What's your go-to rust inhibitor?

Yes, I know rust never sleeps, just trying to buy some time.

I've used Permatex before and it seems to be OK. Are they all the same or are some better?

Thanks!

From the paint type category, I've used Bill Hirsch Miracle Paint, POR15, and a 2 or 3 parts system from Eastwood. All worked well. The Bill Hirsch product got quite a work out trying to preserve an '86 Omni against Michigan winters, and the Eastwood product was applied to a steel lintel on my house that is outdoors 24/7, and has held up well. The POR15 was mostly used on my Charger back in the early '90s, and has never been on the road, so no testimonial there.

Most recently I bought some KBS coatings for a couple of axles that need some preservation, but I have not had a chance to use it yet. I was going to coat an 8.75 for the Chrysler, then we had the garage fire, and haven't got back up and running yet. So no testimonial there yet either.

I cringe whenever I see someone boast about how great POR15 is. Unless something has changed in the last 20 yrs, I'll never use it again No salted roads here, just salty air being close to the coast. I closely followed the instructions to a 'T' and the POR15 actually seemed to speed up the rusting process.

I have two fenders over in storage that one was painted with Rustoleum the other with POR15 20+ yrs ago. Neither fender made it back onto a car, so they have been sitting in storage all this time. Guess which one shows signs of rust.............

Watching this topic with interest to see what people are using and recommending now.

My brother put POR-15 on the trunk pan of a car and it rusted underneath it. It did a great job of hiding what it was doing for a long time until a sheet of it popped up. No way I'd use it for anything.

Search You Tube for "sweet project cars rust".

This might be what you are looking for. There's a list of ingredients and sourcing below the video.

From what I gathered of the OP's "Permatex" reference he might be looking for a product cooling system related I use Wynn's cooling system cleaner for the flush then the cooling system treatment with new coolant. I've been using it for decades with good results

Gus

Pretty sure he is talking about Permatex Rust Treatment spray. From what I can tell by having used all three recently it is the exact same as Loctite Extend Rust Neutralizer and Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer. All of the instructions say that that they are rust converters and may actually cause rust if used on unrusted metal. I've always used as per the instructions, scuffed after full drying period and topcoated with no bad results to speak of. But it has always been small parts or small areas, and watch for overspray as it will discolor other paint. I am sure there is probably a better product for covering large rusty areas, or combination converter/encapsulators.

For preventing initial rust formation on bare metal I've heard good things about Rust Prevention Magic, but have yet to open the can that I have. IIRC it is wax based so probably not something you want to try to paint over.

If you are going to paint and protect bar metal, I'm thinking its hard to beat careful metal prep and catalyzed epoxy primer and sealer.

Good Luck

My go-to is a sandblaster or wire wheel, acid wash/neutrailize if needed, 2x wipe with wax and grease remover, wait 30 minutes, tack cloth and blow,
and shoot 2 or 3 coats of black epoxy primer, either PPG or SPI.

So far, I have not found anything better that the above.

As far as a product to apply to rust itself....
Recently I tried Rust Bullet on some inner roof structure and it is considerably more user friendly than POR. but 20 years from now
will be the time to do a review on it.

I hate POR15 and will never use it again/bad experience. A large area I used it on failed, leading to the sandblast/epoxy prime routine.

How many days does that take?

Don't you just hate auto correct?

Are you going to paint what ever it si? POR's 15 sucks..... never again... Live in ohio, so in non wash areas as in side doors , fender etc. Like fluid film. High wash areas as in the frame fluid film tends to wash away. There's another product ,called wool wax. But if painting , blast, and use a good etching primer.

Are you asking about an Inhibitor?
For only storage of a cleaned item.

Or a Preventive, for under paint & such?

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I meant the Permatex rust killer- but the bottle I bought long ago was not a spray. It was a liquid you spread on with a brush. Y'all have given me a lot to think about, I appreciate the information. Especially about POR-15!

for an inhibitor I either use Surface Shield ( https://blasterproducts.com/product/surface-shield/ ) or Fluid Film ( https://www.fluid-film.com/ )

For rust TREATMENT, I've switched over to exclusively using Corroseal ( https://corroseal.com/ )

To paint over treated rust, I use KBS Rust Seal ( https://www.kbs-coatings.com/rustseal.html )

Por15 is an old technology product, good when used correctly, but not great and has been surpassed by competitors.


I grew up on a Gulf Coast ranch and live on the gulf coast, it's a constant battle with corrosion.

Dangit Fixed

There are several related topics here.
1. to prevent rust on new, fresh metal, you prevent oxygen from getting to it. Best is a zinc rich primer, epoxy, then urethane/acrylic for sunlight exposure (if necessary).
2. for short-term rust prevention on new, fresh metal, most rust preventers are simply mineral oil in a spray can
3. you can make "fancy" mineral oil in a spray can and want a little bit of rust-neutralizing action, you add an organic acid, like oleic acid, to your mineral oil spray can
4. longer term rust prevention storage, try some wheel bearing grease or thick motor oil (e.g. machined block, crank, etc)
5. to truly neutralize rust, you need a stronger acid and phosphoric acid is preferred. After reacting with rust (& literally removing it), a byproduct of that reaction is iron phosphate...which is moderately effective rust inhibitor coating, so you get a 2-for-1 action with phosphoric acid.

For me, I cut out all major rust. Then I brush in a phosphoric acid 1-component "rust neutralizer" like in most parts stores to get the tiny lit pits of rust neutralized (note: sandblasting is way better). Epoxy over everything. If exposed to sunlight, polyurethane primer on top of that......then paint as needed.

Corrosion free or fluid film

As mentioned it would help if you explained what you are using it on.

https://www.amazon.com/Mar-hyde-350...+converter&qid=1647600296&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Rust-In...=zero+rust&qid=1647600410&sr=8-3

For oil type stuff I use rust check. For paint I use tremclad aka rustoleum. Mainly because it's easy to get but also because it works.

It is perhaps too expensive for widespread use
but

https://www.eezox.com/

is very impressive

I use Chassis Saver.