SCORE 6/10
This was certainly a quick and effective way of removing rust, and much easier than ‘manual’ wire brushing. We had two types of wire brush to test, and found that we got better results with the flatter discshaped one rather than the ‘cup’shaped angle grinder version.
Even so, we suspect it could be quite harsh on the metal. As careful as we were trying to be, a couple of nasty looking deeper scratches still appeared on the surface. As you’d expect, though, being metal it lasts much longer than the other drill-mounted stripping disc tested here.
This would be a good choice for medium-sized areas, and you could do a whole car relatively easily.
SCORE 9/10
SCORE 8/10
This set-up is meant for small areas of rust, such as stone chips, or even wooden frames. On tiny areas this proved to be absolutely brilliant. The surface looked more like it had been painted. It was very fiddly to use and got messy when we didn’t quite get it right.
The idea is to get the nozzle squarely on to the area you’re treating using the correct shape nozzle for curved or flat areas, which required practice on the more difficult curves of the Herald’s bodywork.
You need a compressor – and probably a better one than we had. That said, if you’ve only got a small area to do, the results can be astonishing.
SCORE 8/10
Coming in a spray can, this was really easy to use. It went on quickly and cleanly, and we were able to achieve good, even coverage over the test area. It needed a couple of coats to be able to do its thing, but once left it seemed to work well.
The rust looked like it had been ‘converted’ to a hard black substance, which should then provide protection against future corrosion. It should be easy to work with as well because it dried to a hard, smooth finish. We’d recommend this.
Available: RC800 (1L) and RC900 (Aerosol)
SCORE 7/10
Metal Prep was one of the most time- consuming of the treatments we tried. You need to keep the surface wet, meaning you have to keep applying it over and over again. It would certainly take a lot of time and effort to get the result shown in the catalogue.
SCORE 7/10
This convertor is heralded as used by the MoD and NATO. It looks like yoghurt, has a very similar texture when brushed on and requires two coats to work effectively. A rusted surface such as our test metal is necessary for it to ‘key’ and take hold. Once dry, it forma tough gloss black coat, which can then be primed and painted with topcoats of your choice. It’s designed to be left on, not wiped or wire brushed off. Being heavy duty, it’s best suited to areas hidden on your classic – chassis, suspension components and the like. Patience is the key to using this one. Effective as a barrier. Use in vulnerable areas.