Suspension surface rust

[mapples]

Hi all,hope 2025 has kicked off well for you.
I'm looking at a tidy up of the big steel bits under the van.
I have wire brushed and lightly sanded off the manky bits.(not draw bar it's fine)
I have then brushed on some feronite,rust converter,which seems to have done a good job.
I have used that stuff to good effect around the exterior of the house.
I've some oil based steel undercoat,which i think would be good to use as part two of the job.
Haven't or can not decide what to finish it with.
I haven't undercoated or decided on a top coat yet.
I'd appreciate any thoughts on part 2 and 3,what have others done and how did it go.
  Thankyou all...mark

[robstevens]

I'm about to use some spray cans of underbody protection as a final coat on the suspension that has stone chips everywhere.

[mapples]

Hi Rob,not sure why,but im not getting notifications.I have to rely on haveing a look for replies.
Have you treated the rusty bits?
What type of spray are you useing?
I'm not doing the shocks or springs.It's the other bits,they are a bit (a lot)blasted.
So far the feranite seems good.
Not sure how to finish it,but if i overthink it first, i'd never start.

[robstevens]

Spray on CRC rust converter first, then I'm about to apply Septone "Stone Shield" spray.

[mapples]

Okedoke,thanks Rob.
I'll check out the septone.
The car parts shops seem to stock a single brand of these products,and 'they are the best'
I'm looking for a satin black top coat,and maybe an undercoat as well.
As i said earlier,ihave apretty good steel undercoat,that will stick to anything.I have some bare metal bits of steel,.heavey handed sanding,wire bruhing .Thanks mark

[mapples]

Ok,after a lot of phone calls,ive decided to buy a different u/c instead of the one i have all ready.
I have put a couple a coats of feronite on..looks good,worked very well.
I'm going to u/c with a wattly primer,followed by wattle killrust epoxy enamel topcoat.
There were others,but there seemed to be a lot of nasty stuff in them.
I think there may be harder finishes,but i'm thinking this will be easier to redo after a trip.
Thanks everyone for replies.

[mapples]

Sorry it took a while to update what has been going on.
So i topcoated with the gloss.
You could paint it on the wall and use it as a mirror.
Decided it was not quite what i was looking for,you need a welding mask to look at it😁
I sanded it back a fair bit,put on the u/c recomended to go over.
Well there were small bits here and there that were a bit orange peely.
Turns out i was given the wrong advice.I explained in detail what i was doing and was sold the WRONG u/c.
I have since sanded it back again,undercoated (different u/c),and finished in a matt black.
No problems at all it looks great.
This is the firs time i have done this sort of thing.
Some went wrong and a lot went right.
I learnt a lot,and is good to see the finish.
I'm confident when i get back from the next trip,i'll easily be able to bring the suspension
back to looking the goods.
Thanks for all input,stay safe.mark

[Ray]

Thanks for the update, to be clear can you tell us again which products ended up working well so we/I don't make the same mistake.

thanks, Ray

[mapples]

Sorry jay,here is a quick run down on what i did.
1.a scrape and sand of surface to be painted.if you prep it well,the finish looks spot on.👍🏻
2.a quick wipe over,dusting.i used a dry brush and non lint rag.4.i brushed on some rust converter(feronite)you get it at mitre 10.to any little bits of rust left,a day later a light sand and dust.
3Apply the u/c wattle master prep mettle primer..it is turps paint so i used a good quality house brush.I have found monach give a good finish and last well.Due to humidity i gave it two days to cure well.Then a second u/c(after a quick wipe with a 400 gritt sand paper).
Before painting on under coat or top coat,ilike to have two sets of brushes soaking in turps.
Just in case the brushes you use first get a bit gunky.
To get rid of the extra turps in the brush,just sqeeze in a rag and then a bit of a flick on a towel or similer.
4.So after a couple of days i attempt
the top coat.Same as for under coat.For this i used wattle kill rust epoxy gloss eenamel,but a sticker on the bottom of the label says it is 'matt bkack'it must have this sticker or it will be Gloss finish.
If you like high gloss this is a vey good choice.We didnot like it the first time,so a bit aof mucking around,and presto.the matt black...and i'm very happy with it.
I know it will be needing redoing after various trips,but now i know what i'm doing,it should be a quick job.
Good luck to all,and if unsure ring the paint support people at the company who make the paint you decide on.stay safe wehen uder the van.thanks for your input.   Mark

[peter_mcc]

I'd be interested in an update after you've done some dirt road driving. My experience is that the paint gets stripped off back to bare metal pretty quickly especially if it's a fine gravel/sand surface at high speed. Hopefully your painting experience is better than mine!

[Ray]

thanks for the details, I will keep it in mind for the eventual selling day detailing.

Yes, please tell us if the paint is still there after a gravelly trip.

Ray

[mapples]

Hi Ray,i don't expect there will not be any stone chips or paint missing after gravel roads.
But now i have it worked out what to do,i'm happy to give it all a quick prep,sanding then paint.
The longest part of the job will be a couple of days between coats.
They say 16 hrs i think.But a couple of days doesn't hurt.
Sorry for not getting back sooner,i'm stuffed if i can work out why i don't get notifications on a reply.thanks all mark

[mapples]

Ray,i wont forget to let you know how it goes tho.I don't think it will peel off.
When i have sanded it back,it has seemed to be well attached Maybe we'll be back late september...but departure and destinations are unknown.. mark

[Ray]

Perfect, thanks