rusty roofs

[thatotherguy]

just think if GMH had painted inside the roof properly there would be a lot more vans around

[SLR_dave]

Have a look at a product called 'rust bullet'. A google search will bring it up. Awsome stuff. Its been on the market for automotive for about 4 years now and its manufacturers claim it beats all other rust preventing coatings. Their salt water testing looked impressive to me, so I spoke to people who sold it in Australia. I got only good comments and people said some amazing things about it, (A coastal service station owner told me he used it on an unprepped rusty trailer that was a basically a goner, and that after two years the trailer was still in sevice and the rust bullet coating resisted sanding and even filing! With no rust to see.)
So I've now used it, its been on one of my vans for 12 months now as rust proofing, I have to say it is the most insane paint. It's a bit fussy to spray, need a 2mill nozzle as it's very thick, but somehow coats quite thinly, and you have to follow the instructions to the letter or the coating can fail, but thats not too hard, but I found the nozzle will tend to block - 2.5 mil might be better, as you can only thin it 5% . You can brush it though and it goes on well - A downpoint is that it needs Xylene for the clean up so its full breathing gear if you are spraying it. It takes up to ten days to wear off skin too!!
It takes just about any paint as a top coat, but also doesnt actually need a top coat if you're prepared to leave it silver (as in under the headlining for instance) I prepped to shiny steel except for both rear quaters where I will cut and weld later on - there I went straight over corrosion that was still black/brown after soda blasting , and its stuck real hard, it almost looks like strong metal, no hint of rust at all showing through at 12 months, I reckon I could leave these sections for years if need be and even paint over them with no probs at all. But its not real cheap, and the can sizes are in US imperial - its worth knowing that the bigger can is about 4 times the size of the smaller one, and it doesnt keep well once opened - 12 months - just, following their storage guidlines in my experience. Worth a good look if you have rust issues. I'd advise reading the application instructions before buying it though. Another good one is Wattyl killrust/rustkill (The Wattyl branded one is better than the Dulux and the White Knight brands I reckon) I've been using that on sheds and downpipes etc for years, much cheaper than rust bullet, but you can't paint over it with other paints, and it may go powdery in the sun over time. Is this shameless product promotion? Not intended to be - I do not work for either of these companies or their dealers or anyone associated with them, but sometimes when you really like a product you do want to have a bit of a rave, maybe I need another beer....