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Zinc Bath

Mach1 Driver

Mach1 Driver

Well-Known Member
Hopefully I'm not covering old territory here; I did a quick search and no one seems to have touched on this.
I was watching Bitchin' Rides where they had just received a body back from soda blasting. They said they were going to: "give it a zinc bath to etch the metal so it doesn't rust in 2-3 days. Then we grind it off when we go to do body work." They used a power washer and a hand held spray bottle. I'm guessing the power washer was to get the soda residue off, and the spray bottle was something like Eastwood After Blasting, which is a cleaner degreaser with zinc phosphate base. I'm not sure if anything but water was in the power washer, but if so wouldn't that promote rust?
Please tell me what you have done immediately after blasting. Thanks
 
I am glad you brought up this question.....I was wondering the same thing when I watched the show the other night. I missed the spray bottle and for the life of me couldn't figure out how the pressure washer came to play. I would be surprised if you could get enough coverage just using a spray bottle. Someone on here will know the answer!
 
The spray bottle was labeled if you watch closely, marine clean if I recall correctly. After I blasted my car I pressure washed, obviously surface trust started immediately. After pressure wash was complete I brushed in a like metal prep and it has sat in my garage for far too many years with ZERO rust issues.
 
jmlay said:
The spray bottle was labeled if you watch closely, marine clean if I recall correctly. After I blasted my car I pressure washed, obviously surface trust started immediately. After pressure wash was complete I brushed in a like metal prep and it has sat in my garage for far too many years with ZERO rust issues.
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So you blasted, power washed with water, surface rust started immediately, then you applied metal prep and this removed the surface rust?
From what I can find, Marine Clean as it was formerly known is now POR15 Cleaner Degreaser. It is mixed 1:1 with water. Then they instruct you to apply POR15 Metal Prep which has a zinc phosphate coating. Some guys say it looks yellow/brown after drying, kinda like rust. But in your experience it is rust free- just appearing to be bare metal? Do you think POR15 is the product?
 
Yes I blasted and treated with metal prep, purchased from home depo, after pressure washing.

In regards to the marine clean, I was just trying to remember what was in the bottle they were spraying. I used a metal prep from Home Depot.
 
Guys I saw the same episode and had wondered the same thing about the zinc bath. Since this topic was brought up I recorded the episode and went back and watched it again specifically to read the label. The label was Prep & Ready from POR15. They have renamed the product Metal Prep. Mystery solved?
 
It looks like that is the ticket. Curious as to what paint guys think. The manufacturer says you can paint right over it, but on the show they mentioned grinding it away.
 
Thanks guys, so what would you guys do: power wash with just water or a 1:1 mix water and POR15 Cleaner Degreaser? As mentioned above, then it is followed with POR15 Metal Prep.
 
Mach1 Driver said:
Thanks guys, so what would you guys do: power wash with just water or a 1:1 mix water and POR15 Cleaner Degreaser? As mentioned above, then it is followed with POR15 Metal Prep.
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Thought someone woulda responded to you by now! One thing to keep in mind about the BR car, it was soda blasted. It's MANDATORY to thoroughly wash the car after that. Obviously the easiest and most thorough way is with a pressure washer. There are additives you can mix with the water that prevent immediate flash rust from pressure washing. They are widely used by the "dustless" blasting folks due to using water in their process

If it's dry media blasted (plastic, glass, etc..), I'd have to argue that the power wash is optional. A very good cleaning and wipe down is necessary followed by a good urethane primer coat asap. How soon depends on your environment. Here in coastal SC with high humidity that translates into same day, as soon after blasting as possible.
 
Ponyman66 said:
Thought someone woulda responded to you by now! One thing to keep in mind about the BR car, it was soda blasted. It's MANDATORY to thoroughly wash the car after that. Obviously the easiest and most thorough way is with a pressure washer. There are additives you can mix with the water that prevent immediate flash rust from pressure washing. They are widely used by the "dustless" blasting folks due to using water in their process

If it's dry media blasted (plastic, glass, etc..), I'd have to argue that the power wash is optional. A very good cleaning and wipe down is necessary followed by a good urethane primer coat asap. How soon depends on your environment. Here in coastal SC with high humidity that translates into same day, as soon after blasting as possible.
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Ah, that's why Bitchin Rides used the power washer. Thanks, this is beginning to make sense now. Googling "dustless blasting" shows that they use a rust inhibitor like Hold Tight 102 in a 1:100 mix, then blow dry the car with a lawn and leaf blower since an air compressor would have oil contaminating the air. The inhibitor apparently doesn't coat the metal, it removes any contaminates that would promote rust. BR apparently used POR15 Metal Prep next to give it a zinc coating, but your recommendation is to give it a primer immediately. I live in Atlanta where the humidity is also high.
 
Just make sure to use an electric lawn/leaf blower as the two cycle gas ones emit oil through the exhaust that could get blown onto the car.
 
Mach1 Driver said:
BR apparently used POR15 Metal Prep next to give it a zinc coating, but your recommendation is to give it a primer immediately. I live in Atlanta where the humidity is also high.
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I'm not sure how well the Metal Prep finish would hold for awhile in our environment. Salt Lake City (home of Kindig), is a lot drier. Any coating would work for a while though, some longer/better than others. I've seen Kevin Tetz recommen spraying bare panels down with WD40 to keep them rust free. I like the primer immediately because it puts you a step ahead. If you to do more work you can grind it down in that area, do your work and then re-coat. While easy and relatively cheap, I didn't like Tetz' suggestion due to the amount of work needed to clean the WD40 off prior to laying down a primer coat. With my luck I'd find a missed spot after I started spraying!
 
I would much rather deal with primer than all the work that would entail cleaning WD40 from every panel. I agree John, I too would find were I missed as the final coat was
 
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