Bilt Hamber corrosion treatments...how good?
Discussion
I'm putting together an order for various Bilt Hamber anti rust treatments as part of my on going restoration project.
The is to treat any slight remaining surface rust/in corners, etc after attacking with a rotary wire brush in my angle grinder. This pretty much leaves the metal clean and bright, with slight pitting where the rust has been removed. The photo shows a typical area that has been wire brushed, but needs treating. Not so clear is that there is a trace of rust in the very corners of this section. It's completely hidden by the nose cone once refitted, so perfect finish isn't required, but I don't want it bubbling up in a hidden place...
A coat of Deox-gel on fixed parts on the car.
Small parts to be dipped in Deox C.
A coating of hydrate 80.
Prime with Electrox.
Any parts that will be welded such as wing flanges primed with Etchweld.
I wonder if this is overkill or whether I need to add anything else, also whether the BH stuff is actually any good to start with?
The is to treat any slight remaining surface rust/in corners, etc after attacking with a rotary wire brush in my angle grinder. This pretty much leaves the metal clean and bright, with slight pitting where the rust has been removed. The photo shows a typical area that has been wire brushed, but needs treating. Not so clear is that there is a trace of rust in the very corners of this section. It's completely hidden by the nose cone once refitted, so perfect finish isn't required, but I don't want it bubbling up in a hidden place...
A coat of Deox-gel on fixed parts on the car.
Small parts to be dipped in Deox C.
A coating of hydrate 80.
Prime with Electrox.
Any parts that will be welded such as wing flanges primed with Etchweld.
I wonder if this is overkill or whether I need to add anything else, also whether the BH stuff is actually any good to start with?
Thanks for the feedback. Nice car in your garage too, I like the old E30, used to fancy a 325i Sport in red like the brochure I used to have way back when. 
Thinking about it: The bit in the picture will be covered by the nose cone, so maybe I should brush over it with waxoil (or BH's equivalent) anyway after painting to be confident that it's not festering in a hidden place. It's surprising though that if you look at how rusty the headlight support panel is, that's what the highlighted bit looked like. A quick buzz with the wire brush and it looks bright and shiny, so the BH stuff is more belt and braces really.
Thinking about it: The bit in the picture will be covered by the nose cone, so maybe I should brush over it with waxoil (or BH's equivalent) anyway after painting to be confident that it's not festering in a hidden place. It's surprising though that if you look at how rusty the headlight support panel is, that's what the highlighted bit looked like. A quick buzz with the wire brush and it looks bright and shiny, so the BH stuff is more belt and braces really.
Do not use hydrate 80 and then Electrox. Electrox needs to be applied to bare metal, as rust free as possible.
Hydrate 80 doesn't actually work that well in my experience anyway.
Electrox is superb, use at least two coats. The deox products are also superb.
I posted a recent thread on detailing world showing how last years derusting was coming on after a harsh winter which may be of help to you
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
Hydrate 80 doesn't actually work that well in my experience anyway.
Electrox is superb, use at least two coats. The deox products are also superb.
I posted a recent thread on detailing world showing how last years derusting was coming on after a harsh winter which may be of help to you
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
Thanks Neil...was just about to call it a night, but I'll have a read of that link first.
EDIT: Going on that result maybe I do it this way: Derust with the wire brush first, then treat with Deox gel, prime with Electrox then top coat. For parts that are completely covered once the car is back together (like the area in the picture) I could also treat with BH Dynax S-50 as you did with the BMW subframe.
EDIT: Going on that result maybe I do it this way: Derust with the wire brush first, then treat with Deox gel, prime with Electrox then top coat. For parts that are completely covered once the car is back together (like the area in the picture) I could also treat with BH Dynax S-50 as you did with the BMW subframe.
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 12th April 22:53
Still not sure what Im going to do with the underside. The original stone chip is pretty tightly stuck on, so if I remove it only to reapply seems a bit pointless...I might just do localised clean up and refinish, then paint it gloss black. The car hasn't been out in the rain since 1985 or so and I don't plan on winter driving in it anyway.
Having said that I want to avoid getting drawn into an over the top restoration otherwise I'll never get it back on the road.
Having said that I want to avoid getting drawn into an over the top restoration otherwise I'll never get it back on the road.
OldSkoolRS said:
Still not sure what Im going to do with the underside. The original stone chip is pretty tightly stuck on, so if I remove it only to reapply seems a bit pointless...I might just do localised clean up and refinish, then paint it gloss black. The car hasn't been out in the rain since 1985 or so and I don't plan on winter driving in it anyway.
Having said that I want to avoid getting drawn into an over the top restoration otherwise I'll never get it back on the road.
It is worth putting in the time and effort now as it will save having go back over it at a later date.Having said that I want to avoid getting drawn into an over the top restoration otherwise I'll never get it back on the road.
As the floor and general underneath is in A1 condition due to the dry weather use since my Mum stopped driving it to work in 1985, the underneath is just dirty more than anything. The only reason the two area of rust on the inner wings is due to condensation I reckon: After it was washed then put away in the garage and the water would settle in this area just by the side of the strut top/wing rail.
I plan on cleaning, derusting and repainting any area that I can access while doing the essential work (apart from the two inner wing repairs, there is radiator, braking and exhaust to sort). After that I plan to get an MOT on it and tax it so I can at least use it. Afterwards it can be an ongoing rolling restoration depending on how I feel...or maybe I'll sell it, I don't know at the moment.
If I take everything off it to do a total concours standard resto I may never finish it: I once did this with an Ex's MGB and it was left with brand new floors and sills, but basically a rolling chassis (I don't know if she ever got it put back together, as I wasn't going to do it for free once we parted
) Doing it in bite sized chunks seems less overwhelming and it also means less storage space required for the bits I take off. Currently I've got a nose cone and the outer wing to move everytime I want to work on it...
I plan on cleaning, derusting and repainting any area that I can access while doing the essential work (apart from the two inner wing repairs, there is radiator, braking and exhaust to sort). After that I plan to get an MOT on it and tax it so I can at least use it. Afterwards it can be an ongoing rolling restoration depending on how I feel...or maybe I'll sell it, I don't know at the moment.
If I take everything off it to do a total concours standard resto I may never finish it: I once did this with an Ex's MGB and it was left with brand new floors and sills, but basically a rolling chassis (I don't know if she ever got it put back together, as I wasn't going to do it for free once we parted
) Doing it in bite sized chunks seems less overwhelming and it also means less storage space required for the bits I take off. Currently I've got a nose cone and the outer wing to move everytime I want to work on it...I think you're right...I kind of 'fell out' with cars for a good few years until recently. I did so many rebuilds, resprays and welding, etc then once my son was born I got busy with other things. Having a company car and doing lots of long distance driving didn't help either, hence why I've left the RS gathering dust since 1998 or so bar moving it to our current house 10 years ago. It's really like a 5 year old car I suppose as it was my Mum's daily driver for the first 5 years they had it (my Dad only got to drive it at the weekend).
I'm more worried about getting it back on the road and then someone pinching it as no one is really aware it's in my garage at the moment.
I'm more worried about getting it back on the road and then someone pinching it as no one is really aware it's in my garage at the moment.
Definately need to get a tracker and decent alarm.
I gave it a hoover and clean out today to prevent mould growing and as a morale boost, as it's really tidy inside for a 31 year old car.
The pictures of the underneath show why I'm not keen to scrape it all off, just to recoat. The back wheel arch is typical of the slight surface rust that is on the bodywork and underbonnet, which is what I'll be using the Bilt Hamber stuff for. The arch would probably clean up with coarse wet and dry, but I'll blitz it with the wire brush to make sure it's all completely gone. Even the bits like the underbonnet rust look much worse than they are as 2 minutes with the wire cup brush has them clean and bright ready for the BH treatment.
Hope you like the pictures.
I gave it a hoover and clean out today to prevent mould growing and as a morale boost, as it's really tidy inside for a 31 year old car.
The pictures of the underneath show why I'm not keen to scrape it all off, just to recoat. The back wheel arch is typical of the slight surface rust that is on the bodywork and underbonnet, which is what I'll be using the Bilt Hamber stuff for. The arch would probably clean up with coarse wet and dry, but I'll blitz it with the wire brush to make sure it's all completely gone. Even the bits like the underbonnet rust look much worse than they are as 2 minutes with the wire cup brush has them clean and bright ready for the BH treatment.
Hope you like the pictures.
Yeah, doing a bit here and there. Don't want to get sick of doing it, so only go out there when I feel in the mood. Had planned on taking off the cards at some point to check as there is a tiny rust bubble on the bottom of one door, hoping it's just a stone chip gone bad. It's the kind of thing that can wait until the MOT is done which is the main target right now: Inner wing repairs (part way through now), radiator, exhaust and brakes, plus whatever the MOT man picks up.
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