The Best Rust Inhibitor I Have Ever Used

The Best Rust Inhibitor I Have Ever Used

Posted August 31st, 2016
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Throughout my car restoration process, I was in search of a way to prevent rust and corrosion on bare metal parts that could not be powder coated and also bare metal areas on powder coated parts.  One of my main considerations is that the product is dry to the touch.  I have found a product that works very well called Rust Prevention Magic, or RPM for short. 



I have bare steel parts that have been coated with RPM for over a year now and they are still showing no signs of rust.  It applies relatively clear, although it does add a very slight yellow tint.  The best thing though is that it dries completely and the part can be handled without removing any of the product or getting your hands and tools messy. It is by far my favorite rust inhibitor and I have been using it on every part of my car restoration. 

The product is pretty easy to use but it takes a little bit of time to apply it thoroughly.  I prefer to apply it to batches of parts to save time.  To apply it, the part needs to be clean bare metal with no rust.  You then heat the part up, apply the RPM, and let it cool. RPM costs about $35.00 USD for a 8oz can, but it goes a very long way.  I am still on my first can after coating lots of stuff for my car and tons of tools and things around the garage.

The steering knuckle below is one of the first parts I ever powder coated and I quickly learned that any bare metal areas that were masked off during powder coating would rust pretty quickly, even inside the house.  This is a cast iron part that was completely stripped and all rust was removed before powder coating.  A month after powder coating, I pulled the part out of storage and as you can see in the picture below, it was covered in surface rust.  

This was unacceptable so I wire wheeled all of the rust off these areas and tried several different products to protect it, the most popular being Boeshield T-9.  They worked for while, but rust eventually showed up again.

After ordering Rust Prevention Magic, I stripped my steering knuckles and started over again.  Fresh coat of powder and I didn't leave as many areas in bare metal. After powder coating, I smoothed out the bare sandblasted finish on the face of the steering knuckle with a wire wheel, cleaned it with denatured alcohol and began the application of the Rust Prevention Magic. 

Keep in mind that Rust Prevention Magic is not a rust remover, but a rust inhibitor. If you are dealing with a part that is currently rusty, you will need to first remove the rust.  This can be done by sandblasting, wire wheeling, or a rust remover solution such as Evapo-Rust.  Sandblasting will leave a matte grey finish which I prefer to smooth out with a wire wheel before continuing.  If you do not want to change the appearance of the metal, then a product like Evapo-Rust would be your best option. 





The first step is to heat the area with a heat gun, hair dryer, or oven to about 120 degrees F. Since this is a big chunk of cast iron, it took awhile to heat up.  I stuck my 2nd steering knuckle in the oven to speed the process up.

Once the part is heated up, take a paint brush and brush it into the product a couple of times.  The paint brush does not visibly pick up any product but it is on there.  I use a couple different sizes of paint brushes to either cover large areas or hard-to-reach areas.  A little bit goes a long way, I am still on my first can. 

After you have some RPM on your brush, start coating it onto the bare metal.  As long as the part is hot enough, the RPM will disperse onto the metal as a liquid.  It is hard to coat large areas at a time so I concentrate on a specific area before it cools down, then heat up the next area and repeat.

If you see any brush strokes in the finish, you can wipe it with a soft cloth before the part cools and the RPM dries and it will smooth it out.  Once the part completely cools down to room temperature, the part is now protected from rust and corrosion.  

Like I said, I now use Rust Prevention Magic on everything, even brand new parts. It really compliments powder coated parts when the parts bolted to it are not covered in rust. 

I also use it on Aluminum

 

I also use it on cast aluminum parts to prevent the corroded look that they get after awhile.  I was hoping it would be a cure for keeping polished aluminum shiny, but it does dull the polished aluminum a little bit.  It's not drastic, but if you want extremely bright polished aluminum, the only method I have found that works is lots of maintenance polishing. RPM is still a better alternative than leaving polished aluminum unprotected if you do not plan on re-polishing often.