Treating rusty seams, worth waiting for summer?

[The Serb]

Forgive my ignorance as I am new to these forums and so very scared of mistreating my first T25 bluebell.

I have the beginning of rusty seams that aren't going to get any better.

Basically I have a plan...
well more of a vague inkling of what I need to do (thanks to these forums and some rather helpful peeps at vanfest).

Armed with an angle grinder, dremmel and pure bloody determination I will drive the rust monster out.
Then smack on some etch primer, Por-15 paint and topcoat as recommended to me by some a few bug owners.

I have 10 days off work starting this friday 13th Feb (hooray for credit crunch). but I also have the month of May off to do more work in preparation for a trip around europe.

As I will have to do this on a driveway question is:
Do I go ahead and treat straight away even if the weather is cold or should I just get liberal with some corrosion block and wait 2 and a bit months until May when the weather is much warmer.

I ask because I have noticed some mixed views on these forums about when is best to treat.

I think I may be one of the few people glad to see a lack of grit on the roads!

[dink]

from what i've read, i'd say yes leave it until the summer

[weldore]

i used one of these on my seams
ebay Item number: 380088304506
fits onto ya grinder and will rip all the paint and filler out of the seam without damaging the metal,it really did clean it up .i was gonna use a disc in it but thought it would be to abrasive,and lets face it,you dont want to get rid of even more metal from the van.
i did this a few weeks ago but i have more to do and am gonna wait till it gets warmer...and dryer

[weldore]

oh and be prepared for a shock too my seam rust was just the tip of the ice-berg

[Alice]

I'm tackling this in spring too, dreading what I'm going to find. After reading up I think I'm going to treat myself to a grinder, looks like it'll get good use Any recommendations that won't break the bank? What sort of power output will I need?
Thanks.

[weldore]

just a cheap one from b&q will do the job ,the one i got came in a ally case with different types of discs diamond cutter ,some metal cutting and metal grinding

[Alice]

Cool thanks. I have vactan, filler, gloves and mask. Feels like I'm going into battle

[weldore]

as i said up there be prepared for something you dont want to see...like not much steel in there

[Alice]

I know, I'm terrified, that's why I'm putting it off til weather gets better, head in sand ....

[weldore]

if you can get hold of some welding gloves and some saftey specs or better still a full face mask before you do any grinding it will save your eyes and digits from becoming part of the crap on the floor...seriously get some good gloves,not them gardening ones either ,use them when using the grinder and handleing steel and if you can, use a pair of old jeans dont do it in your best frock

but more importantly...have fun !!

[Alice]

I've got gloves and goggles. Mask I don't have, it's now on list.
Quite looking forward to this. Engines I can't do so I'm quite pleases there's something I can have a bash at myself.
Thanks for advice.

[HarryMann]

Twisted knot brushes on a 4.5 (115mm) grinder are pretty heavy duty things and great for digging out all traces of rust...

BUT.. they will really cut into good metal too without great care. In fact they are good for the back of seams and for removing original (white rubbery) underseal (full face mask recommended) BUT think they are not ideal for getting 'into' seams from the front without doing a lot of damage to nominally good metal on the flanks.

The cup wheel shown in that eBay link, is also probably not as good as a std (flat face) twist-knot wheel used on edge

This is also effective but soemwhat less damaging and nasty than a twist knot wheel (Ebay item 290289509027). They get in deeper but can be quite abrasive as well, so try various methods including plain manual work with shaped blades (grind a hacksaw blade to the correct profile) and good wire brushes (stainless wire brushes are good).

That's my take on it...

[dink]

i'm going to have a crack at soda blasting

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-t ... a_blaster/

i'm not sure if it's man enough, but it's worth a go

[HarryMann]

i'm going to have a crack at soda blasting

For what purpose?

[Therunner]

It will not remove rust or corrosion from steel hardware