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The question first – Can anyone suggest a suitable rust converter/preventative that I can pour or spray down into a cavity that has been rather damp between two panels inside my ute?

I was just fiddling about doing a few little things in the Hillman ute yesterday.  A friend with a Humber Vogue had given me a jack that he had spare and I was putting some felt on the floor behind the driver's seat so that the jack wouldn't rattle.

For some reason I looked at the cavity near the wall of the cab behind the seat and discovered that this cavity was full of wet dirt – tin worm heaven!!

The dirt was wet because of the water leak where the cab joins the body (another job to tackle).  But I think that we're talking years and years of dirt build up from what I am sure were the many years that this vehicle spent on a farm somewhere.

I poked and scraped with my fingers and a small screwdriver and got the spare vacuum cleaner out and in the end had about a litre of dirt in an empty ice cream bucket.  Some of it came from the cavity on the passenger side but most of it was from the driver's side.

I'll have to wait for the area to dry or do something to try and get it dry, but I'd like to get some rust converter or preventative in there so minimise the amount of rust damage that has already and is probably going to continue to occur.

Of course, I'll have to try and prevent anymore water getting into the cab but that's a simpler job.

Thanks,

Ian

The Halletts
Orange NSW Australia
e-mail: halletts(at)colourcity.com

This message forwarded by the Hillman List.

Ian, in my view the best way to get rid of the built up dirt/mud is to whack a water hose in there and flush it out if at all feasible

It's easy to get rid of the remaining water – much easier than getting rid of mud.

The rust converter might need to be phosphoric acid in that situation

Ron

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Ian,

I had a rust problem with the floor of the Alpine which I treated succesfully (hasn't resurfaced in 10 years) – just can't remember the name of the product but I'm sure it's still available.  Will check and get back to you tomorrow with details

... (snip) ...

Cheers, Vic

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Ian,

Further to my post of last night, the product I used was Ranex, one of the Phosphoric acid based products – I note from visiting Bunnings today that Dulux makes a similar product.  What I did was to remove seats and floor mats, wire brush to dislodge loose scale (but not all surface rust) vacuum out.  then rinse down with water.  Allowed to dry (did it on a hot summers day) and then applied the product.  After that dried, I painted over to seal – anyway, there are instructions on the can.  As I said, have not sighted rust in over 10 years since.

Cheers Vic

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Ian

You are so fortunate to live in Australia :–)
You can buy Septone fish oil.
Apply it any way you like.
Brush, pour or use a triggerpack spray bottle.
It will flow into any and every cavity and sticks like you know what to the blanket.

Take of the trim and apply thermo nuclear energy, or if you don't have your own reactor, solar energy that comes free in the better areas of the lucky country.
Clean out or create drain holes.  You have them in the bottom of the doors.
If you find it difficult to prevent water getting in, give it an easy way out :–)
If you have drains you can flush out the accumulated mud with the garden hose, allow to dry then apply the fish oil.
It doesn't smell and will not wash out if water gets in there.
I got a litre of this stuff for about $18 from my car spares emporium.  While you are at it do all inside the doors and under the floor mats.

Rust converter is mostly Phosphoric acid.  It reacts with the oxide forming a grey residue.  Usually applied, left for a few beers and rinsed off..  If you were doing the fishoil application it could go on after you rinse it off and the panel is mostly dry.

A search for "fisholene" on google will lead you to a few interesting sites. There is a page on a 64 Holden UTE used by a plumber on the WA coast.  Still totally rust free after 40 years.  And we all know Holdens come from the factory that way :–)

Keith

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There was another product I saw at a car show.
Developed for use on oil rigs and suchlike places.
Paints over the rust, convrts it and seals the resultant against further water ingress and further rust.
It wasn't cheap and I personally think the rust rinse, dry it off and apply fish oil would work just as well in our application.

Keith

This message forwarded by the Hillman List.

Well thanks to everyone who responded to my question about rust treatment in an inaccessible spot.  I never would have thought of running a hose in there but it makes sense.  I did discover that the cavity drains out to the underside of the ute so most of the water will escape.  What doesn't run away I will dry out with the sun and my trusty workshop hair dryer.

I also know that the chassis rails are all full of dirt from the ute's previous lives and I was going to try and use compressed air to blow all the dirt out.  Maybe I should drill some small drain holes in the bottom of the rails and do a final water flush after I blow and vacuum out as much of the dirt as possible.

This little vehicle will keep me busy for years.

Ian

The Halletts
Orange NSW Australia
e-mail: halletts(at)colourcity.com

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There is a primer that I have gotten from a specialty hardware company that does that -- you brush off the loose stuff, and spray, and it reamalgamates the rust back into a solid black substance that can then be painted over.  I used it on a wrought-iron railing, and it seems to be holding up OK.  The rep that I got it from has retired, but the company is: Winzer Corporation, Dallas, TX 80-527-4126.
Linden