Found some X-O rust paint today.

[BobT-47P15]

Have seen the X-O mentioned as being good rust preventive paint.

Also the Zero Rust brand.

Can't seem to find the Zero Rust, but ran onto the XO at a local true

value hardware store today. Bought a can of black for use on the frame

and other places under the car.

Says on the can it's an oil base paint, but the store fellow says you can

paint on top of it with any type paint, once it's dry.

It occurred to me the other day that since the Mrs got me a power

washer for a birthday present last year, it could be used on the

underside of the Plymouth. Then, follow up with paint.

[Norm's Coupe]

Bob, just make sure you get all the grease and oil off the area or the XO will stay sticky. However, you don't need to scrape the undercoating off. It will bond to that and cure as it should.

[BobT-47P15]

OK. I bought a can, to be applied with a brush.....not a spray. Should be

fun once I get started. One of those projects I keep ignoring. Have

painted some areas in the past that show most.

[Norm's Coupe]

Bob, I used the brush on can too. Did you get the gloss or flat finish. The gloss looks nice when it's cured. I also used it on the lower part of the front fender wells in the engine compartment. Still looks good today after 11 years. Boy that's a long time ago. Didn't realize I did it that long ago until I read what I wrote. Time flies.

[BobT-47P15]

Yes, I bought the gloss black. I think the brush application puts on a bit

more paint than the spray, therefore holds up longer.

[Norm's Coupe]

Don't know how it will look with a regular paint brush. I used small foam throw away brushes. With those I have no brush marks at all, it just flowed together as the paint cured to a smooth finish.

[BobT-47P15]

Will start with a brush. If'n I don't like the result, will go with the foam

jobbie.

[Joe Flanagan]

Bob,

Zero Rust can be bought online at www.autobodystore.com. They have brush-on and aerosols.

[BobT-47P15]

Thanks, Joe.

[55 Fargo]

Have seen the X-O mentioned as being good rust preventive paint.

Also the Zero Rust brand.

Can't seem to find the Zero Rust, but ran onto the XO at a local true

value hardware store today. Bought a can of black for use on the frame

and other places under the car.

Says on the can it's an oil base paint, but the store fellow says you can

paint on top of it with any type paint, once it's dry.

It occurred to me the other day that since the Mrs got me a power

washer for a birthday present last year, it could be used on the

underside of the Plymouth. Then, follow up with paint.

Bob, this alkyd oil based paint can be thinned with mineal spirits, or automotive enamel reducer, which is xylene and touluene, you can evn add hardener too it.

If you are brushing, or rolling just thin it a bit with mineral spirits, or just straight from the can for frames floors etc, at most for this type of thing for brushing, about 10 % mineral spirits.

If youe spraying mix ratio approx, 8 parts paint-4-parts reducer-1part hardener, that will result in a super shiny smooth hard finish, and dries much quicker than straight from the can.........Fred

PS if you can go to Zero Rust, to find a dealer in your area, this stuff is also very good, a high powered XO paint....Fred

[laynrubber]

I painted the body of a beater truck with XO rust and it didn't last very long before the surface rust came back thru. I am not out much $$$$ as the whole can was only $30 but i wasn't impressed with it's durability.

The finish was nice, turned a bit flat and they could mix any tint i wanted (Robin egg blue)

[BobT-47P15]

OK.......so, do we think Zero Rust is better than X-O Rust?

[Norm's Coupe]

I painted the body of a beater truck with XO rust and it didn't last very long before the surface rust came back thru. I am not out much $$$$ as the whole can was only $30 but i wasn't impressed with it's durability.

The finish was nice, turned a bit flat and they could mix any tint i wanted (Robin egg blue)

Did you use the water based XO or the oil based XO. I've had XO rust paint on my coupe since 1998 and it still looks the same as the day I put it on. No rust came back through it. I did use the oil based brush grade. They also have a flat finish paint and gloss finish. I used the gloss.

[BobT-47P15]

I bought oil base gloss.

[laynrubber]

I used the oil based paint, granted i didn't use the primer so maybe that would have been better results.

I also am using XO rust on the frame of the 52 Plymouth, cleaned the frame, used the primer and 2 coats of black brushed on. Not pleased with the durability of this finish either. I sand blasted the front suspension pieces, primed and 2 coats......not durable at all. My thumb nail will mark the paint so these parts are being redone......in epoxy

[BobT-47P15]

I'll experiment first on a small area to see how that paint sets up.

Not planning to use primer.

If I don't like it, will use something else.

Some areas on the underside I've paiinted with Wally World $1 a can spray,

It gets dirty over time, but has held up ok.

[Norm's Coupe]

I didn't use a primer with my XO Rust paint either. I also did not thin it at all. That said, I did notice XO Rust is a very slow curing paint. But........if left alone, it will evidently hold up.

Here's a little tidbit about soft and hard finishes. Most people desire a very hard finish on the bodies of their cars, and other things. That's the best way to go to prevent someone from scratching the surface of whatever you are painting or coating. But..........no one is going to crawl under your car and try to scratch the car on purpose, nor is anyone going to walk on it. So.......the only thing that's going to damage that paint is a rock or sand and dirt flying onto it and hitting it as you drive the car. Think of it as a constant type of sandblasting, only over time. So.........a softer paint is actually better for those applications than a hard type paint or coating. Why? Read the next paragraph.

Back in the 90's we had a customer who ran abrasives through a pipe in their plant. The pipe was used to transfer the abrasive from the delivery truck to a silo. Inside that pipe was a fan to draw the fine abrasive out of the truck, into the silo. Because of that the abrasive naturally chewed up the pipe and made holes in it from the constant blasting when going through the elbows of the pipe. Would also chew up the fan blade. For some time we sold them an epoxy to repair the elbows in the fan, and also to repair the fan blades. But........it would only last about 3 months before it needed to be repaired again. That was better than replacing the elbows and fan every two weeks. Finally after about a year or so I came up with a better solution for the customer. We sold him a softer coating (rubberized) and patch to repair those area's. That lasted about 6 to 8 months before it needed repair again. Why? Because if you've ever tried to sand blast rubber off of something, what happens? The sand just bounces off, so it takes much longer to blast it off. The sand does not bounce off a hard coating, it just hits it and keeps nicking it until it's all gone. So, it comes off quicker. That is why a softer paint last longer where you don't have traffic constantly rolling over it, and there are no grocery carts hitting it.

Since most of us have sandblasters of some type, try it yourself if you doubt what I said above. By the way, that's also why that asphalt undercoating lasted for 50 years or so that's on the underside and frame of your car. If you look closely, what undercoating that may be missing didn't wear off, it peeled off.

Here's one other note. Laynrubber mentioned he could scratch the XO Rust paint with his fingernail. Well..........you're not supposed to even try and scratch paint with your fingernail. As for epoxy scratching. We make and sell epoxy coatings and patch materials in a much higher quality than you'll ever put on your car. But...........I don't care what brand of epoxy you buy, or from who. If I want to scratch it on purpose, I can scratch any of them and so can you. And, you can do the same with urethane.

[Joe Flanagan]

Bob,

I can vouch for Zero Rust. I've used it throughout my project. Also, I think Norm's Coupe nailed it when he said you have to leave some paints alone for a while because they have to flash off and won't be hard until they've had a chance to do so. You can thin ZR with mineral spirits but you don't have to. I've always used it right out of the can or in aerosols. You just need a clean surface. Also, it will adhere to clean metal as well as rusty metal.

[55 Fargo]

I used the oil based paint, granted i didn't use the primer so maybe that would have been better results.

I also am using XO rust on the frame of the 52 Plymouth, cleaned the frame, used the primer and 2 coats of black brushed on. Not pleased with the durability of this finish either. I sand blasted the front suspension pieces, primed and 2 coats......not durable at all. My thumb nail will mark the paint so these parts are being redone......in epoxy

I have used Tremclad redcuced with enamel redcucer and hardener, it is very durable, and super shiny too boot.

You can't expect any rust paint to perform on very flaky rust, rust needs to be at least firm if not removed. And if your metal substrate has rust on the opposite side it will also come through quickly.

I have a test panel outside, painted with Tremclad, mixed with Medium speed reducer, and hardener 8-4-1, this panel was sprayed on with an HVLP spray gun, it has been outside for a year, under rain mud snow, sunn you name it, it still looks like I just shot the paint on, it may not look like this in 2 years, but what can you expect......Fred

[55 Fargo]

Was looking at my under hood paint job I did with gloss black Tremclad, mixed with 40 % medium speed reducer, and 1 ounce of hardener for every 8 ounces of paint.

This paint is super glossy and smooth as silk, the primer I sprayed uner it, I did not even scuff, just shot on the black within a 16 hour window, the metal and remaining OEM finish was sanded with only 220.

I am impressed with the gloss, surface smoothness, and hardness, adding a gloss hardner, makes a big difference.

Alkyd oil based enamel, will take on characteristics of Acrylic enamel, when reducer and hardener is added, becomes harder, glossier, and more durable..........