Painting rusty swaybar?

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sneakypete

Member

Contributor

:

2002 Protege5

• Mar 24, 2013

• #1

I just got a Racing Beat RSB that is a bit worse for wear. I need to get this rust off and repaint it. Is Krylon and a clear coat sufficient? Maybe steel wool before I paint? Any experience would be helpful.

 

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Brains

Member

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2001 Mazda Protege ES

• Mar 24, 2013

• #2

when we repainted mine, i believe we sanded off all the rust everywhere we could and just painted over the bare metal with brake caliper red paint. Maybe we put down a primer... but i can't remember that eh?
Just make sure you remove all the rust... i'm pretty sure all the stuff we removed the rust from has rust on it again one winter later. Maybe if you have some kind of rust converter that would help

 

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Twin_Cam

Member

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'02 Protege5

• Mar 25, 2013

• #3

I hit mine with a wire wheel on a power drill for a couple minutes, then gray Rustoleum, and bright red automotive paint. It's held up for almost a year now.

 

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Installshield 2

Gothenburg Superiority

• Mar 25, 2013

• #4

clean the rust off as best as possible...The bar is solid, its only going to be surface rust, and should come off relatively easily...a wire wheel, and scrubbing it with some 'naval jelly' (rust dissolver) will make quick work of it...

I'd suggest using a rusted metal primer of some sort also, before a top coat of whatever paint you want...rusted metal primer is no different in cost to ordinary 'clean' primer, and may hold up a little better in the long run...but its up to you...

 

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sneakypete

Member

Contributor

:

2002 Protege5

• Mar 25, 2013

• #5

I'm going to use some of the Loc-Tite spray-on rust converter and brake caliper paint. Just gotta keep the bar indoors overnight to warm it back up (the rust converter says to use it between 50 and 90). Now my issue (which I started another thread about) is what to do with the rubber stops. I think they are too deteriorated to remove intact.

 

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pasadena_commut

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Protege5 2003

• Mar 26, 2013

• #6

sneakypete said:

I need to get this rust off and repaint it.

Click to expand...

Put a little water on the bar and scrub it with a piece of aluminum foil. It does a really good job of getting rid of surface rust. If the bar is heavily rusted or pitted another approach would be better.