I am getting ready to weld the right rear suspension console into the car with lots of plug welds per the original and I was wondering what I should coat the bare steel on the long as well as the console with to prevent future rust. I will have to weld into/through it I guess? What have other done? What product have you used?

Thanks,
John

Weld-through primer isn't a bad idea.

I'm sure there is a lot of debate on who makes a good weld thru primer but who makes a good one?. I have a few very old cans of 3M. I can order bloxide from Eastwood. I found some prople on other forums talking about U-POL but I have not found anyone who sels it. Eastwood also has something called "cold galvanizing compound" which they say works too

Any thoughts,
John

Cold galvanizing primer isn't the best choice for a weld through primer, for several reasons. The first of which would be the health risks associated with burning zinc, and you don't want to do that. The other problem is getting good weld penetration, and welds without inclusions (junk in the weld nugget) from burned paint. I use the 3M stuff, and clean the paint off the area to be welded. If you scratch off a good bit of paint to bare metal, you can get a good bead started with less trouble.

You can (should) also treat the metal under the area to be covered with a phosphoric acid treatment, which leaves a zinc coating. After you weld the console on, you can drill a couple of 1/2" holes in it, and spray in some more converter, rinse, let dry and spray in some paint.

I use cavity wax, the honey colored stuff inside of doors...

Saw some rust testing in a British magazine and the results were astonishing. The rust preventatives protect the coated side and the uncoated side after a year of salt spray. Kicked butt on almost everything else. So, zinc first (sacrifical anode) cavity wax to seal.


Ken