Rust Inhbitor and general cosmetic maintenance

[mountainsports2002]

I have a 2005 subaru forester that took the place of my four wheel drive truck when gas prices rocketed and I faced a possible longer commute. Due to lifes trials and tribulations and constant service during winters in the highlands of WV my subie needs some cosmetic attention. When removing the spare tire i found that water had made its way into the spare tire compartment resulting in some rust. Now that it has finally stopped snowing I am going to address this. What rust inhibitor would you use after sanding this area? I am thinking of por-15 but I may have to mail order it. How do rustoleum and other products compare ? Additonally, my forester has served as a substitute truck hauling mulch, firewood, dogs, chainsaws ect. Do you have any suggestions as to products or techniques to clean the carpets and interior ? Finally, the paint on my roof has faded and received some severe scratching from dodging and wiggling through down trees from previous winter misadventures, I was thinking of using a bedliner to cover the roof in a flat black to contrast with the blue paint. I would enjoy hearing any suggestions on this last issue and the others.

Mountainsports2002

 

[TRACTION]

Check out www.eastwood.com for various rust inhibitor products. I've had good luck with their stuff. If you're set on bedliner check out www.monstaliner.com They have a ton of colors in DIY bedliner kits. Good luck.

 

[mountainsports2002]

Thanks for the information, not necessarily set on the bedliner option, open to suggestions.

 

[Stone_Blue]

I tried POR15 on some interior body rust. I wasnt really impressed. The problem is, POR doesnt stick to bare metal very good at all. And theres a lot of prep work, which requires a couple steps of rinsing with water, which I did not like, as I wanted to get this done in a couple weeks. Even with several days minimum, to a full week, sitting in the sun during summer between prep steps and coatings to let the surface dry, I have rust showing through the POR.

Also there are a couple other required prep products you should use. And its all expensive. I bought a quart can, and used about half. The can never sealed properly after the first use, and ended up having a thick layer harden inside the can that I had to break off between uses. This was even after using a kitchen baster to pull a few ounces out of the can to put in a jar that I worked out of for the actual application. SO you end up wasting a lot of it, and its a real PIA to work with.

For thin metal like body panels, I cant see leaving ANY rust, which the POR NEEDS to adhere to...While POR supposedly seals the rust, even with the prep, I gotta figure once you seal the top of the rust, there may still be some rust activity going on underneath, using the oxygen/water that gets sealed in. On thin panels, I would think, with the panels already thin to begin with, then getting thinner with the rusting and and any flake removal, if theres still a little activity going on UNDER the POR, theres a good chance it can still rot through from the other side. I have some rust starting to show through the POR which I did just last summer. And this was on INTERIOR body panels.

While I admit it may have been my prep work, (even though I tried to follow the directions to the tee), if I had to do it again, I would try Eastwood's products...I do admit that the POR hardened real nice, and it seems pretty durable. I would say that POR would be fine for really rusted cast, or thick metal parts, but if I had to do it again, I'd pass on thin metal.

If whatever product you select, suggests using a standard primer, I've had really good results using Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer on items that are pitted after rust removal, or that arent important enough to completely prep well. Also had good results with their Clean Metal primer on bare, or well prepped metal.

 

[Rattler]

I have tried the Rustoleum bedliner they sell at autozone and it didn't survive a couple Mcihigan winters on my roofrack and bumper. I have some POR-15 a guy at work gave me that he had left over. There is some prep stuff too.

My solutions? I am getting a new Bajarack at a discount solves the rack issue. The rear bumper should be pulled off, blasted and powdercoated but I still might try the POR-15.

BTW, I had an '02 modded WRB WRX I bought new and loved it! Then I wanted a transfer case. I do miss it in the winter when there are a ocuple inches of frsh snow on the road though!