POR-15 does 2 things right? It stops the rust, then seals it.
What local purchase product(s) can I use to do the same thing?
Naval jelly will remove the rust, so after a person uses that, what can you seal it with?
I'm working in the cowl of my 72 Imperial and there is surface rust in there, especially down in deep where the two pieces of metal meet.
I thought I would ask in here and see what others have done to treat and seal rust in hard to reach areas like this.
Thanks for sharing your ideas, experiences and opinions.

I delt with it on a '70E. The metal was all in good shape but there was some surface rust. What I did (fenders removed):

- Clean thoroughly. Vacuum, compressed air and a pressure washer. I repeated until I was sure all leaves, dirt ect. were completly removed.
- When dry, I sanded and wire brushed everything I could reach and cleaned again with vacuum and compressed air
- I used a rustproof gun to apply primer. This is the gun with a flexible wand and a nozzle that shoots out in all directions. I used Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. This is messy but it coated all the hiden spots, seams ect.
- When the primer was dry, I painted the same way with Rustleum aluminum paint.
- Actual painting of the car was last. Visible areas under the cowl vents got a coat of body color.

This worked out well. For the primer I would recommend the Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, Rust Bullet or Red Rustoleum. These work well with light prep. POR 15 requires perfect prep which is hard to do in the Cowl area.

A final step could be application of waxy rust proof with the rust proof gun (Eastwood or similar). I didn't want that mess before painting the car and figured the two coats of paint would be sufficient for a 3 season car.

Ospho penetrates the rust & seals it in as well as making a primer for topcoats I've used this product for over 30 years & have had nothing but positive results

encapsulators cap & insulate the rust it's still there & not getting any better
Eastwood introduced this product to coat frames & other thick metal parts that don't rust out as fast as sheetmetal.
They introduced it to save from sandblasting thus encapsulating the rust in
this is why the surface doesn't have to be perfect because you are just covering it up

i'm working on a cowl area right now..
i'm sand blasting it as much as possible where ever i can reach
then it will be treated with ospho and expoxy primed after that..

Ospho will go where the others won't
It will go under that old seamsealer & get inside that seam
If you use it in the cowl area you can usually find it running down the inside of the firewall
That's when you know you have got the seams which is where the rust starts
The Eastwood stuff just seals it in & doesn't fight it