I friend of mine just bought a 64 Chevy II and it has a bunch of surface rust on the hood and roof. The rusted areas aren't rotting and the metal underneath still feels solid. How should he go about removing the rust? Would a sander with 50 or 80 grit sandpaper work or would a grinder with a fine wire wheel be better? Any help would be appreciated.

I've had good luck with a DA sander and 80 grit. I wouldn't use anthing coarser than that.

If its a light surface rust you can use metal conditioner with a scotch brite pad, and, or use a wire brush on a drill for the small pits. make sure you use gloves and eye protection. If you have severe pitting I would have it sand blasted or acid dipped.

Thank you for your help.

Muratic acid, the swimming pool stuff, works great to remove rust in the deep pits, apply with a small stainless brush and scrub, flush with water to neutralize, and then use the metal prep to clean. I wouldn't sandblast the hood or top unless you are very experenced in using the blaster on those type of panels, can you say warped sheetmetal http://www.camaros.net/forum/eek.gif

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69 rallye green X77 Z/28,1967 SS 396 Conv. 1974 c-10 454 swb

Pipeman,

You can use a mixture of baking soda and water to neutralize the Muratic acid and then rinse with a lot of water. It's a little insurance to make sure all the acid is gone. Then follow up with the metal prep to get rid of the flash rust. I've seen people rinse the Muratic acid with a lot of water and still have it rust. Better safe than sorry.

You can warp sheetmetal with a sand blaster if you heat the metal by not moving around enough while blasting. Just keep moving and take your time....blasters are too messy for me I think the da would be the best but know...you can warp sheetmetal with a da too 80 grit sounds good but if you are also going through paint use 60 grit to remove it all..

You can warp the roof with just about any abrasive remover. So even with a DA, try not to over heat the panels. Keep it moving.

69er