Surface rust

[DJW32]

Hello,
Can I sand surface rust, if so, what grit paper should I use? Then can I use some type of spray can stuff to protect it? The surface rust is on the roof.
David

[astroracer]

How bad is the rust? Light? Heavy? Is there a lot of pitting? This was probably under a vinyl top, right? If it's real heavy, with a lot of pitting, your best bet would be soda blasting. This is the only way to get the deep pits cleaned out without a lot of grinding. Grinding on an already thin roof will only cause more problems with excessive thinning and possible heat induced distortion.
To finish the job, get it cleaned up, apply a good metal conditioner, like MetalReady, and then epoxy prime. Shoot on a few heavy coats of a good primer surfacer and then long board the roof to level it out and remove any waves. This may take a couple of sessions to get it straight.
Mark

P.S. I HATE vinyl tops... Worst thing you can do to a car...

[DJW32]

Mark,
Thanks for the reply.

Here is what the roof looks like.

[BA.]

DJW, I had a bunch of rust on my roof also. I went through basically the same process Astro describes above.

I sanded with 80 grit for the most part. D/A Sander and some hand sanding. This got me to bare metal, but I then still had pits with some rust.

I did a little more hand sanding and also sprayed with a rust converter like Oxy-solv or Eastwoods new "Fast Etch". They both convert rust to Zinc Phosphate which is white and easy to see.
I then covered with Epoxy primer and am now ready for the high build primer or putty for the small rust pits. (also like Astro mentioned)

As a side note, there is a product or two out there that supposedly turns the light rust (I presume after scraping/sanding lightly) to a black primer/sealer. I've tried this in some inconspicuous areas and it does seem to work ok. (Mar-hyde One Step is one product)

I like the Zinc-Phospate stuff a little better though, personally.