10 replies to this topic

[lewBlew]

I'm re-doing my floorpans next week as there's evidence of surface rusting, and the original bitumen has cracked and mostly been removed.

I was going to sand the floors and paint with Hammerite no 1 rustbeater, then spray with body colour (Henley blue) but I've heard bad things about painting over Hammerite, in that it reacts? Is this right?

I'm not after a concourse job, just something that will protect and tidy up the floor, and not cost the earth. Also something that won't be a waste of time!

[sonikk4]

I'm not 100% sure whether the paint will react with the Hammerite rust beater but i do know it will react with the Hammerite top coat. You could a small section to see what happens but if in doubt don't use it.

Your other option is to sand back any rust as far as possible , preferably to nice shiny bare metal, treat with Krust / Jenolite or something similar then a good quality primer followed by top coat. If the floor is pitted through rust it will come back i'm afraid.

[lewBlew]

I was thinking just Henley blue spray paint on top of the rustbeater (which I may spray or brush on, not decided). So no Hammerite top coat involved.

Yes it may indeed come back, I'm not sure. The worst of it is where sadly in the past it's had oversills and the weld has burnt the floorpan. I'll ideally get the floor pans replaced eventually, but since they are more or less solid I'm attending to other more serious areas first!

Plan B would involve Kurust as you say. Any recommendations on what to use as the primer though?

[sonikk4]

Rough the surface up using a coarse grit DA sander or something similar. Thoroughly de grease then use Krust / Jenolite etc. Make sure it has dried completely then use a zinc rich primer. Again once its dried off then if you are after a good looking surface then maybe a coating of filler primer, flat back then grey primer, flat back followed by several coats of Henley Blue.

How long it will last is really down to the preparation but like i have already mentioned if there is more than surface rust it will come back later, but as you have already stated you will be looking to do something with the floors later on.

[lewBlew]

Thank you, great advice

[sonikk4]

You could use etch primer first as that will give you a good key for the following layers of paint then follow that with the zinc but i'm not 100% sure how the two get on together. On Project Erm everything inside the car has been etch primed, filler primed, normal primer followed by numerous layers of topcoat. All with flatting in between.

I think its really down to cost at the end of the day with regards to what you use. I have used both methods on various parts on Erm and Paddy and all seems ok.

[lewBlew]

1,200 grit kind of flatting?

[sonikk4]

For the filler coats then something like 800 grit will be fine or as we did in the paint shop red scotch pads. All of the high spots or nibs were knocked back with 800 grit then we went over it with scotch pads. Followed by another degrease and tack cloths. The top coat if you want to make it shine i flat back with 2000 plus very soapy water (car shampoo) followed by Scholl Concepts S17+ on a mop. I normally do two separate passes to get any marks out then a good quality wax.

I think all of that is a bit hard core for an internal floor so just the first part will be enough.

[lewBlew]

Just been looking up zinc primer and some say it's no good except on bare metal. This right? I doubt I will get the floors 100% back to bare metal. What are your thoughts on red oxide?

[Shifty]

Hammeritre is a pain for reactions. You could buy some dark blue Hammerite and then some white and mix them to give a shade that is close to Henley blue?

[lewBlew]

Could try that! Or just not use it at all :)