Treating rust?
 

I'm a little concerned about the rust under my 1996 trans am. everyone says it's noot that bad (wish i had pictures of under the car) The car's body has no rust but the suspension parts are a little rusty. the car sat awhile in a high moisture area befor i bought it. Should I take care of the rust ? and what's a good way to treat it and prevent it from spreading? Everyone says different things on treating it. I think sand blasting it would be too harsh on the car... any suggestions? :scratch:

Von, what exactly is rusted? Floor pans or items like the lower control arms/rear housing?

if its just surface rust...wire brush and por15...that stuff works wonders

!stock suspension


Replace with aftermarket. Wins.

nuff said. por15 is amazing and really easy to use. new parts are the ****.

8-)

That's pretty typical. The rearend itself gets a nice coating of rust. The rear on my 2000 SS was completely covered when I got it with only 33K miles on it. You could clean it up and paint it with the POR15 or something similar if you really wanted to. I don't know if it's really worth it though.

A can of Rustoleum pro will probably do just as fine.

Yes, the control arms and rear.. It's a little rusted I just want to take care of it so it doesn't spread or get worse. I don't have the money for after market Parts at the moment.. So I gotta work with what I have.

eh rusty parts on the suspension happen. easy to replace. as long as its not on the body of the car your in good shape. just get a set of tubed lca's theyre cheap, when putting it on you can spray down the rear with spraypaint but the rears always get rusty like said before.....post some pics

The car's body from what i remember is 98% rust free maybe really light surface rust under the car but i could still see the metal perfectly fine.. It's the suspension looks like surface rust starting to eat threw the metal.. i am unsure i will try and get pics if the things is on the lift anytime soon (my car is still at stevies being worked on.. i wish i had a lift!)

That rust is not going to hurt anything, other then the look of the car. I would just knock the loose rust off with a scotchbright pad or light sandpaper sandpaper (320 -400 grit) and paint them. I use Eastwood frame paint ( flat black) and it holds up well.

That or just save yourself the headache, and scour the for sale ads for some lower control arms, panhard bar and if you wanna go big, a new torque arm.

They pop up all the time and usually go for pretty cheap.

torque arms seems to hold up very well. i would just replace the lcas when you come across some extra monies and do what was said to paint up the rear.

and to think...there are members on this site that have lca's just laying around possibly strewn about somewhere in the backyard :lol:

Thanks guys. I'm thinking about painting the control arms and all that crap. Just to help it from spreading. I'm just a little paranoid about the car.. since as i said.. it's been sitting near moisture. (lake right across the street from the house i bought it from) But this is a slow project car. :) thanks for the support

A wire brush, Rustoleum Pro rusty metal primer, and Rustoleum Pro gloss black will work awesome for you. POR may be overkill IMO.

This is what i would have said but bill beat me to it:nod:

well rust on the lca's isn't going to magically transfer to the body, it sounds like thats what you are saying i think.

Maybe I;m just a little paranoid but I just don't want the rust to eat threw anymore.. Some of it flakes off.. it;s kinda creeppyy

Yeah on the suspension parts you'll be fine they wolnt affect anything but the look of the car, and honestly do you really see it when your not under the car? Now if its in your floor pans get that taken care of asap before it gets worse, but the stuff on the rear and lca's isnt just going to magically jump the the floors/body. If you want to take the rust off I highly suggest a 1/4" angle grinder and sanding disks if you have an air compresor.

It would take a very long time for that rust to eat through the suspension parts to the point that they are unsafe. That being said, por 15 would work nice. I was told it is best to use it on rusty surfaces as opposed to fresh clean bare metal since it was designed to go right on top of rust. Theres a whole process/kit that you can get to do the job the right way. If you use a wire brush or wire wheel and go over the bare metal with some good rattlecan paint that would be nice too.

Like most of the posts above stated the rust from the suspension is basically normal, won't eat through those thick parts for a long, long time, and shouldn't spread to the body.

That being said...if you're still paranoid, want the protection, or just for cosmetic reasons I would suggest the POR-15 route. That's all I ever use in my shop. Knock off any loose rust and paint right over the other stuff. This paint needs something to bite into. Give it 2 good coats with a brush, then buy a cheap can of black spray paint and shoot it all with 1 coat while the last coat of POR is still tacky. POR-15 is UV sensative and will fade out over a few months time. This final spray paint coat gives you a lasting shade of black of your choice. You can probably do all of your rear suspension for under $50 and a couple hours of your time.