BUICK 1964 Skylark Coupe Project

[joesregalproject]

As much as it pains me to, I began disassembly today. Disassembly is one of the least fun part of the project. I removed the front and sides of the "halo" trim around the roof. The sides came off nicely but the fronts weren't salvageable, they were just too corroded. They wouldn't have looked good on a freshly painted car anyways.

The rear window sort of uninstalled itself. As loose as it was, I'm lucky it didn't fly out on the ride home. There is a little bit of channel rust after all. Not horrible but it needs fixed.

With the rear seat out, you can see the worst rust on the whole car.

 

[joesregalproject]

Got a little more disassembly done today. The rest of the halo trim is removed as well as the drip rails, window moldings, and I got the doors mostly disassembled. I also removed the headliner bows and what was left of the headliner as well as the long dead mice who had been living up there. I'm almost amazed at how easy this car comes apart- SAE fasteners, all were easy to get to and very few stripped or were too rusty to remove.

I didn't find any real surprises, however there is a lot of surface rust on the inside of the roof panel and c-pillars, as well as inside the quarters and under/around the package tray. I imagine it is partially from mouse urine, but I also suspect GM spent little, if any effort at all painting these areas.

None of the surface rust is horrible but I think it would be almost impossible to remove it without blasting or chemically dipping the body. It seems like it would be a good application for POR-15 but I've had very mixed results with it in the past and I don't have enough faith in it to use it everywhere in the car, on top of the fact that I don't really like the mechanism by which it works.

I'm curious to hear what ideas some of you may have. Any experience with Rust Bullet or Eastwood products? Or should I treat it with something like Ospho or Rust Mort? I've used Rust Mort for small pits but never for large areas. I've never used Ospho. I'd love to hear any suggestions.

 

[pagrunt]

Rustmort was someting I sold a lot of when I was at the body supply store. As for the lack of coating that GM was good for back in the day, it might be better to look at what Eastwood has (or simular) that ca be sprayed into the tight spots.

 

[CopperNick]

Not familiar with Ospho, but have used RustMort and had decent success with it. Big issue with Rustmort is cost, but it can be put into a Schutz Gun or undercoating gun and shot into the cracks and crevices that way. Mine to do, I think I would see if Krylon Rust Paint comes in quarts and gallons and top coat the RustMort with that once the rust killer has died. Otherwise, as you say, your cabin might be in for a swimming lesson.



Nick

 

[ck80]

Got a little more disassembly done today. The rest of the halo trim is removed as well as the drip rails, window moldings, and I got the doors mostly disassembled. I also removed the headliner bows and what was left of the headliner as well as the long dead mice who had been living up there. I'm almost amazed at how easy this car comes apart- SAE fasteners, all were easy to get to and very few stripped or were too rusty to remove.
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I didn't find any real surprises, however there is a lot of surface rust on the inside of the roof panel and c-pillars, as well as inside the quarters and under/around the package tray. I imagine it is partially from mouse urine, but I also suspect GM spent little, if any effort at all painting these areas.
View attachment 216054
View attachment 216055
None of the surface rust is horrible but I think it would be almost impossible to remove it without blasting or chemically dipping the body. It seems like it would be a good application for POR-15 but I've had very mixed results with it in the past and I don't have enough faith in it to use it everywhere in the car, on top of the fact that I don't really like the mechanism by which it works.

I'm curious to hear what ideas some of you may have. Any experience with Rust Bullet or Eastwood products? Or should I treat it with something like Ospho or Rust Mort? I've used Rust Mort for small pits but never for large areas. I've never used Ospho. I'd love to hear any suggestions.

Rather than going with a commercialized water-based (watered down) product, what about a 3 step process - 1) straight up oxalic acid, more commonly known as the product that separates the rust from the metal, then 2) a phosphoric acid, which is in the line of the 'converter' products to get anything that mightve been missed in step 1. Finish off with a body cavity wax coating.

 

[CopperNick]

Okay, now you have me interested. Can the oxalic acid be applied using a compressor and a cheap gun? What about the Phosphoric? If not by air, what about using one of those 2 gal pump bottles like what get used to apply liquid weed killer or fertilizer?

As for the body wax, 3M makes a version of that which comes with a extension kit of various lengths of tube that fit to the bomb and can get into tight or deep places.




Nick

 

[joesregalproject]

Rather than going with a commercialized water-based (watered down) product, what about a 3 step process - 1) straight up oxalic acid, more commonly known as the product that separates the rust from the metal, then 2) a phosphoric acid, which is in the line of the 'converter' products to get anything that mightve been missed in step 1. Finish off with a body cavity wax coating.

I don't know enough about it, but might be a good solution. The good thing is that there is no interior or windows and minimal wiring so I can pressure wash inside the car to rinse out any product used.

 

[joesregalproject]

Okay, now you have me interested. Can the oxalic acid be applied using a compressor and a cheap gun? What about the Phosphoric? If not by air, what about using one of those 2 gal pump bottles like what get used to apply liquid weed killer or fertilizer?

I would think a pump sprayer would be the superior method for spraying any type of acid. I think a paint gun would atomize too much and make a mess, plus the acid might eat the aluminum in the gun.

 

[joesregalproject]

Ospho looks like an interesting solution. Check out this thread on jalopy journal.

PHOSPHORIC ACID - a pictoral

I know this has come up several times, I just wanted to to give you guys some comparison pics of how this stuff works and looks. Sanding the rust...

www.jalopyjournal.com

 

[DRIVEN]

That inner-roof flash rust is probably the rule rather than the exception on old GM stuff.

My brother used Ospho in hard to reach spots on a couple past projects. He painted it on with an acid brush. I don't think it was necessarily a product that he searched out, just found an open bottle at work and swiped it. Honestly, I can't say how permanent the solution was because both cars were sold shortly after they were finished.