Intensive Cleaning and Early Rust Treatment

cormie

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for advice on cleaning up this van. As you can see from the pictures, there's some pretty tough looking areas and I haven't a clue what the best way to deal with them is. I was recommended a steam cleaning valet company but I think this needs a lot more than that?

(Click to enlarge)


The pop rivets on the side of the box are protruding and are a little rusty with some rust stains trailing below them too.

Then there's also what appears to be some kind of tar like substance on the side where all the black specks are.

I want to get sign writing on the van and don't want the rust to ruin it after a few months.

Any advice would be appreciated!

cormie

bump?

ba_barabus

I'd say a steam clean would do that the world of good. It might not remove all the dirt but it's the best start you could make tbh on a such a big area.

You'll have to prime and paint the bolts I reckon to stop the rust on them forming.

The rusty door handle is due to nails etc being left in it and should clean out easily. It's plastic so can't rust

TBH I think a good steam clean is the best starting point.

cormie

That's interesting, good to know steam cleaning might do it A friend was suggesting giving the floor of the van itself a sand, but I wasn't keen on this as the floor is a little bit grippy and a sanding would smooth it out which I don't want. I'm going to ask a Steam Cleaning service I know what they think

With the bolts would I not need to sand/grind away all the affected areas before priming/painting? I remember seeing about rust treatment before and it's not easy.

goz83

I think Lidl are doing a rust treatment spray, which might be help. Perhaps get some of that before going into other expenses. The steam clean will be good for the dirt and tar. Yes, you will need to get the rust off, before priming and painting, but rust treastment spray should help you here. I'm pretty sure i seen a rotary tool kit on sale in Lidl too. And no, I don't work for Lidl :pac:

cormie

Thanks a lot, will check out my options Maybe the steam clean guys have experience with rust treatment too (I've absolutely 0!)

Chimaera

I think this thread might get more responses in the detailing section.

cormie

Ooh maybe, didn't think of that! If a mod can move it, please do

gman2k

I have used Jenolite before with great success.

cormie

Thanks for that. Sounds good but some reviews say it's not the only thing necessary to kill rust completely. I just don't want to end up getting sign writing and have the rust come back to destroy it after a year, although maybe if I use this, paint it, and then cover the area with the vinyl stickers, this will stop any risk of rust reappearing?

Chimaera

Cleaning the outside should be doable with normal car-cleaning materials. Wash, tar cleanser, iron fallout remover, wash again. The only thing to be careful of is the material the outside surface of the box body is made from. I'm guessing it's not a normal painted metal surface, so test anything you're going to use on a small inconspicuous area first.

Interior would probably be ok with a good scrub with APC. If you sand down the floor, you're going to need to recoat it anyway, so just use a paint/varnish that's designed for floor use and has some sort of high-grip properties.

cormie

Thanks a lot for the input I've spoken to the steam cleaning guys and they said they should be able to tackle it, I've seen some of their work and even if they can't make the tail lift and that look like new, I can still get them to work on the interior, dash etc of this and more so will use them anyway. If it works, brilliant, if not, I'll have to get more technical