What grit sand paper should I use to do 2 small rust spots?

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corvetteman

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What grit sand paper should I use to do 2 small rust spots? I have 2 rust spots near the windshield. Both are about a centimeter wide by an inch long. 1 has bubbled up a bit to be rough to the touch. I was planning on attaching some sand paper to a pencil eraser to be precise but I dont know what grit sand paper will be strong enough to get rid of the rust. Thanks in advance.
 
barry would be one of the few people that I would consider an authority on something like this, but my guess would be something like an 800 grit maybe? depending on how bad it is...maybe you can get away with 1200?



But I thought there were products you can use other than sandpaper for the rust spots?
 
Alexshimshimhae said:
barry would be one of the few people that I would consider an authority on something like this, but my guess would be something like an 800 grit maybe? depending on how bad it is...maybe you can get away with 1200?



But I thought there were products you can use other than sandpaper for the rust spots?
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I previously used a product to make sure the rust did not spread but I'm looking to make the surface even not rough so I can touch it up cosmetically. The rust preventive did not make the surface smooth. I believe I will need to sand the rough jagged edges down. Hopefully I will not need any bondo. :)
 
Alexshimshimhae said:
my guess would probably be 800 and work your way to the finer grits--but it's worth sending barry theal a pm to ask
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I dont know who he is but I will look him up on your advice. Thanks a bunch. :)
 
Alexshimshimhae said:
lol barry's one of the people I consider the autopian "sages" lol the autopian wise men. Accumulator may be able to help you out to.
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Thanks Alex. I havent been on Autopia in years but I took your advice and messaged Barry. :)
 
yakky said:
Skip the sand paper and get a "scratch brush" like this:



Amazon.com: Scratch Brush, Fiberglass (Colors may vary): Home Improvement



They are perfect for small paint knicks that will be filled with touchup. Make sure you use a rust converter after cleaning it up, there will still be rust in there no matter how clean you get it, then prime and paint.
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Will that remove the rough metal rust edges? Do they sell them locally? Thanks in advance. :)
 
spree17 said:
Will that remove the rough metal rust edges? Do they sell them locally? Thanks in advance. :)
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They will get down to bare metal in seconds, it doesn't look like it could be as agressive as it is. To me it works as fast as 200 grit but finishes out a bit cleaner. Obviously these aren't for finishing but for getting rust out of the knick, nothing beats them. If you have a hobby shop, they should have them, just ask for a scratch brush or fiberglass pen.
 
yakky said:
They will get down to bare metal in seconds, it doesn't look like it could be as agressive as it is. To me it works as fast as 200 grit but finishes out a bit cleaner. Obviously these aren't for finishing but for getting rust out of the knick, nothing beats them. If you have a hobby shop, they should have them, just ask for a scratch brush or fiberglass pen.
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Yeah they look really delicate in the picture. I will look in to them today or tomorrow. Do you think any auto stores carry them?
 
spree17 said:
Yeah they look really delicate in the picture. I will look in to them today or tomorrow. Do you think any auto stores carry them?
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I have never seen them at an autoparts store. They are used for crafts and stuff and for cleaning electronic stuff like motor brushes.
 
yakky said:
I have never seen them at an autoparts store. They are used for crafts and stuff and for cleaning electronic stuff like motor brushes.
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Thanks I will check my local hobby store which is actually very close to 4 auto parts stores. :)
 
Those filament pencils/scratch brushes can work OK but you'll go through the fiberglass refills kinda fast. Trim them with a razor blade to get the size/angle you want and don't let 'em touch good paint. IME they're a lot more gentle than one might expect.



If the rust is around the windshield molding/trim, I'd get it fixed properly by a pro as this can lead to major rust-out. Spend a bit now or end up dumping the vehicle over it.
 
Accumulator said:
Those filament pencils/scratch brushes can work OK but you'll go through the fiberglass refills kinda fast. Trim them with a razor blade to get the size/angle you want and don't let 'em touch good paint. IME they're a lot more gentle than one might expect.



If the rust is around the windshield molding/trim, I'd get it fixed properly by a pro as this can lead to major rust-out. Spend a bit now or end up dumping the vehicle over it.
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Thanks for the reply. The rust took place years ago in NY but never spread probably because it was treated and went to a dry state where it is garaged. I dont want to invest a lot of money in this car because I plan to trade it for a smaller car. I will look in to those brushes but just in case they are not strong enough what grit sand paper would you recommend?
 
spree17 said:
Thanks for the reply. The rust took place years ago in NY but never spread probably because it was treated and went to a dry state where it is garaged. I dont want to invest a lot of money in this car because I plan to trade it for a smaller car. I will look in to those brushes but just in case they are not strong enough what grit sand paper would you recommend?
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OK,copy that on the rust not spreading, that's good news.



I'd use 400 for really rough work like that, just make sure to mask off/avoid anything (like surrounding good paint or windshield trim) that you don't want to really mess up.



Then apply a rust converter and/or primer and do the paint touchup. The 400 grit scratches oughta be plenty mild enough for the paint to fill things in.
 
Accumulator said:
OK,copy that on the rust not spreading, that's good news.



I'd use 400 for really rough work like that, just make sure to mask off/avoid anything (like surrounding good paint or windshield trim) that you don't want to really mess up.



Then apply a rust converter and/or primer and do the paint touchup. The 400 grit scratches oughta be plenty mild enough for the paint to fill things in.
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Awesome. Thanks for the advice. :)
 
One thing I might oughta clarify...if the 400 grit scratches look "bad", and not all papers finish the same by any means, then do go ahead and sand with something finer, being especially careful to remove any "tracers" (sorta random, extra-deep scratches that are worse than the overall sanding effect). Some papers are really bad about leaving the tracers, other papers aren't. But "normal 400" scratches are OK at least if your primer isn't really *really* thin or something else weird like that.
 
Accumulator said:
One thing I might oughta clarify...if the 400 grit scratches look "bad", and not all papers finish the same by any means, then do go ahead and sand with something finer, being especially careful to remove any "tracers" (sorta random, extra-deep scratches that are worse than the overall sanding effect). Some papers are really bad about leaving the tracers, other papers aren't. But "normal 400" scratches are OK at least if your primer isn't really *really* thin or something else weird like that.
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I just looked again. It has some bubbled up rough edges that I dont know if sand paper will be strong enough to file them down.
 
spree17 said:
I just looked again. It has some bubbled up rough edges that I dont know if sand paper will be strong enough to file them down.
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That complicates things a bit and yeah, you'll probably need some aggressive paper for that.
 
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