Yes, Jenolite (or any other brand containing phosphoric acid) works well. It converts the rust into a phosphate which is quite inert. The instructioons may tell you that you don't need to rub down but ignore that if you want a good finish.

Russell.

Hi Chris, Beware!! can you tell me what car it is, and where the rust is, or even post up a picture? If this is ONLY stone chip damage, and you know the metal underneath is sound, as the others have said, anything with phosphoric acid in it will remove it, then use a product like "Davids" zinc rich primer or similar.

If however the rust first appeared as bubbling in the paint it is almost certainly rust which has come right through the metal of the panel, or an earlier repair which has not been done properly, and will require either a welded in repair, or filling with a reinforced matt and resin type filler after all the rust has been neutralised and treated or removed. Don't wish to be negative about this, but going out to spend a few minutes fixing some rust then coming back with a long face and a hole in your pride and joy is not a good way to spend your Sunday! I spent a large(too large!) part of my life rebuilding rusty motor cars and have welded everything from an Aston Martin DBS V8 to a Citroen 2CV.

Phil

Hi there, all,

I'd like to add a caution regarding 'get down to clean metal'.

If you are too gung-ho with the wire brush, what appears to be 'clean metal' appears quite soon. However, this is often an illusion! The 'bristles' of the wire brush are much harder than the mild steel being treated. Thus, the brushing action smears the steel and closes it over the tops of the pits, leaving these largely untouched and still rusty but inaccessible to the Jenolite or other anti-rust treatment. That shiny burnished surface is a snare and a delusion! Those rusty pits will break out again disappointingly soon!

My own preference is to use an abrasive disk and to stop once any loose material has been removed. There needs to be some rust still evident for the Jenolite work on. Also, the instructions on the Jenolite container do not recommend zinc-rich paint as the next stage.  For zinc coating (i.e. galvanising) to work, there must be galvanic (i.e. electrical) contact between the particles of zinc and the steel – nobody has yet expained to me how that requirement can be satisfied when the zinc particles are insulated from the steel and from each other by the binder/carrier components of the paint???

As Phil has posted, what I have written does not apply if the rust is coming right through the thickness of the base material.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 15/02/2015 15:31:28