[JonOhh]

Give it a good scrub with a wire brush, and then apply OSPHO or something similar, basically a rust converter. Rust should turn black, or at least dark brown. Avoid the cheap auto parts store rust converters. A lot of these turn black regardless of if they've done anything with rust or not- and what you really want is for the rust itself to be black.

Make sure you do the same with the metal on the other side as well, or it'll just come back through again. Let it dry for 30h, in a low moisture environment if at all possible. If it doesn't turn black, wait for it to dry, and put another coat on, but much lighter.

Once that's done, put two coats of POR15 Self Etching Primer, and give it PLENTY of time to dry. Finally, follow up with your topcoat. Don't leave the POR or anything else without a top coat of paint- you want to be sure that it's completely sealed in. If you can't get a good top coat on the backside of it, you can look into rust encapsulator from Eastwood- that should seal it up well.


Yes, there are many redundant steps in there, and yes, it's likely unnecessary, but this will essentially ensure you have no issues in the future...it's a shame to see these cars rust. Just a bit of advice. This is the process I'm using for my Bertone x1/9 and 65' Impala SS. Seems to be holding up well so far, although both are very much in the project car state.