Rusty Metal Fixup - Pedal Assembly and Brake Fluid Reservoir Bracket

I was watching a weekend car build/repair show and they talked about this stuff called Metal Rescue.  It's supposed to remove rust from metal parts, bringing it back down to nice metal.  This is different from the rust restorer products which convert and encapsulate the rust into a hard black compound.  I figured it was worth a try because the pedal assembly was a rusty mess.

I bought it in a gallon jug from Summit Racing.  It was significantly cheaper than buying directly from the manufacturer web site.

This is what the pedal assembly looked like at the start.  You can see how hard it would be to sand away all of the rust while assembled, or even after it's torn apart, which is hard to do since some of the parts stay on for good from the factory.

The instructions say to completely immerse the metal in the solution, so I used a 5 gallon bucket.  It wasn't converting quickly so I just left it overnight and checked it in the morning.  It's a pretty interesting product - no toxins, no VOC, water-based.  You just keep using the same solution over and over until it's totally black and won't take off any more rust.

And here's how it looked when I pulled it out.  Excellent results with just some dirt and original paint flecks!

And here is what the solution in the bucket looked like:

I then primed, painted and clear coated the assembly, so I'll be ready to reinstall it at the right time.

The next rusty thing I tried was the brake fluid reservoir bracket.  It's a small piece of shaped metal to hold the reservoir onto its bracket in the cowl area.  Here is what it looked like as it went through the process in a small paint pail.  I decided to put the whole thing into a ziplock bag to see the extent of evaporation.

It removed the rust well, leaving just a bit of original paint.

And this is what the solution looked like afterward.  Yuk!  Liquid rust.

Here's what the bracket looks like back in place after sanding, priming, painting and clearcoating.

I poured all of the solution back into the original container and it went nearly back up to its original level, and was a weak tea color so I think it still has a lot of life left in it.

Firewall Reshaping Completion and Battery Box

Well I've been plodding along on the car for the last month or so.  The big issue was completing the reshaping of the firewall to allow for the battery rack.  I pounded the crap out of the metal, then used body filler to get things nice and smooth and contoured.

Then I masked it off in preparation for painting.  Tom at Rainbow arranged for the correct high-build primer and original paint components (urethane paint, reducer and catalyst) and the same color formula.

I sprayed the primer from an aerosol can as directed, then mixed the paint components in the right proportion and sprayed it too, exactly according to the directions.  I used my painting coveralls, respirator and full eye cover..  It was tough getting my spray gun down into the valley at the bottom of the firewall, but it worked out well.  I was very careful about overspray.

Then I sprayed on the clear coat from an aerosol can.

Here she is!  You can see a small seam of paint color mismatch but it will be down behind the battery box and under the vent system.  I just wanted it to be good enough to be a decent match and I'm happy with the way it came out.

I then bolted in the battery rack uprights and cross-rails.  Getting a wrench under there to tighen the nuts was an adventure.  I kept thinking of the line from The Restaurant At The End of The Universe: "If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe."  RIP Douglas...

I can't finalize the installation of the battery box yet, because I have to complete the restoration of everything that goes under the cowling: windshield wiper assembly, windshield washer pump and tubing, and the airbox and vent hoses.

Final Paint and Clearcoat Complete

The day I've been waiting for for so long has arrived.  The paint and clearcoat are finished.  The only remaining issue is spraying the undercoating, and painting the targa top.  The metallic in the paint doesn't show up well, but trust me, it's in there.

Start of Final Paint!

I stopped in at Rainbow today to find they are working on the final paint.  They started by spraying the front trunk, passenger compartment, rear trunk, inside door panels and underside of the front and rear trunk lids.  They plan 4-5 coats here and then the exterior surfaces, followed by the clearcoat.  The color looks very deep and rich metallic gray, even in the poor shop lighting you see in the pictures below.