Hilux 4x4 Forum

Hi all

So I have been looking at the various rust discussions and a little confused about what I should do. My hilux chassis has some superficial surface rust so not aesthetically pleasing. So was wondering what I should do. Is it best to just paint (Which one?) over it or use a converter (again Which one?) and then paint over it?

Also how does the tectyl + old diesel oil mix work... How do I apply it? Where and how much should I be mixing?

Thanks for the help in advance....

Hi Damon.
probably all depends on the severity of the rust. My Bakkie was in storage for a while before i bought it so it also had some surface rust on the chassis. I steamed cleaned the chassis and applied tectyl. once or twice a year i do the same.tectyl is a good product and you dont need to mix it with diesel.I use about 2 cans of Tectyl on my chassis

Painting over rust achieves nothing positive. The rust must be removed or neutralised first. A rust converter will only work on superficial rust, so it there is anywhere that it's flaking, that has to be chipped out properly first, Any of the rust converters will do the trick, they all work in the same way. Alternatively, one can carefully paint phosphoric acid onto all the affected areas, which will neutralise the rust (turns it into iron phosphate .... same as the active ingredient in the rust converters), but a rust converter is easier to work with.

After that you can paint it with "Chassis black" or with "Tectyl". Mixing a little diesel into the Tectyl just makes it thinner and spread further, which you can do if it is too thick to work easily with. I often put a little old engine oil into the Tectyl as well, which causes it to stay softer. Remember that fuel and oil spills / accumulation will soften Tectyl .... can even wash it off, so for an exposed application like a chassis, I would rather use Chassis Black or Stone-chip unless you are prepared to re-do it regularly.

Where does one buy these products?

Rust converter at a hardware store, the rest at an automotive paint outlet.