So about six months ago I had this eureka moment when I asked myself, why don't people gun blue their automobiles? I questioned this because I've lived in several terrible climates that use road salt and the result is always the same, cars go to the scrapyard when their frames rust, not due to any mechanical failure.
I looked and looked and it appeared my idea was terrible, since nobody else talked about it online. Then I found out there is a product they are using for this idea and guess what it is? Gun bluing.
It's sold at Ace Hardware and its called "Ospho". $30 a gallon. Its a Phosphorous salt (acid) and it converts Iron Oxide (Rust) into Phosphorous Oxide. It turns out it is a trick of the trade for custom car restorers.
What you do: find an item that is rusty, like your 2 year old car's trailer hitch, or the frame welds on your modern vehicle. Take a plastic or bronze brush and remove as much of the orange oxide as you can and then it it with a rag or air hose. Take a paint brush, paint the area with Ospho and wait a day. When you come back, you blued the part, completely eradicating iron oxide and preventing it from slowly rotting your car.
Afterwards, you have lots of options. 1.) Ignore it. 2.) Hit it with rustoleum to protect the area via a repaint, 3.) If you're dealing with a collector car, you can cover it with a lanolin grease that is popular for spraying car frames in salty areas. 4.) Just zap the bluing with WD40, filthy used motor oil, or whatever petroleum based product pleases you.
That's what I learned. You can blue your car and it kills rust so it can't grow again.
I looked and looked and it appeared my idea was terrible, since nobody else talked about it online. Then I found out there is a product they are using for this idea and guess what it is? Gun bluing.
It's sold at Ace Hardware and its called "Ospho". $30 a gallon. Its a Phosphorous salt (acid) and it converts Iron Oxide (Rust) into Phosphorous Oxide. It turns out it is a trick of the trade for custom car restorers.
What you do: find an item that is rusty, like your 2 year old car's trailer hitch, or the frame welds on your modern vehicle. Take a plastic or bronze brush and remove as much of the orange oxide as you can and then it it with a rag or air hose. Take a paint brush, paint the area with Ospho and wait a day. When you come back, you blued the part, completely eradicating iron oxide and preventing it from slowly rotting your car.
Afterwards, you have lots of options. 1.) Ignore it. 2.) Hit it with rustoleum to protect the area via a repaint, 3.) If you're dealing with a collector car, you can cover it with a lanolin grease that is popular for spraying car frames in salty areas. 4.) Just zap the bluing with WD40, filthy used motor oil, or whatever petroleum based product pleases you.
That's what I learned. You can blue your car and it kills rust so it can't grow again.
We use Ospho all the time down here on the Gulf coast. Our air has a salt content in it, and nothing is safe. For vehicles, there are coatings used for the underside and frame. Even Osphoed stuff will eventually rust again if not resealed with a primer and good paint.
