Restoring the batteries' basket - part #3, rust treatment

As soon as realized that deep corrosion and rust would be something to deal with in the restoration process of some parts I started searching on the internet the best ideas to get over it.

Forums, sites and suppliers agree in one thing: remove all loosen paint, remove rust as deep as possible, wash out and degrease. Without this basic steps, everything else is worthless!

Afterwards the next steps depend a lot on the finishing level that you are searching for: hidden chassis structure, structural areas partially hidden and finally visible parts and panels.

What I achieved with the sandblasting of the batteries' basket was very good for hidden chassis structures but not good enough for a "visible panel". This is ok for me. 

Independly of the finishing, rust MUST be treated! Here again are several approaches: mechanical removal, chemical removal, chemical convertion. Each one as advantages and disadvantages, whereas the choice will depend on the resources you have available (sandblasting chamber, chemical bath, etc...), budget, size and shape of the part. It is also important to know that some metal treatments require special finishing of the part - like galvanizing or an electrochemical reaction requires that all rust and ALL layers of paint and primers are previously removed. Such treatments also require a certain thickness of the metal in order to keep its structural resistance, as they will consume part of the metal itself in process! If you have deep corrosion this is often a bad choice as you will end up with multiple holes and a fragile structure. 

To the best of the my knowledge, and given all the constraints I have, the best option in my case is to go for an epoxy based chemical reactive primer. 

Based on the reviews I found in forums and internet, one of the most popular is noverox from ALLCHEMET 

If you like old video comercials just enjoy this one and get the basics on how it works :]

This product is very easy to find (at least here in Switzerland) and even has a special version for automotive bodywork repairs. 

Price is actually quite low for the result as it costs typically less than CHF15 for 250ml. 

On top of it, there is some environmental frendlyness in the product itself. It's not smelly at all and apparently doesn't release any nasty vapors when applied. Seems true when you use it, but I anyways prefer to use outdoors in open air. 

The surface preparation I've done by sandblasting is much better than the required for the product. After having sprayed out all sand with compressed air, I've washed it with water and a clean brush. Although I've been careful with any greasy residues after the initial cleaning, I've anyway used a clean cloth soaked in universal solvent to make one last degreasing before starting to apply the surface treatment. 

Once ready, I started applying noverox with a brush in the corners and edges and difficult to access areas, leaving flat and bigger surfaces for the end. The product is very easy to use and, as expected, all areas where there is metal start to turn black as the product reacts with it. Since it is an epoxy based product, it does not take much time to dry between layers (10min according to instructions, rather 20mins in my case). in the meantime I took some photos:

A cup of coffee, and then back to action with a second layer! 

Given the amount of edges, I left the second layer dry for about 1 hour and then added a third layer!

Afterwards I got the batteries' basket inside, and I'm now going to let it cure for at least a week. The manufacturer does require such a long curing time before applying subsequent layers, but since I'm not in a rush, I rather wait and see if there's any cracking or peeling issues. If all goes as expected, this primer layer will hopefully:
- stop corrosion
- protect the metal for several years
- guarantee a stable surface for the next layers of paint. 

Fingers crossed 🤞