Posted by Matt Wilson [108.162.221.25] on Saturday, November 04, 2017 at 23:42:29 :
In Reply to: Suggestions for painting over surface rust posted by Matt Wilson [108.162.221.25] on Friday, November 03, 2017 at 18:30:12 :
I made decent progress today. Got every bit of paint and rust off the axle tubes and center section, but couldn't get the wire wheel and abrasive disc into very many of the corners of the backing plates, so I scrubbed as best I could with a hand-held steel wire brush while spraying almost continuously with brake parts cleaner. The black paint that my body shop guy had applied nearly 25 years ago came off, but the Army green (OD?) underneath it mostly did not come off. There is also surface rust in quite a few places around the backing plates. I only got one backing plate done, and I'll get the other one done tomorrow, then look at applying some Ospho that I picked up at Ace Hardware to the rusty areas on and adjacent to the backing plates.
I ended up buying Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer, since the vast majority of my axle housing is now clean, bare, shiny steel. The can says that primer is for clean steel, or steel with light rust, so that seems about right for my situation. Then I'll top coat it with Rustoleum flat black paint. Since I'm in Texas, not in the rust belt, and not near any coastline, hopefully this treatment will last a good, long time.