OK, so Sven (the campervan in question) has had his spring scrub up and all the cosmetic rusty staining and patches are still cosmetic, but they wont stay that way so… How to treat it?

Mainly it is along seams so I am guessing I need to rake out the seam sealer, brush out as much as I can, paint on some nasty chemicals like Jenolite or similar, refill the seam with something resembling seam sealer, then paint it over?

It will be purely functional, although I will choose some some sort of white to cover it in the end so don’t worry too much about looks, I just want it to live for another 20 odd years…

What would you/have you used for a similar job? Do I need a wire brush on a grinder? How do I make sure I top coat it effectively when rattle cans and the great outdoors are my options?

Edit- never done this before, can you tell 🙂

These are not the euphemisms you are looking for….

Go about your business.

Pics?

I have use the hammerite rust stopper stuff before. It reacts with the rust and stops it going further. I cleaned the area first with a a wire brsh attatment on my drill – but may be tricky in a seam.

I have also used it to treat my rusty gussets (on my steel inbred!) Worked a treat, for those I just poured it into the gussets and its stopped them rusting any more.

althepal, very little to see at the moment, just the staining around the seams that scrapes off the surface of the paint. Am really hoping to get to the problems before they actually become problems. Couple of patches that are bubbling/flaking a little, but they are about 50p sized so hopefully not too bad. Can grab a couple in the morning… actually, will try and grab a couple now…

adjustablewrench, did you paint over afterwards or does/did it protect the surrounding exposed metal as well?

I have used and painted afterwards but also used bit and left it bare – depends on how much further exposure its going to have

The compound it makes when it reacts with the rust is black. If the rust stopper then runs on to paint it can stain it black. If I was good I would be able to remember the chemistry – but the resulting compound protects the metal below. If I were you I would get a wire brush and rake it as much of it as possible then carefully pour it down the seam. You can use a brush but dont paint it from the bottle as any rust that gets into the bottle will stop it working so well the next time you go to use it

What sort of camper is it?

What model of van?

It is an old German Westfalia, a Sven Hedin. Based on an LT28 but with a proper high top, in fact, it looks like this…

or it did 4 years ago when we got it…

but now bits of it look like this…

and this…

which is why I want to tidy it up and keep it fairly straight until some money is available to do a more thorough job.

Actually looks bloody awful with a flash photo! But that is why it needs tidying up.

adjustablewrench, makes sense for the rusted bits, but what about any exposed clean metal, I assume wire brushing away like a loon will expose some, as yet un-rusted bodywork. I assume I will need to protect that unless the hammerite stuff does that as well…

Got a couple of T3s with seam rash – I would wire disc to get the worst off, then blast the seams out with a portable grit blaster, then get all the blasting sand out. Treat with lots of rust treatments (worth attacking seams from the inside if you can get to them). Replace seam sealer and then pain.

Love the Sven Hedin conversion, mate has one and it’s amazing how much kit they managed to squeeze in and how well they are thought through.

upu could try POR 15 stuff. You need to top coat it as the paint is not UV stable but all the info is here: http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-rust-products/por15-rust-solutions.html

No the hammerite stuff just reacts with the rust, if there’s bare metal that likely to rust further painting it would be best

rogerthecat, first van we have had, actually got it for our honeymoon thinking we could sell it on if we didn’t get on with it. Just back from our first trip with both the kids being mobile (not quite 3 and not quite 1) at Cannock. Sub zero temperatures at night, barely above during the day and no space in a 20 odd year old van should have been a nightmare! Just wondering where to go next week now, it is a brilliant thing, it really is 🙂

Would love to do a proper job but simply don’t have the cash and time at the moment so going to have to go for a containment job for now, as well as looking for someone to service the water heater, it has started having second thoughts about staying lit after firing up which could get annoying and it is bloody well packaged so I can’t really poke around with it in situ or whip it out like the fridge when that needed a bit of TLC.

andyl, a whole stable of compatible products could make life easier for a novice, thanks…

Tracker1972 – this is a great website for info, there’s a great bunch of LT owners who will give you all the help you’ll need Brick Yard – LT section

http://www.bilthamber.co.uk do a great line in rust treatments and primers. I’ve used them, much better than anything Halfords sells. 😉

Thanks gents, had found the Brick Yard when we first got the van, had forgotten about them though… Ta for the reminder 🙂

OK, after ruling out sandblasting as costly and awkward I actually had a look at the cheapest options… I can borrow a compressor so what do you think about Clarke SB5 spot blaster?
More time consuming that a proper bit of kit but possibly more neighbour friendly and still get decent results quicker than a wire brush? Especially in the seams?