# Rusty bolts: prepping



## 3awesomeinches

Hi everyone. First poster here. 

Next week i've got to paint some exterior steel beams which are held together with gigantic bolts. The bolts have been rusting outside for nearly a year and look rather nasty. Is there a spray or something quick I can coat them with so they won't rust or show through the paint? 
Thanks for any help.


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## NACE

tight adhering rust or all out corrosion?


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## 3awesomeinches

I wouldn't say they're corroded... The threads are still visible and they'll probably be in good shape if you scraped them with a wire brush for an hour. I just ain't got the time for that.


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## timhag

Welcome to the site from Pittsburgh Pa. You must take the rust off, try using a wire brush on a drill. Get that baby back down to the metal and try using rusty metal primer then top coat.


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## timhag

Or you can be a hack and slap some top coat over the rust.


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## 3awesomeinches

timhag said:


> Welcome to the site from Pittsburgh Pa. You must take the rust off, try using a wire brush on a drill. Get that baby back down to the metal and try using rusty metal primer then top coat.


Rusty metal primer is probably what i'm looking for. I didn't know they made that... or who makes it.


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## timhag

3awesomeinches said:


> Rusty metal primer is probably what i'm looking for. I didn't know they made that... or who makes it.


http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=25&SBL=1


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## Git

POR15


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## CApainter

There are surface tolerant epoxies, like PPG's DTR, that can be applied directly over tightly adhered rust. I've tried rust converters, with decent results, when the application called for a waterborne system.


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## Bender

Betcha a dollar its Sev:jester:


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## daArch

whats about Rust Reformer:









I've had relatively good luck. But it don't last forever. 

Or is it hack n sack product ?


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## scholarlypainting

i was gonna recommend POR15 as well


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## painterdude

For a crude anology tell the customer that rust is like cancer. You can stop it for a while, but eventually it's gonna come back. Sorry, pd


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## bikerboy

Insul-X rust arrestor, then paint over.


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## YubaPaintPro

Hey 3,
where are you? I have the best product available you will ever use. Hands down.

Latex, fast dry time, "dry fall", almost any topcoat. Depending on where you use it, it may not need to be topcoated. I will send you a pm.


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## 707drz

Has anyone had good results with ospho. I think that's how its spelled. Works well for me. I always scrap and remove loose cancer but this stuff is a converter that works. It pretty much turns it into a primed surface but I use a rusty metal primer over it and then top coat


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## CobraCDN

Since it's exterior, I would just use a small body blaster and blast the bolts. I agree that the time a wire brush would take is hardly worth it. Body blaster with about a sil 4 grit and U could whip around them very fast. Then the rust is gone. Prime and finish them. If it's just the bolts just use a radiator brush to apply. We used to use them in industrial construction, we'd follow the iron workers touching up all the bolts.

Cheers


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## MrPaint

Devoe pre-prime 167 is a great product, it will creep down inside the threads and encapsulate the surface corrosion as well as keep the nuts from weeping rust later on. This product is technically 100% solids but is as thin as water so it penetrates extremely well. When I was a salesman, we used to mix 3 oz of 167 and put it in a shallow tray with a CMU block and watch it climb 3-5 inches up the block to show customers how well it penetrated. The stuff just works.


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## the paintman

707drz said:


> Has anyone had good results with ospho. I think that's how its spelled. Works well for me. I always scrap and remove loose cancer but this stuff is a converter that works. It pretty much turns it into a primed surface but I use a rusty metal primer over it and then top coat


Yes I have. Ospho is a very good product. And has been used by the auto body industry even before house painters discovered it. I use pretty much the same process and method as you mentioned. Most of the time it is sufficient. It may not be failsafe, but it abates for a good while if done correctly. Most other methods are cost prohibitive for most customers budgets.


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## Oden

S.w. industrial enamel in alkyd u can prime and finish steel with it. Use 40 grit sandpaper and twist it around the bolts to knock off the loose rust first just like u were cleaning a corroded battery terminal on ur car. Also i suggest using a steel brush for speed and ease. It is a long handled brush angled at the end a.k.a a hockey stick because it resembles one. It increases ur leverage and ur reach by a million compared to a house painting brush.


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## RH

Guys, guys, guys... check the date on the original post! (Oct. 08)


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## ibsocal

researchhound said:


> Guys, guys, guys... check the date on the original post! (Oct. 08)


Thats kinda why i backed off,but as we all know (I think) rust never sleeps and the song does not allways remain the same.


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## daArch

Don't want to chase you new guys away, but as keeper of the keys to the cemetery crypt, may I ask that you always look at the date of the OP (original post) and then ask yourself if the info you are about to impart will be useful.

Many times the OP (original postER), has gotten what he/she needs and the job was completed years ago, so anything you say has a very good possibility of being moot.

Nonethenless, some threads can always be added to, and thus please don't take Necroposting as a completely forbidden action. Just use your own best judgment, unless of course you just like seeing the pix I dig up











.

(OH DAMN, Now NEPS is going to start unearthing some real fetid ones)

.

.


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## RH

Just can't thank you for this ^ one Bill. :no:


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