocker panels and areas over wheel wells with hugh holes repaired quickly with this process. I dont impress easily, but this process did impress me.
The person doing the demo used regular cardboard as a backer during the process. The cardboard did not even turn color from heat, nor smoke. It would be so easy to make some cardboard forms and repair a seriously rusted windsheld frame. A few warnings he gave me, since this is galvanized steel repair, if you want to use any filler, it must be special filler designed for galvanized materials. Also primer must be 'self etch, rated for galvanized metal' also a proper respirator must be worn. I wanted to let you know about this process since it could make some difficult repairs on our PW's, quick and simple. Windshield frames are a great example. The process goes under the name RustBusters
The bad part is that the Spray Welder sells for $33,500.00 with trianing at your shop. Ha !!! The good part is that 'you' can modify an existing MIG welder to do this process, or buy a dedicated MIG and modify it. As soon as the Carryall is done, I will be modifying a MIG to do this type of work. I will explain how I am going to MOD a MIG Welder, send me a email, so I can just attach and return. I dont want to use the Bandwidth here. I will type it up tommorrow.
Paul
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